If you're an on-site machinist, you may be expected to work across a variety of industries - often carrying out in-situ jobs such as flange facing, hot tapping or pipe cutting. It goes without saying that the most important thing is to get the job done efficiently and effectively. But if you can demonstrate your knowledge of what goes on at the plant then your credibility can be enhanced - potentially leading to more work in the future.

Oil refining plants create a huge amount of on-site machining work,  so having a grasp of the main process involved will put you in a good position. The graphic we've created for you below shows the principle behind a fractionating column used to refine crude oil.

As part of our ongoing 25th anniversary celebrations, this week we’re breaking away from the usual portable machine tool insight and take a look at what has changed since Mirage Machines was founded back in 1993.

Despite a few bumps along the road, the energy industries have seen dramatic growth in output - Which is just as well when you look at the growth in the world's population.

The VHT series of machines has been designed for wellhead machining applications, such as when gate valves are seized. When this happens, one solution is to fit a new valve on top of the defective one and to machine a hole through the seized slab gate, allowing the product to flow through.

Mirage in-situ machining products are used for many different applications across a wide range of industry sector. That's why do our best to keep up to date with the latest industry trends and predictions. This not only helps us forecast demand for products, but also drives our product development, sales and marketing strategies.

So what does the future hold for the sectors that generate work for the on-site machinist? Take a look at some recent predictions we’ve found from various of sources below.

Mirage portable machine tools are designed to be versatile, making them suitable for a range on in-situ machining applications. But occasionally, our customers are faced with very specific and challenging projects that require modification of  a standard machine. This video shows one recent example, where a HT60 drilling machine was adapted to increase the bore diameter within a coupler.