Recol Engineering Ltd, a Northampton-based subcontract supplier of metal-based manufacturing solutions, will become Europe’s first user of an Amada ACIES-2515TAJ 4 kW CNC fibre-laser profiling centre, complete with double-tower automation system.

Recol is currently enjoying a period of sustained growth. Moreover, the company’s continuous programme of ongoing investment in the latest manufacturing technologies has never been healthier, as evidenced by Recol’s commitment to automated manufacturing solutions.

“We already own a selection of automated Amada CO2 laser-cutting machines, including the first ACIES CO2, bought when it was released in 2013, and an Amada LC-F1,” explains director Ben Guntrip. “However, we mostly process stainless steel and, for the thinner gauges, we knew there would be gains in both speed and energy reduction by investing in our first fibre laser.”

Guntrip says that Recol is a company accustomed to “industry firsts”, and wanted nothing less for its investment in a new fibre laser. A team from Recol consequently visited Amada in Japan to assess the new ACIES-2515TAJ. Duly impressed, the company placed the order, making it the first machine of its type in Europe and only the second in the world outside of Japan.

The ACIES-2515TAJ 4 kW fibre laser is capable of cutting materials up to 6mm thick, including copper, brass and titanium. Featured is a 300-tool, 600-die automatic tool changer with ID tooling system for complete tool management.

“We will use the machine predominantly for processing stainless steel from 2.5 to 3.0mm in thickness, as this is where we will achieve the most gains, both for ourselves and our customers,” says Guntrip.
For further information www.amada.co.uk

The range of laser cutting systems manufactured by Swiss company Bystronic has been extended with the introduction of a new model capable of processing sheet up to 12 m long by 2 m wide. BySprint Fiber 12020 is able to cut large components or more parts of smaller size, extending versatility and productivity for sheet metal and fabrication shops.The power of the laser source can be 3, 4 or 6 kW to suit the intended applications.

As larger sheets allow more efficient nesting, material utilisation is high, so waste is minimised. Bystronic says that its proprietary BySoft 7software supports the user with intelligent nesting routines. BySoft 7 automatically ensures that sheets are used completely and that as many parts as technically possible are nested. To achieve this outcome, BySoft 7 has countless functions, including various nesting processes.

In addition to having the ability to cut extra-large metal sheets, the 12020 format machine allows several smaller sheets to be processed bypositioning them next to each other on the BySprint Fiber’s long cutting table, extending uninterrupted production time compared with smaller machines.

Bystronic also offers the BySprint Fiber for cutting maximum sheet sizes in metres of 8 x 2, 6.5 x 2, 4 x 2 and 3 x 1.5.
For further information www.bystronic.co.uk

TLM Laser has announced a further expansion of its laser technology portfolio to include the Universal Laser Systems (ULS) range. This enables the company to offer laser-cutting solutions for a broad range of materials, including organics, plastics and metals. The company says its philosophy is one of building a portfolio of world-class laser processing technologies that is available within the UK and Ireland from a single source.

The ULS products provide TLM Laser with a range that includes desktop laser processing systems and stand-alone workstations using technology developed form a “material-centric approach”. ULS focuses on the materials used by companies, together with their manufacturing processes, to develop laser processing “tools” that can be used on any laser compatible materials.

Primarily based on CO2 laser sources with laser power from 30 to 150W, theseries offers working envelopes between 406 x 305 x 102mm in height to 1016 x 610 x 305mm. This broad choice of lasers, with wavelengths of 10.6or 9.3 μm, is capable of cutting and/or marking a vast range of materials.

One of the latest developments from ULS is the XLS10MWH MultiWave Hybrid,which is said to be the first and only lasersystem to combine multiple laser wavelengths and power levels into a single coaxial beam focused to a common focal plane. The XLS10 MultiWave Hybrid accommodates a fixed fibre laser source and two different CO2 laser wavelength sources that can be independently or simultaneously controlled for a virtually infinite number of wavelength and power combinations.

An ability to independently control each component of this hybrid laser beam allows laser processing flexibility for an unlimited number of organic and inorganic materials, says the company.
For further information www.tlm-laser.com

A specialist in precision fabricated components for the earthmoving, construction and rail industries has marked its first venture into laser cutting by investing in a 6kW Trumpf TruLaser 3030 Fiber machine. The move has allowed Staffordshire-based Ecam Engineering to enter the market for different types of components, spurring growth of 20% in 2018, and introducing higher levels of cut quality and capacity.

“We quote for lots of different work here at Ecam, but the majority is for steel between 8 and 20mm thick,” states managing director Phil Arme. “We’ve been using plasma and oxy-gas profiling, but noticed more and more enquiries for a laser-cut finish. Not wanting to miss out on these opportunities, we did our due diligence and spoke with a number of laser profiling machine suppliers.”

Ecam shortlisted the most suitable candidates, visiting each one to perform material cutting trials.

“Some fibre laser machines are not the best at cutting steel up to 20mm thick, however, we were amazed by the trial at Trumpf,” states Arme. “Unlike at other places we visited, there was no tweaking involved, the machine just cut the material without any issues whatsoever. Moreover, the cut quality was by far the best we had seen.”

Duly installed, the TruLaser 3030 Fiber was supplied to Ecam Engineering with Trumpf’s CoolLine and BrightLine technologies. The former is proving to be particularly vital.CoolLine keeps temperatures constant by spraying a fine water mist around the point of cut. The evaporation of just 30ml of water per minute provides 1kW of cooling, and its use allows tighter parts nesting and narrower skeletons, resulting in better material utilisation.
For further information www.uk.trumpf.com