Seeking small specialist engineering company

[Canopy Locked]

Does any one know of a small specialist engineering company in the UK who has the skills to machine small parts to very fine tolerances working in stainless. Essentially we have small electro-magnetic motors that require overhaul - we can get some parts such as bearings, but as for sending parts back to be refurbished.. forget it - one our our motors has been missing in action so to speak for 5 years and at £8k a pop it's not practical to buy new and throw away or to carry a large stock of spares.

Feel free to DM and I'd be happy to supply more details.
cheers
Rob

 

[philwebb]

Hi Rob, try Portchester Engineering. I had an engine mount welded up by them some time ago, but at the time they were making some batches of precision stainless parts for the Navy. They are (or were) near Port Solent.

 

[Graham_Wright]

Martin Powell, Newent, Glos.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

I think forum member @colhel has skills in this?

 

[colhel]

I think forum member @colhel has skills in this?

Thanks Bud, yes I'm sure I'd be able to help.

 

[jamie N]

I see that the OP states his location as NE Scotland, 'coz in my experience Aberdeen is seriously well stocked with specialist machining companies. Good luck though.

 

[ean_p]

A lot will depend on the motor and what performance is required from it. In this regard if it a high speed / highly balanced assembly then forget local refurbishment as it will likely destroy itself in weeks if not hours. If on the other hand it's function is more mundane then any good rewind shop should have the machining capacity to tackle what you want. Though what degrades on a motor other than bearings, windings and brush/ comm gear is a bit beyond me......any clues?

 

[colhel]

A lot will depend on the motor and what performance is required from it. In this regard if it a high speed / highly balanced assembly then forget local refurbishment as it will likely destroy itself in weeks if not hours. If on the other hand it's function is more mundane then any good rewind shop should have the machining capacity to tackle what you want. Though what degrades on a motor other than bearings, windings and brush/ comm gear is a bit beyond me......any clues?

Apologies to come back to you on this.
Any decent machinist will be able to maintain concentricity and dimensional tolerances, otherwise they won't be in business. If being reverse engineered , ie. no drawings, it will require extra skill to work out tolerances and material spec. But all should be within the skill set if taking the job on.
The OP in his post just asked for a machinist. I agree though in that we need more detail, if there's anything more than that then other options might be better.

Edit, a good machinist will also say if they haven't got the suitable tooling or it's beyond their capability and decline the job.

 

[Canopy Locked]

Thanks for the replies gents. I have sent colhel some details of the issues. It's not as simple as it first sounds.

 

[ean_p]

Apologies to come back to you on this.
Any decent machinist will be able to maintain concentricity and dimensional tolerances, otherwise they won't be in business. If being reverse engineered , ie. no drawings, it will require extra skill to work out tolerances and material spec. But all should be within the skill set if taking the job on.
The OP in his post just asked for a machinist. I agree though in that we need more detail, if there's anything more than that then other options might be better.

Edit, a good machinist will also say if they haven't got the suitable tooling or it's beyond their capability and decline the job.

Well you may think that's the case but I'll tell you that anyone that assemblies a high speed motor / spindle, and by high speed I mean beyond 20,000rpm, will need to ensure the balance of the rotor to far far beyond that of a standard motor and the experience of your normal rewind or machine shop! Anecdotally I used to maintain a number of CNC machining centres, several of which had 18,000rpm heads that were of 2ndWW heritage. The jest was that the same heads had helped make Spitfires........anyway we had a head go down (bearings) and the spare was already out and in use so the clients maintenance supervisor thought that he'd make a name and save a considerable few bob by sending the head to a local rewind shop rather than sending it back to our workshop for re furb....... the local lads were top notch and being a port city, had experience of all kinds of motors etc etc. The head came back after two days and I refitted it....... it lasted less than a shift before the howling could be heard the length of the machine shop......!
There are motors and there are motors.....and concentricity and dimensional tolerance are only part of the story......

 

[penfold]

Thanks for the replies gents. I have sent colhel some details of the issues. It's not as simple as it first sounds.

You haven't explained what the job is; no one can judge it simple or not.