Matlock-based rail subcontractor 17D Ltd. has installed a DN Solutions Lynx 2600M lathe from Mills CNC to keep pace with 35% YoY turnover growth and surging Main Line rail demand.
17D Ltd., a family-owned precision subcontractor specialising in machined replacement and spare parts for the rail industry, has significantly increased its in-house turning capacity with the installation of a new DN Solutions Lynx 2600M lathe, supplied by Mills CNC and commissioned in February 2026.
The challenge
Since Covid, 17D has posted strong year-on-year growth. Turnover rose 35% in 2025 versus 2024, and the company has doubled headcount in just two years. Main Line rail work now accounts for 80% of annual turnover, up from 20% in 2020 — a swing that has put sustained pressure on the company's two older CNC lathes, which, although still serviceable, were creating production bottlenecks that risked lead times.
The solution
17D initially spec'd a compact 6" or 8" chuck Lynx 2100M. Mills CNC then flagged that a larger Fanuc i Plus-controlled 10" chuck Lynx 2600M was available for immediate delivery, with extra power and capacity at negligible floorspace cost. 17D placed the order.
The Lynx 2600M is a 3-axis turning centre with C-axis, driven tooling (BMT 55P turret, 6,000 rpm), a 12/24-position servo-driven turret, roller-type LM guideways and a fully programmable tailstock. The machine was supplied with a MH5500 swarf conveyor, an auto tool setter and a FilterMist extraction unit.
The new lathe joins two DN Solutions DNM 4500 vertical machining centres — also supplied by Mills CNC in 2020 and 2024 — at 17D's 2,500 sq. ft. machine shop in Matlock, Derbyshire.
In production
The Lynx 2600M is now machining wear and replacement parts — shafts, housings, cylinders, couplings, connectors, pins and bushings — for Main Line, Heritage and Miniature rail customers. Batches run from one-offs to 200-off, in mild steel, pre-hardened tool steel, cast iron, stainless, aluminium and carbon steel, held to tied-up tolerances down to 0.025 mm and surface finishes down to Ra 0.8 µm.
The machine's versatility was demonstrated when a small batch of components originally earmarked for one of 17D's DNM 4500 VMCs was completed on the Lynx 2600M in a single set-up.
"Our new Lynx 2600M is a powerful, accurate and flexible machine. Opting for the Lynx 2600M with driven tooling enables us to machine larger parts in a single set up, and the investment has already helped us significantly improve our productivity and process efficiencies and, more importantly, meet our production schedules and hit customer lead times."
— Tristan Dengate, Owner and Managing Director, 17D Ltd.
The market
According to the Office of Road and Rail, as of 31 March 2025 there were over 15,000 passenger railway vehicles registered in operation in Great Britain — not including operational freight rolling stock, which is estimated to be considerably higher. 17D, with its quick-turnaround machining capability, rail-industry know-how and additional services (reverse engineering, tooling design and manufacture, light fabrication, turnkey solutions), is well placed to grow market share in that installed base.
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Source: Mills CNC press release, June 2026. Image 1: DN Solutions Lynx 2600M in production at 17D's Matlock facility. Image 2: The Lynx 2600M being delivered, February 2026.
Contacts: Tony Dale, CEO, Mills CNC Ltd — sales@millscnc.co.uk / 01926 736736. Ged Scully, Director, WOW Communications Ltd — 07931 255067.
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