(UK)
Hope Technology began life in the late 1980’s as a subcontract machining business making tools and fixtures for the many local aerospace companies. In 1989 they began making disc brakes for the newly developed mountain bikes.
Hope now manufactures almost every part for a bicycle including hubs, brakes, headset, stems, bottom brackets and lights. The only major part left to develop is the actual frame, which may be happening in the not too distant future.
Over the subsequent years many more products were added to the range and in 2000 the decision was made to stop all subcontract work and concentrate purely on bicycle products.
Hope now manufactures almost every part for a bicycle including hubs, brakes, headset, stems, bottom brackets and lights.
All parts are proudly manufactured in Hope’s Barnoldswick factory which is a true state of the art facility. Manufacturing all products on site gives Hope total control on quality and delivery schedules.
Due to the relatively light metal cutting involved, it is not surprising that nimble, 30-taper machining centers are found on the shop floor alongside more powerful but relatively ponderous machines having a 40-taper tool interface.
Indeed, works and production manager Lindley Pate has started to replace some 40-taper machines with 30-taper technology, although there is no conscious policy to do so. Each machine is purchased on its merits for the intended applications.
R650X1 replaced an ageing, 40-taper VMC/2APC model with a similar working envelope and the benefits have been far-reaching.
First, the Brother R650X1 reduces machining time by 40% compared to the previous 40-taper machining center.
For example, Op 2 on three twin-piston brake calipers fixtured side-by-side now takes 19 minutes whereas it previously took 32 minutes, representing a 40 per cent reduction.
Secondly, the footprint occupied by the R650X1 is 20 per cent smaller, which is helpful in a busy factory requiring more and more machine tools to service a business whose recent annual percentage turnover growth is well into double digits.
A third advantage is that, as any 30-taper machining center draws less power than a 40-taper machine with equivalent working envelope, there is an ongoing reduction in energy consumption that not only saves money but is also appropriate in a company that makes equipment for carbon-free transportation.
The manufacturer’s first encounter with Brother Machine Tools was in 2013 when two 30-taper TC-2RB 3-axis machining centres were purchased to cope with increased workload.
Brother TC-2RB machines were selected owing to their superior speed and hence productivity and also due to the compact design of the automatic pallet changer that both increases production efficiency and saves space.
In 2016, the first R650X1 arrived on the shop floor at Barnoldswick, again to cope with steeply increasing demand for Hope bicycle accessories.
The machine was considerably faster in-cut than the TC-R2Bs, as well as offering similarly short idle times. It also provided a larger table, 800 x 600 mm instead of 600 x 300 mm, and at a competitive price. The extra table area enables more parts to be fixtured for longer run times, which is especially useful for lights-out machining during 24-hour operation, currently from Monday through to Thursday. A single shift is operated on Friday and weekend working is according to demand.
In conclusion, Mr. Pate commented, “There is a greater variety of 30-taper milling centers around now and more tooling is available to use on them. They are extremely compact, helped by the carousel style of tool magazine. “We use two major makes of 30-taper machine here. Brother machines have the edge in terms of speed, compactness, value for money and reliability, and they provide good access for loading and unloading parts so are popular with our operators.”
The machine demonstrates high productivity, and also provides the largest machining area among "QT table" machines, enabling the mounting of large jigs that was not possible on conventional machines.
