Page 29 - MetalForming November 2011

systems, according to Fickenscher:
• Closer monitoring of the piercing process to yield considerable time sav- ings when processing thicker sheet-
metal;
• Minimized axis movements, to
boost throughput; and
• Automatic adjustment of beam
focal length.
As a result of these and other inno-
vations, here’s where fabricators are enjoying quality improvements:
• Surface roughness: 10 micrometers for sheetmetal 0.15 in. thick is the tar- get for eliminating refinishing at visible edges.
• Perpendicularity: With proper adjustment, the deviation from a right angle can be limited to 0.004 in. in sheet 0.4 in. thick.
• Kerf width: While the width of the cut inevitably rises with increasing sheet thickness, it is a scant 0.006 in. for sheet about 0.10 in. thick.
• Groove deflection: Reducing the advancing speed can almost com- pletely eliminate the groove trailing effect, even in thick sheet.
• Burr-free: Laser cutting eliminates burrs and thereby the additional step typically required to finish the edges, an important quality feature.
• Pitting: Just like erosion, pitting interrupts the regular cutting surface and can be avoided with the appro- priate parameters.
A Crusading Fabricator
Eric Schleich, president of metal- fabrication shop E.S. Metal, Terryville, CT, and a devoted user of CO2-laser cutting technology, is the kind of guy who defies all odds. He received top honors in school for industrial arts, but had a reputation as a renegade in spite of this academic success. School officials enrolled him at E.C. Goodwin Technical High School in New Britain, CT, where the plan was for Eric to learn to be a plumber. But it was machine tools that caught his eye.
“The machine shop blew me away,” he says. “I immediately knew that this is what I wanted to do.” You won’t find Eric, now in his early 50s, crawling
Top: An E.S. Metal operator tends to one of the firm’s two TruLaser 4030 laser-cutting machines, equipped with an 80- by 160-in. worktable and a 4000-W resonator. Shown is a part that the company manufactures for Trumpf; the laser makes quick work of the job, cutting 11 gauge (1⁄8 in.) pickled and oiled steel sheet at 150 in./min. Bottom: Cut parts are formed on a press brake, then welded.
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MetalForming/November 2011 27
under kitchen sinks nor snaking drains. Instead, he’s running a successful pre- cision sheetmetal-fabrication business that he founded in 1985. He runs the 20-person 30,000-sq-.ft. facility along- side his brother Russell (vice president)
and his son Kyle, the company’s lead programmer.
From humble beginnings in a base- ment, with a scant few cutting, form- ing and welding machines, E.S. Metal has grown into a global supplier of