It was the need to maintain high levels of flatness and parallelism within a few microns for its in-house press tooling that led Datum to buy a machine tool package including precision grinders.

It was the need to maintain high levels of flatness andparallelism within a few microns for its in-house developedUniCut press tooling that led Hampshire based Datum PrecisionTooling to the purchase of a machine package including twoOkamoto surface grinders, a Bridgeport Series 1 turret mill and aHarrison Model 390 centre lathe from 600 Centre of Shepshed nearLoughborough. Since the installation of the two grindingmachines, which also coincided with the purchase of a wire EDMand five-axis vertical machining centre, the company has beenable to diversify from being a very successful printed circuitboard tooling and press tool manufacturer into the automotive,medical, telecoms and plastic injection mould tooling business.And, due to the capacity of the larger Okamoto 105 DX-V is nowable to provide a sub contract grinding service to localindustry. Datum Precision was set up in 1990 and now employs 24people in two 7,000 (square feet) factory units in Finchdean justoutside Waterlooville, with sales of over GBP 850,000.

With anown product in UniCut, which is a new concept for producinghighly accurate shaped holes and profiles in acetates, polyester,polycarbonate, plastics, paper and flexible circuit boardmaterials, the business is building.

It is now supplying toolingfor producing the likes of mobile phone lenses, automotivedashboard instruments, panels and fascias, labels, gaskets andapplications where overlays are required.

In order that theshaped parts can be punched using the UniCut press tool design,the relevant materials are fed in strip format which is mountedon a backing strip which allows the components to be simplypeeled off at the point of assembly.

However, the critical natureof maintaining the depth of cut of the tool so the resulting edgeis clean, the razor sharp tool is not blunted and the backingmaterial is not pierced, is where the investment in newproduction machining was key to Datum.

Says Sales and MarketingManager Gary Gibbs: 'We are now supplying most UK and agrowing export market with UniCut tooling for producing productssuch as telephone lenses, labels and fascias and have recentlybroken into the Far East with a major producer which means thetooling concept is proving to be a real winner.' The UniCutpunch tool concept can produce up to nine components at a time.It can be supplied as a bolster with a tool cassette whichenables different profile shapes to be quickly and easily changedover or as a compound pierce and blank tool in order tocombination punch holes and the profile of the part in the samepressing cycle.

When the tool is produced from design to finalpass-off it is championed by one of Datum's six highlyskilled toolmakers.

Each toolmaker will operate any of thecompany's machines, to produce the relevant parts, thenassemble the finished tool, perform the try-out and finallysign-off the project.

Because of the accuracy required from thepress tool, the machining datums initiated by grinding the platesflat and parallel is critical to all the following operations andthe ultimate tool performance.

The larger of the two Okamotos,the ACC 105 DX profile and surface grinder has a table size of1050mm by 500mm and a load capacity of 700kg, while the smallerACC 450 DXA profile grinding machine has a 410mm by 150mm table.Each machine was chosen due to simplicity of setting and thecapability to be set up on a task in automatic cycle and left torun unattended allowing the tool maker to get on with somethingelse.

Maintains Technical Director, Robin Lovett: 'This madethe machine purchases excellent value for money and gave us acapability we never had before.

Also, because of the accuracy wecan obtain, this ensures that when following milling operationsare performed the tool blade can be maintained to a consistentsharp edge around the profile and we can therefore preciselycontrol the quality of cut the tool makes and ensure a longservice life.'