Pictured above: Thompson friction welding machine at FW
Holland
Engineering company Thompson has helped a new Dutch firm launch
the first sub-contract friction welding facility in the Benelux
region.
Thompson has supplied a Model 60 to Kampen-based Friction
Welding Holland BV for joining a variety of components including
piston rods and hydraulic cylinder tubes for customers in the
Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg as well as other European
countries.
The machine is specially designed to handle a wide range of
piston rods with diameters of 20-90mm and up to 3500mm in length as
well as tubes with a maximum external diameter of 160mm.
It can also be used to join a selection of hydraulic parts that
feature eyes, clevises and forks as it is equipped with
interchangeable chucks, a two-jaw version for accommodating piston
rod eyes and a three-jaw variant for round components. Other
special machine features include a CNC external flash removal
system.
Owner Dick Fix said the sub-contract service had been well
received since its launch last December and the company had already
secured a substantial number of contracts.
"Thompson is the market-leader in the manufacture of friction
welding machines so it was important to choose the best equipment
for this new venture. To date, feedback about the service has been
fantastic and business is booming," he added.
Friction Welding Holland BV aims to secure more new business
when it exhibits at the Hannover Messe trade show in Germany from
April 4-8 in Hall 4, Stand 4.
This installation is the latest in a series of new machines
supplied by Thompson to customers around the world. The
Halesowen-based manufacturer has also recently secured more than
£5 million worth of orders from customers in China, Italy and
Australia.
Thompson, holder of a Queen's Award for Enterprise, produces
machines to join parts used in the aerospace, automotive,
construction machine, mineral and water exploration industries.