The three most recent models have been fibre lasers, which have now almost completely replaced CO₂ in our industry. "During that time we have repeatedly part exchanged our two machines, buying a total of 10, of which the last eight were from Bystronic. We were early adopters of the technology and have been using it constantly over the years, witnessing its progression. ESP employs a profiling speed of 6,900mm/minute when producing the chain links, although the machine is capable of 150m/minute on thin gauges and accelerates at 2.5g to minimise non-cutting time.ĮSP joint owner Steve McMillan comments: "We started ESP 25 years ago with a 1.2kW CO₂ laser cutter, buying a second, 1.5kW model four years later.
There is the added advantage that cut edges are better, especially on the underside of the sheet, than when formerly using 'active' oxygen, as 'inert' nitrogen does not react with the sheet material. Oxygen had to be used, requiring the cutting speed to be reduced so that acceptable edge quality could be achieved.īy contrast, the 12kW machine produces 600 parts per hour, as the higher power allows the use of nitrogen and hence full profiling speed. When formerly profiling the parts on the ByStar Fiber 10kW machine that is still in use at the Rotherham facility, 200 components per hour was the maximum output, as there was not sufficient laser power to employ nitrogen as the assist gas. It also minimises the risk of cut parts tilting, protruding from the material surface and interfering with the nozzle, avoiding the need to use micro joints and saving even more time when the sheet exits the machine by making shaking-out of the parts easier.įor processing one particular job, profiling chain links from 10mm mild steel sheet, an exceptional threefold productivity improvement was gained on the 12kW machine. This is partly down to the higher power, but also due to the provision of a newly designed cutting head.Īlso contributing to the higher than expected efficiency is a cutting plan algorithm running in Bystronic's latest BySoft 7 nesting and control software that executes the most efficient route around the nest. What ESP's joint owners Steve McMillan and Paul Short have actually experienced is a typical productivity increase of one-third. Delivering one-fifth more energy to the metal sheet than the previous most powerful fibre laser (10kW), the new source was expected to be 20% faster at cutting. The increase in productivity has been remarkable. The laser profiling machine in question follows the development of a 12kW fibre laser source by Swiss manufacturer Bystronic whose Coventry subsidiary delivered the machine, a ByStar Fiber 3015, in April 2019 to the contract machinist's factory.
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