Blending a passion for cycling with a career in manufacturing, Edward Mason founded Dward Design as a company that manufactures a range of titanium bicycle parts as well as undertaking general subcontract manufacturing. To speed up throughput, the Somerset company has invested in workholding technology from Lang UK.
Located in Bath, Edward Mason used his engineering experience to start a small and successful machine shop manufacturing components for bicycles. Alluding to how the two blend together, Edward says: “Cycling and engineering go hand in hand together, and most of the cyclists I have ever met have some form of engineering experience. At Dward Design, we predominantly make drivetrain components such as chainrings, jockey wheels and parts that hold components that other manufacturers will make – like seat post clamps, top clamps for headsets and a range of other parts.”
Looking at the improvements that the company has made as it has progressed, Edward adds: “We made all sorts of improvements to our business. This ranges from having the facility to buy larger machines to having a 4th axis on a machine. The ability to change setups really quickly has also been instrumental. The ability to go from one set-up to another without having to change work coordinates and re-probe and re-align setups has been a major benefit, and Lang UK has been extremely supportive in helping us with that kind of work.”
Referring to the Lang UK solutions adopted at Dward Design, Edward says: “We are predominantly using the Lang zero-point system, so I have two 96mm plates and I also use a 52mm spacing on my 4th axis. This means I do not have to realign the 4th axis at all, and if I take the 4th axis completely out of the machine and then put it back in – I know my offsets will still be exactly the same.”
Looking at what the small business owner does with the 4th axis unit when removed from the machine, Edward adds: “I can release the Lang pins quickly and then the 4th axis is free. As I don’t have an overhead crane to lift the heavy unit out of the machine, I have designed and made a laser-cut hoist that picks the Lang and 4th axis system up and then slides it to the top of the machining centre where it locates into studs on the top of the machine.”
Referring to the benefits of having the Lang quick point plates and zero-point clamping system, Edward adds: “It’s a night and day difference. I have gone from 30 to 60 minutes of setup times to literally being able to change part setups in 10 minutes. When you have a lot of changeovers this is a considerable saving. Not only have I been able to reduce setup times between jobs, but I have also been able to reduce the number of setups per job. This is because I have more than one orientation that I need to hit, and with the 4th axis and the tombstone, I can make a lot of parts with fewer operations for each part.”
Discussing the payback of Lang’s workholding systems, Edward concludes: “For me personally, I don’t think I would be able to make the business that I run, work properly without the investment in the Lang systems. The investment has been easily worth it as it has drastically reduced set-ups and changeovers, saving significant time for my business.”
