For Immediate Release

Contact: Sandy James (604) 276-2131

The chips were flying as eight (8) live CNC machine tool demonstrations ‘wowed’ customers at the Thomas Skinner & Son Vancouver branch Open House on December 5, 2013.“It was another successful Open House! We are very proud to host these events for our customers to explore the latest innovations through live demonstrations and supplier displays” says Don Babineau, VP Operations, Thomas Skinner. “Our customers are busy and we respect the time they take away from their businesses to attend our events. We make it our mission to ensure their time spent is valuable and we definitely achieved that again this year!”.

Here is what some of our supplier partners had to say about the event:

“The Sandvik Coromant team would like to thank everyone at Thomas Skinner for giving Sandvik Coromant, and other manufacturers an opportunity for us to present our latest innovative products at your Open House. Our team was very busy with inquiries all day, especially about our new GC4325 turning grade. Customers also commented about the top notch machine demos which generated several leads for us as well. Thank you Thomas Skinner for your dedication to the machining industry in Western Canada” states Jim Cordoviz, Regional Business Manager Western Canada, Sandvik Coromant Canada.

“There is more to this industry than what can be found on the internet. The Thomas Skinner open house is a magnificent event which shows the latest in machine tool technology. The live machining presentations transformed an open house into a great exhibition. The demonstrations keep improving every year, and this year all eight were very cool indeed” states Chuck Van Volkingburgh, WestCam Solutions Inc. “Thank you again for inviting us, it has been our pleasure to attend.”

“The Thomas Skinner and Son Open House is an annual event that I, as a supplier, look forward to. It allows me to meet with a wide range of customers and gain insight into all aspects of our industry. This is a highlight of my year and truly stands out in Western Canada. Congratulations Thomas Skinner & Son for another successful event.” Anthony Oke, Lenox.

The live demonstrations included the following:

• Haas machines: ST-30SSY... high speed steel turning on 2” material. Milling and interpolation using Y-axis. Haas automatic touch probe for in process tool breakage detection. VF-6/50...large drilling high feed milling and facing. Featuring Sandvik high material removal drilling, programmed by WestCam Gibbs.

NEWS RELEASE

Members of the Thomas Skinner management team Don Babineau, VP Operations (right), Paul Krainer, President (middle), Ross McDonald, VP Sales (left)

infront of the Haas ST-20SSY

Customers had the opportunity to see the Sandvik Coromant experts for information on the latest

in tooling solutions.

The huge turn out made for a very busy showroom.#1#

For Immediate Release

Contact: Sandy James (604) 276-2131

VF-2... high speed pocketing and profile machining using Sandvik’s new 419 cutter. High speed drilling using Sandvik 860 and 880 drills Part probing using WIPS-R. DT-1... high rapid moves and tool changes while milling, drilling and tapping.

• Okuma machines: Multus B300-W-II...multitasking “done – in – one” concept, with 17 tools used to produce the part, completely programmed using Okuma One-Touch Advanced conversations software. New OSP-P300S control in action. LB-3000EX-II-1000-MY-BB...lots of Y-axis milling and threading. Complete programming done on Advance One-Touch IGF Okuma conversational. Genos M-560V...Emuge demo using MasterCam to program featuring lots of thread making and high speed machining. Genos L-400... Very aggressive threading and turning off tapered oil field fitting.

Through our partnership with Haas and their continued sponsorship of the Skill Canada Competitions we continue to actively support education facilities across Western Canada through the HTech Network. We hosted 47 machinist students from BCIT, along with various faculty members. The students had the opportunity to talk with industry specialists including the Thomas Skinner Application Technicians.

This year several customers from Vancouver Island attended the Open House. “On behalf of all of us from Inuktun; I want to thank you and your staff for hosting us yesterday. Seeing the new machinery and networking with the suppliers, TS staff and other attendees was a very valuable experience. Please convey our thanks to everyone involved” expresses Alan McDougall, Inuktun Service Ltd. from Nanaimo, BC.

Several supplier hosted seminars took place throughout the day including Emuge, Lenox, Techniks, Kurt, Mastercam, GibbsCam and Integrated Solutions. The seminars allowed customers to take a break from the showroom and get a sampling of some of the latest and greatest the industry has to offer. Thomas Skinner is planning a number of educational seminars throughout their four locations in 2014 - please check our website in early January for the schedule.

Thomas Skinner would like to thank everyone who came to our Open House and the many suppliers who helped make this show such a success: Okuma, Mitutoyo, HydMech, Sandvik Coromant, Lenox, Blaser, Big Kaiser, Carr Lane Manufacturing, Chick, ChipBlaseter, CribMaster, Emuge, GibbsCAM, Integrated Solutions, Jergens, Kitagawa NorthTech, Kurt, Lange Industries, Mastercam, Remtech Systems, Renishaw, Schunk, SIC Marking, StorLoc and Techniks.

Our 2014 event schedule will be posted on our website www.thomasskinner.com in January 2014.

NEWS RELEASE

Suppliers gather for a “pre-show” breifing by Don Babineau, Thomas Skinner VP Operations.

Customers watch a live demonstration on the Okuma Multus B300W II, designed and run

by Joey Warren, Thomas Skinner Applications Technician.

Demo piece machined on the Okuma Multus B300W II.

Sandy JamesMarketing ManagerThomas Skinner & Son Ltd.13880 Vulcan WayRichmond, BC V6V 1K6Phone (604) 276-2131Fax (604) 276-8545E-mail sjames@tskinner.comwww.thomasskinner.com###