Sharpe Engineering is renowned in the resource and energy sectors throughout Australia and PNG for providing quality solutions, manufacturing, service and repair of oil and gas drilling related tools and equipment.
“Sharpe Engineering pride themselves in offering outstanding service and high-level support for the Oil and Gas industry, and in turn they seek the same high-level support and expertise from their suppliers. We at John Hart are dedicated to providing the world class service and support our customers expect, and this means that we continually invest in our technical capabilities.”
Mark Wenman, John Hart’s Queensland Manager.
Peter Sharpe in front of the commissioned Mazak Slant Turn 550.
Family owned and established in 1995, Sharpe Engineering operates from four facilities located at Roma, Chinchilla, Virginia and Zillmere in Queensland, Sharpe boasts upwards of 50 pieces of plant, CNC machines, milling machines, drilling machines and manual lathes, as well as Australia’s largest threading capacity.
All of Sharpe’s equipment is procured from world class suppliers, and their state-of-the-art machine inventory guarantees the precision and the accuracy of their products. Sharpe’s equipment is a key part in allowing them to produce quality, cost effective products. They own two Mazak 21" hollow spindle Power Master Chuckers and a 7" hollow spindle Power Master Universal.
The latest example of the world class equipment they rely on to be at the sharp end of manufacturing for the oil and gas drilling industry, is the Mazak Slant Turn 550 Sharpe recently purchased, which is used in the manufacture of drilling tools and thread repairs on drill pipe and drill collars.
When quizzed on what prompted this latest Mazak purchase decision, Peter Sharpe the Chief Executive Officer of Sharpe Engineering responded: “Basically, the decision to purchase the Slant Turn 550 was based on the need to upgrade our existing fleet of Oil Country CNC hollow spindle machines to the latest technology available and to reduce downtime in maintenance and repairs. We chose the Mazak over any other machine because Mazak have a good reputation in the oil and gas manufacturing industry and because John Hart has been around for a long time.”
Mark Wenman, John Hart’s Queensland Manager added: “Peter and his team already felt comfortable with Mazak’s quality, accuracy and suitability for the products that they manufacture, so the Slant Turn 550 was a no brainer when he needed to expand his turning capability. Its large spindle bore coupled with powerful spindle motor and heavy-duty turret gave Peter the edge he was looking for.”
The Mazak Slant Turn 550 model Sharpe Engineering specified has a maximum machining diameter of 910mm and a maximum machining length of 1000mm, a 275mm hollow spindle with front and rear 4 jaw manual chucks.
A powerful main spindle with 7000 N.m torque and 45 kW output, is designed for both high speed and heavy duty cutting. Roller guides on all linear axes provide high rigidity and smooth cutting even at high feed rates.
Thanks to its large door opening, workpieces can easily be loaded using an overhead crane, and the turret features excellent accessibility for convenient tool set-up.
Peter Sharpe continued: “The Slant Turn 550 is perfectly suited to the type of work we do, and the advanced Smooth G controller provides us with faster set-up times and easier programming. The new Smooth G technology will also make training easier.”
The Smooth G is the seventh generation Mazatrol CNC System and features an interface with touch operation ensuring convenient data processing – programming, confirmation, editing and tool data registration. From setup to machining, it has been designed for unsurpassed ease of operation.
The system incorporates Intelligent Machine Functions, a variety of unique technologies developed by Mazak to realise improvements in productivity, higher accuracy machining and unmatched operator support.
Mazak Slant Turn 550 installation at Sharpe Engineering.
Peter Sharpe added: “In addition our experience with John Hart spans about 10 years and during that time they have proven to be very responsive to our business needs. We have a continuing need for support with preventative maintenance programs and we can always rely on the people from John Hart for good service and communication.”
Mark Wenman commented: “Sharpe Engineering pride themselves in offering outstanding service and high-level support for the Oil and Gas industry, and in turn they seek the same high-level support and expertise from their suppliers. We at John Hart are dedicated to providing the world class service and support our customers expect, and this means that we continually invest in our technical capabilities.”
Mark Wenman concluded: “Just in the last 12 months we have created a new role for a Technical Service Manager to oversee national service activities and increased our national service team strength with the addition of 5 new service engineers. All of our service engineers have travelled to Japan and Europe for Mazak factory training. We have updated and expanded our inventory of service test equipment and implemented a mobile service administration system to enhance in field access to information and streamline service delivery. We constantly strive to provide our customers with world class solutions and support.”