TPT January 2016

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Technology News
54 January 2016
Subcontractor extends automated
finishing to sheet metal components
UK subcontractor J Reeves Engineering,
which specialises in machining and
fabricating components and assemblies
from sheet metal and tube, took delivery
of a vibratory trough deburring machine
from PDJ Vibro at the beginning of
2015. It joins a twin vibratory bowl
finishing and drying system from the
same supplier that has given reliable
service for more than 20 years.
The bowl is suitable for deburring and
edge breaking of sawn and machined
tube and bar. It accommodates batches
of components weighing around half a
tonne and finishes them automatically
to a consistent standard. The variability
of manual finishing is eliminated and
so is the labour cost associated with
dedicating someone to the job.
However, what the bowl does not
handle well are some sheet metal
parts. If they are tool long, they cannot
follow the toroidal path of the abrasive
media. Parts that are too small, on the
other hand, tend to stick in the sides
of the mechanism that automatically
separates components after pro-
cessing. The hinged arrangement,
which directs finished components
over a separator screen when a flap
is lowered into the counter-rotating
media, necessarily has areas in which
thin sheet can become wedged.
In this case, the solution suggested
by PDJ Vibro was a Model 300DB
trough in which the vibrations cause
the ceramic abrasive media to tumble
linearly across the width of the
machine, rather than take a toroidal
route. It means that batches of sheet
metal components measuring up to the
internal length of the trough (787mm)
can now be finished automatically. As
with tube and bar parts, the benefits are
consistency of finish and elimination of
labour cost.
Heavy gauge steel coated with rust-
inhibiting enamel and a hard-wearing
polyurethane lining indicate that the
300-litre capacity trough will last as long
as the vibratory bowl at Braintree. A fluid
pumping system including container,
hoses and fittings has been supplied
for recirculating a surface finishing
compound.
Jerry Reeves, who started the
privately owned family business in 1976,
said: “We have been impressed with the
performance and longevity of the PDJ
Vibro finishing bowl and dryer, bearing
in mind that this type of machine due to
its very design can literally shake itself
to destruction.
“Earlier this year, we started receiving
orders for more repetition parts in
sheet metal. The ability to do away
with the cost of hand finishing justified
our purchase of the trough, which
conveniently requires only a single-
phase electricity supply.
“When I telephoned the company,
which is also family owned and
run, I received the same prompt,
straightforward service from the second-
generation directors as I did from PDJ
Vibro’s founder, John Hurley, back in
the mid-90s. So I decided to go with the
same supplier.”
There was another aspect of the
PDJ Vibro approach that Mr Reeves
appreciated. Bearing in mind that such
finishing machines are relatively low
cost items, it did not make sense for
him to drive for nearly two hours to the
supplier’s Bletchley showroom to see
the trough demonstrated. So he bought
it unseen on a sale or return basis.
A majority of J Reeves Engineering’s
work comes from firms within a 30-
mile radius of Braintree, although the
furthest customer is 160 miles away in
Wimborne. A hallmark of the business
and a prime reason for its success is
the quality of the assemblies supplied.
Every order is a priority and, as
Mr Reeves puts it, “there is no room to
have a bad day.”
Wiedemann turret punch presses and
Trumpf laser cutting machines are used
on sheet metal gauges up to 15mm,
while thicker plate is profiled on a Flow
water jet cutting machine.
Materials processed by the
subcontractor include steels and non-
ferrous metals including stainless steel
and aluminium.
All are suitable for processing in
the PDJ Vibro equipment prior to
fabrication, either by hand or in two
Fanuc robotic welding cells. Stove
enamelling and powder coating are
also carried out on site.
J Reeves Engineering – UK
Website:
The PDJ Vibro vibratory trough
in use on the shop floor