Major investment at Lasershape

Sub-contract sheet and plate-profiling specialist Lasershape Ltd (www.lasershape.com) has added a four-head CNC system from Water Jet Sweden to its recently installed pair of twin-jet Perndorfer systems. This brings the Nottingham-based company’s investment to about £1 million. The new NC4060Q — one of the largest water-jet machines in the UK — gives Lasershape the ability to cut almost any material. Water mixed with abrasive garnet is pressurised to 200 times the pressure of a jet wash and forced though an aperture the size of a pin-head at 1,000m/sec. Powered by a 100hp KMT pump, the jet that this produces can cut steel up to 150mm thick. Company director Tom Leam says: “Since it was installed, the WJS machine has enabled us to take on larger projects in sectors such as architecture and construction. For example, we are currently processing parts for a very large staircase destined for a major new office building.”

The new machine is situated alongside the two Austrian-built Perndorfer machines, giving Lasershape one of the most advanced facilities of its type in the country. “We have been offering water-jet services for the past nine years, but having these three recently installed machines puts us in a renewed position of strength.

“It’s a very versatile and highly accurate technology, and one of its biggest benefits is the elimination of additional downstream operations such as machining. This makes the total component or product costs extremely competitive.” Despite the high kinetic energy in the jet, there is no deformation, and a highly precise cut is achieved, without fraying or ridges. In fact, the cut edges are of sufficiently high quality to avoid the need for any post-cut treatment, which is ‘good news’ for precision industries such as aerospace and defence. “We have already completed extensive defence projects on our machines, including the processing of hundreds of tonnes of armour plate and ballistic composites.”