Better known for its high-performance sawing products, Kasto Ltd, Milton Keynes (www.kasto.uk.com), has been actively promoting its workshop/dealer range of machines for the past year. The programme comprises smaller bandsaws, circular saws, and hacksaws and MACH 2014 was the first time that all three ranges were shown at a national exhibition. Aimed at jobbing shops, they are designed alongside the company's high-end sawing machines and are manufactured at the parent company’s German factory.

The three models on display were the KastoFunctional U bandsaw with length-stop adjustment, the KastoRadial M6 circular pull-down saw, and the KastoHBS 1 power hacksaw, which is used widely in workshops (including on ships) and is popular for jobbing applications (on a variety of metals) where space is limited, performance is of secondary importance and small volumes of cut pieces are involved.

Mitre cutting from 0 to 45deg is provided. High-performance cutting was demonstrated by a KastoTec AC4 KPC cutting 200mm-diameter 316 stainless steel in 3.8min using a coated carbide blade running at 70m/min. The emphasis was on the measures that have been taken to manage and minimise vibration, which leads to higher band speeds and feeds, increased production output, lower noise levels, better accuracy and surface finish, and longer blade life.

KPC (Kasto Performance Cutting) technology can increase bandsawing productivity by up to 400% compared with a standard saw. A Unitower C storage tower for sheet metal occupied a large area of the stand; it stores flat products up to 3 x 1.5m, as well as other materials such as bar and tube — plus boxes and semi-finished goods. The tower is especially suitable for job shops, machine shops and small to medium-size sheet-metal processing facilities, providing flexible storage at heights up to 7.2m within a footprint of 3,415 x 4,350mm.