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LASER JOB SHOPS


Laser Cutting, based in Nuneaton, UK, also noted that the company has recently purchased a fibre laser system. ‘Fibre lasers have come into their own,’ he said, adding that solid-state lasers, of which fibre lasers are a class, can now cut up to 25mm stainless steel, aluminium and copper, whereas CO2


lasers can’t. Te disadvantages with fibre lasers


is that, when cutting thicker sections of stainless steel, more than about 5mm, the cut edge quality is rougher than with CO2, and there can be some adherent dross (droplets of resolidified melt) on the bottom edge of the cut. ‘If you get that on your 6mm or 8mm stainless steel plate, you have to remove it before you can do anything with it,’ explained Powell. ‘Tis is a problem particularly when trying to stack cut parts on top of one another. You can’t stack them on the pallet because they’ll damage the one below.’ Te other issue with fibre lasers is


that, because of the wavelength of light they operate at, they won’t cut plastics, unless it’s a special sort of plastic. Tis can be a problem because a lot of stainless steel is wrapped in plastic, commented Powell. ‘If you are cutting with a fibre laser you have to order steel wrapped in a special plastic that can be cut with a fibre laser,’ he said. ‘Tat can slow the job down and as the response time of a normal job shop job is about three or four days, then this can cause problems if you have to wait for special plastic to be put on the material.’ Powell added that, in general, fibre


lasers are extremely quick and have much lower maintenance costs and lower electricity costs. Mongan at Subcon Laser Cutting noted that although fibre lasers use less electricity than CO2


lasers, they use more assist


gas. Subcon has invested in a nitrogen regeneration system, because of the number of lasers the company is operating. Te lasers available today are more


powerful and reliable than 15 or 20 years ago. For Powell, it is the reliability of the machines that is the biggest difference between running a laser job shop today and 20 years ago. ‘Now the reliability is much more like


www.lasersystemseurope.com | @lasersystemsmag ISSUE 23 • SUMMER 2014 LASER SYSTEMS EUROPE 35


a standard production machine,’ he remarked. ‘Before that, there were endless breakdowns.’ Te market for subcontract laser


processing is buoyant at the moment in the UK, according to Cockayne at Midtherm: ‘We’re working two shiſts and the machines are operating 24 hours a day.’ Both Powell and Mongan are also


busy. Powell said the job shop market now seems to be genuinely improving: ‘Tat means jobs are being won on delivery times rather than price.’ However, Cockayne said that even


though engineering in the UK is booming, ‘there’s probably not a lot of space within the marketplace now for any more laser job shops’. With engineering and


manufacturing having a bit of a resurgence in the UK, there is plenty of work for laser job shops. But it’s the experience and knowledge of the staff to a certain extent that makes a successful laser job shop – knowledge that is pooled in the UK as part of the AILU Job Shop special interest group – as well as the investment in new laser technology.


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