Subcontract machinist said his customers knew he had acquired a manual/CNC (combination) lathe because he could make several parts in the time needed previously to machine one.

Chris Evans has been running Buckwood Engineering on his own for the past 20 years, and that is just the way he likes it. 'After 15 years in the family business, which employed 350 people, I decided I could do without the aggravation and set up on my own. I like being hands-on and will machine anything that comes my way.

I am never going to be a millionaire but I enjoy what I do.' Half of Buckwood Engineering's 1000ft2 premises at Markyate, Hertfordshire, is leased to another one-man engineering business, while the remainder is home to manual machines and, more recently, two manual/CNC machines supplied by Burlescombe, Devon-based XYZ Machine Tools.

Evans said: 'I bought an XYZ Edge 1500 manual/CNC turret mill as a replacement for an old manual turret mill and thought it would be my last machine tool purchase.

It proved to be an unbelievably good machine and I found myself taking a third of the time to complete a job, even though I had no previous CNC experience.

I did not even go for training because it is so easy to use.' Despite this success Evans continued to rely on a manual lathe until he realised that he was losing out on turning work from existing customers and decided to do something about the situation.

One month later, in January 2005, he took delivery of a new XYZ ProTURN VL 355 lathe equipped with ProtoTRAK CNC.

'My customers know I have the ProTURN because I can now make several parts in the time needed previously to machine one.

This allows me to quote lower prices while still earning enough to pay for the machine and to put money in my pocket.' According to Evans, he opted for the 5.75kW, 360mm swing over bed XYZ ProTURN VL 355 because it matched the capacity of his DRO-equipped manual lathe while offering a choice of manual machining or, courtesy of the ProtoTRAK VL control, partial or full CNC control.

This flexibility is ideal for a small business like Buckwood Engineering that is called upon to machine a wide range of work pieces in varying batch sizes.

'There is not a turning job I can not do on the ProTURN because it is so simple to program, usually taking two to three minutes, and the program can be stored and recalled if I get a repeat order.

Although a one-off takes around a quarter of the time needed on a manual machine, a production batch probably takes 10 to 20% of the time, with a guarantee that every part will be identical.

I have just completed a 120-off job in a cycle time per part of six minutes compared with about an hour on the manual lathe, and within those six minutes I completed a second operation milling and drilling cycle on the ProtoTRAK mill.' Although adamant that the ProTURN lathe, definitely, is his final machine tool purchase, Evans says the move to CNC has made a very real difference to his life.

'I can now go home earlier that before, which allows me to indulge in my passion for chess, and I take regular holidays.