Places with both one-off machining capacity, and old fashioned skills such as white metalling are few and far between nowadays, and this is demonstrated no better than by the fact that we recently completed a job overhauling the side rod bushes for an 08 still in use by the modern day GWR at Laira.

The key to the success of our machining capabilities is to combine a good selection of older style manual machines with large capacities, with a range of smaller, up-to-date modern CNC machines. This gives the perfect balance of easy set ups with no programming for the bigger one off parts, and high speed, automated running for the batch parts such as screws and studs, thus keeping costs down. Our machinery list is as follows:

• XYZ SLX Proturn 355 CNC lathe with 355mm diameter x 1000mm length capacity
• XYZ SM 3500 CNC mill with 787mm X travel, 508mm Y travel, and 500mm Z travel
• XYZ AGE3 3500 CNC mill
• XYZ SMX 5000 CNC mill with 1524mm X travel, 596mm Y travel, and 584mm Z travel
• KRV 2000 Universal Mill with swivel head
• TOS lathe with 38.5” diameter and 160” length capacity
• DSG type 17 lathe
• DSG type 13 lathe
• Herbert 4 Senior Pre-optive Capstan lathe
• Richards Horizontal Borer with 60” X travel, 48” Y travel, 40” Z travel
• Union BFT63 Horizontal Borer with 42” X travel, 32” Y travel, 28” Z travel
• Webster bennet 48” vertical borer
• Butler 21” slotter
• Asquith mobile radial drill
• J&S Cylindrical Grinder
• Jones and Shipman Surface Grinder
• 60 ton hydraulic press

Parts are machined to the original drawings where available, and we hold an extensive range of the original regional limits and fits, particularly with regards to the GWR, and it is this that we use as the basis for our quality control wherever possible.

We hold a comprehensive range of measuring equipment including outside micrometers from 0 to 48”, internal stick micrometers from 0 to 120”, as well as various verniers, straight edges, rules and squares. Where possible, measuring equipment is calibrated against the gauge each time it is removed from the box, and as a secondary measure we cross reference equipment to ensure the correct fit is achieved.

We are gradually gathering an ever growing range of purpose made gauges for the parts we produce, to back up the measurements taken with a real world fit, we most often do this for size critical parts such as patch screws, stays and plugs.

Just a few of the components that we have machined recently include:

• New side rod bushes, including metalling and fitting for 08 shunter at GWR Laira
• New double feed jockey valve for 6984 Owsdon Hall
• New clacks for 4110 at the DSR
• New manifold for 4110 at the DSR
• New manifold for the GW society’s County Project
• Square thread brake screws and nuts for various road steam projects
• Crosshead remetalled and machined for 6984 Owsdon Hall
• Axle box covers and regulator handle for 35011
• Full set of GWR spring hanger arms from castings
• Overhaul of 10+ sets of valve gear, including new CNC cut and hardened links and pins
• 3 full sets of brake rigging bolts for various locomotives, including 6024
• All machinined components for the overhaul of 5552 including 84 off hornblock bolts, various fitted bolts, hornties etc
• New brake arms reverse engineered from originals for Sentinel Shunter at Bodmin and Wenford

All components big or small are supplied with a material CofC as a matter of course, with digital copies of all paperwork stored in our online portal.