Manufacturer to strike a hammer blow for metals recycling
Sheffield-based traditional hand tool manufacturer, Footprint Tools, has unveiled the latest addition to its shop floor – a £1.4m Schuler precision linear forge, the only one of its kind in the UK and one of only three in Europe.
As the centrepiece of an R&D partnership between the firm and two world-leading research institutions – The Henry Royce Institute and the University of Strathclyde’s Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC), part of the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland Group – the equipment will help consolidate Sheffield and the UK’s lead in advanced forging manufacture.
Royce Professor Martin Jackson said he was pleased that the Servo technology hammer, initially destined for Manchester, had found a home in Sheffield.
He explained: “Our job at Royce and the AFRC is to take the knowledge we unlock from this R&D collaboration and roll it out to forging companies across the country, especially in the use of recycled machining waste such as titanium.
“Sheffield has more titanium waste than anywhere in the UK, yet we put it into the ferro-titanium as an alloy addition. It is too good of a material to do that.
“That’s why Sheffield is leading the way in a forging revolution around recycling, putting us at the forefront of rapid near-net shaping from recycled materials. We are well ahead of China and the United States, and this should enable us to extend that lead.”
The head of operations at the AFRC, Dr Alastair Conway, said: “We have so much to learn from the Footprint Tools team and so much to gain from our collaborative research with Martin and his team at Royce as we take research out of academic institutions into the real world.
“The accuracy of the linear hammer could help us create a step-change in the production of safety critical components in aerospace and related industries that have previously been nervous of hammer technology and the black arts often associated with its use.”
“People mistakenly think of forging as a technology of the past. It’s not. It’s a technology of the future.
“To generate the key properties in aero-structural and air engine material you need to forge. This is a huge opportunity for Sheffield to strike a hammer blow for the use of recycled materials in some of the biggest markets on the planet that need decarbonising.”
Richard Jewitt, director of Footprint Tools said: “This is a big moment for a small company like us and for small and medium sized forgers across Sheffield and South Yorkshire.
“It gives our sector access to world-class equipment and world class R&D talents in two brilliant research teams.
“For firms like us in the region, this is an opportunity to develop more accurate and consistent processes, which could lead to more manufacturing reshoring and open new product export markets.”
