The company produces in excess of 50,000 pulleys annually, the majority of which are used within the crushing & screening, recycling, aviation and materials handling industries, and are sold throughout the UK & Ireland and the whole of Scandinavia.  

With production levels placing increasing demand on existing manufacturing machinery, the company began looking at options to update its machine tooling capability, leading it to speak to Irish machine tool specialist Gillen Machine Tools.   

A renowned supplier of superior machine tool solutions in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, Gillen Machine Tools has the distinction of having served as 600 UK’s Irish distributor for the Colchester brand for the past 20 years, delivering, installing and commissioning all models of Colchester lathes.   

“SpecDrum operates an impressive engineering shop; however, the company was running machines that, at 20 years old, were beginning to feel the test of time,” explains Philip Gillen of Gillen Machine Tools. 

“One particular machine was a predecessor to 600 UK’s Colchester MultiTurn CNC lathe, a piece of equipment that despite its age had performed superbly and reliably throughout its lifetime.”  

From the lathe upgrading process, SpecDrum wanted to see improvements in specification and technology, but also needed the transition to be as seamless and simple as possible. This drove a decision to purchase the latest and most appropriate Colchester models from previous supplier, 600 UK, to secure exceptional equipment of a style operators would already be familiar with, as SpecDrum’s Director, Martin McCabe explains:  

“Our previous Colchester lathe was simple to operate and performed well; features we didn’t want to lose through the improvement process.  With the assistance of Gillen Machine Tools and the team, we could select the best replacement machines for our purposes; the results of which we are absolutely delighted with.”

SpecDrums new 3-metre Colchester Mastiff centre lathe and Colchester MultiTurn 3000 both offer exceptional performance using simpler lathe controls.   Packed with safety features and designed for long-lasting precision and productivity, the 3-metre Mastiff is renowned for its ability to perform, owing to its electronically variable speed spindle drive and Constant Surface Speed option. 

Providing further capabilities, the chosen MultiTurn 3000 CNC lathe also delivers, particularly when it comes to versatility, as it can be set to a variety of tasks, simply and effectively – as well as being able to handle heavy duty components with comfort and precision. 

With both machines installed and operating beyond expectations, SpecDrum has considered the ‘upgrade’ operation to be a major success, equipping them with lathe machinery that’s both simple to use, and fit for the future. 

For further information, contact: 

Phillip Gillen, Managing Director – Gillen Machine Tools Ltd
Railway Street, Ballymena, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland, BT 42 2AF 

Tel: +44 (0) 28 2564 3705 

Howard Bamforth 600 UK Sales Director
Philip Cullen, Group Marketing Manager      

Tel: +44 (0) 1924 415000