Premier
League
effort ESP Laser Cutting has upgraded
The most powerful at-bed laser
pro ling centre ever to be installed in
the UK for processing sheet metal has
commenced operation at subcontractor ESP
Laser Cutting, which specialises in producing
components from 3 by 1.5 m sheet in a
wide array of materials to a thickness of
30 mm.
The 12 kW Bystronic ByStar Fiber 3015
was delivered in April 2019 to the rm’s
machinist’s factory in Rotherham by
Coventry-based Bystronic UK (https://is.gd/
unokom). The new source was expected to
be 20% better than Bystronic’s 10 kW unit
on an existing machine, but ESP’s joint
owners Steve McMillan and Paul Short are
seeing a typical productivity increase of onethird,
due to the greater power available a
newly designed cutting head.
A further contributor to higher than
expected ef ciency is a cutting plan
algorithm running in Bystronic’s latest BySoft
7 nesting and control software that executes
the most ef cient route around the nest.
PUNCH, PROFILE, BEND LASER PROCESSING BOUNDARIES PUSHED
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.
For one job in particular, pro ling of chain
links from 10 mm mild steel sheet, a threefold
productivity improvement was gained on
the 12 kW machine. When pro ling the parts
on the ByStar Fiber 10 kW machine still in
use at the Rotherham facility, 200
components per hour was the maximum
output, as there was not suf cient laser
power to employ nitrogen as the assist gas.
Oxygen had to be used, requiring the cutting
speed to be reduced so that acceptable
edge quality could be achieved.
By contrast, the 12 kW machine produces
600 parts per hour, as the higher power
allows the use of nitrogen and hence full
pro ling speed. There is the added
advantage that cut edges are better,
especially on the underside of the sheet,
from a mere 10 kW to a 12 kW
laser source, installing the fi rst such
Bystronic machine in the UK. Benefi ts
are greater than were expected
Two companies demonstrate
their leading-edge credentials by
acquiring UK technology fi rsts:
ESP Laser Cutting with a 12 kW
Bystronic laser profi ler and GF
Laser, which is applying a Trumpf
TruLaser Cell 5030 5-axis profi ler
than when formerly using ‘active’ oxygen, as
‘inert’ nitrogen does not react with the sheet
material. ESP employs a pro ling speed of
6,900 mm/min when producing the chain
links, although the machine is capable of
150 m/min on thin gauges and accelerates
at 2.5 G to minimise non-cutting time.
The journey to today’s 12 kW laser
benchmark has been achieved over 25
years, as McMillan explains: “We started
ESP 25 years ago with a 1.2 kW CO2 laser
cutter, buying a second, 1.5 kW model four
years later. We were early adopters of the
technology and have been using it constantly
over the years, witnessing its progression.
“During that time, we have repeatedly
part-exchanged our two machines, buying a
total of 10, of which the last eight were from
Bystronic. The three most recent models
have been bre lasers, which have now
almost completely replaced CO2 in our
industry.
“We noticed a hike in productivity when
the 6 kW bre arrived in 2013 and another
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