When Stainless Metalcraft won a new contract to produce cryogenic vessels for a customer in Switzerland, it not only needed to develop the appropriate manufacturing processes within super fast timescales, but it also had to quickly install the appropriate machining capacity. The answer was a Soraluce FP8000 travelling column, floor-type milling machine from Ward CNC. The fabricated vessels, which are used for particle acceleration, also contain various tubes, forgings, castings and other items.

These components are 'prepped' machined by Stainless Metalcraft before being welded by the company into the finished fabricated structures.

Knowing there were few machines that could provide the required bed capacity to accommodate the 5200mm long by 550mm diameter vessels, and having seen the Soraluce at MACH 2000, Stainless Metalcraft's project manager John Tadman recognised that the machine's 8000mm X axis would comfortably accommodate the large workpieces.

He also saw how the machine's 28kW spindle motor - and its Y and Z axes travels of 2000mm and 1200mm, respectively - coupled with the use of Soraluce's 4,000 revs/min universal head, would result in the most cost-effective machining of the stainless steel vessels.

'Equally importantly,' he says, 'because the machine was available ex-stock, we were able to have it delivered with minimal lead time direct from Ward CNC's Sheffield showroom.' Adding that the universal head is a particular asset, John Tadman highlights the production benefits of utilising its 2.5 degree incremental positioning in both vertical and horizontal planes.

'Also, we subsequently purchased an indexing table - a fourth axis - as well as non-contact Renishaw job probing, to further extend the machine's capabilities,' he comments, 'and Ward CNC's integration of these was impeccable.' Developed under the auspices of the Danobat Group's IDEKO research and development facility in Spain, the Soraluce FP8000 features high-quality build for unmatched heavy-duty milling performance, with its characteristic stability and rigidity being based on heavy-duty cast iron construction.

Two years on and John Tadman's confidence in the machine has been justified, he says, 'since it has lived up to expectations in every department'.

So much so that Stainless Metalcraft is this year looking to purchase another, larger capacity Soraluce from Ward CNC to replace existing equipment at its site in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire.

This will complement an already impressive plant list that includes a Ward CNC-supplied Toshulin vertical turning and boring machine that was recently installed to give increased machining capacity.