Billy has continued to make great progress during his apprenticeship, developing his skills both at college and within our workshop.
As part of a recent college project, Billy was challenged to machine a 50mm square aluminium billet into two diameters while producing an M12 thread through the centre, all to a tolerance of ±0.25mm. Although his first attempt was outside tolerance, he took the initiative to produce a test piece, refined his process and successfully completed the final component to specification.
Over the past month, Billy has also been supporting our turning department while one of our routers was out of service. During this time, he has learned how to set up CNC lathes by changing liners, collets and tooling, as well as measuring tools using the machine’s tool eye.
Working with materials including Vespel, PTFE, Rulon®, Tool Steel 1.2379 and Tungsten Copper, Billy has gained valuable hands on experience. He also helped produce batches of Vespel components, carrying out quality checks every ten parts to ensure the required tolerances were maintained.
Billy will now be returning to complete his router module, taking with him a broader range of machining experience. We look forward to following the next stage of his apprenticeship.
