East Yorkshire-based Agriweld Ltd — a manufacturer of cultivation and material-handling equipment for the agricultural industry — has taken delivery of a new Penta 3015 fibre laser fitted with an IPG 4kW fibre laser source; it was supplied by UK agent World Machinery (
www.worldmc.co.uk).
After looking at several other brands of fibre lasers, Agriweld managing director Dean Foster said: “We had been talking to multiple suppliers, but after discussions with Wayne Hipkiss at World Machinery, we were convinced it was
the right fibre laser to replace our existing plasma cutting machine.
"We were looking for higher-quality cutting than we were achieving with plasma, as the holes it produced were never round or parallel.
"With the fibre laser, we can expect to eliminate that problem while improving production speeds and efficiency.”
World Machinery also supplied Agriweld with a new CAD/CAM system to further boost its production.
Mr Foster said: “Back in 1992, we had to work with paper drawings and templates, which was time-consuming and inaccurate.
"Our first profile cutter used hand drafted drawings and a magic eye; we never had two components the same. Manufacturing was difficult, but we stuck with it and slowly progressed to better equipment.”
Agriweld now uses Lantek software, which was supplied with the new Penta. Engineers from the company were sent for two days of advanced training, after which they were able to begin preparing for the installation of the new fibre laser.
World Machinery has also installed remote technology support, with an Internet connection to the laser’s Penta PC allowing 24/7 monitoring.
A feature of the IPG 4kW laser is its ability to cut (with compressed air) mild steel up to 5mm thick at 5.2m/min and stainless steel up to 10mm thick at 1.8m/min.