Page 40 - MetalForming November 2015

Italian Metal-Fabricating
and provides up to 10 kW of cutting power.” In addition to the new flat-sheet cutting head, CY also will soon introduce a fiber-laser head for tube cutting (the 6- kW-capacity Evo II).
CY has a long history in producing laser-cutting machines, dating back to 2004 with a cooperative-development relationship with fiber-resonator man- ufacturer IPG Photonics. In fact, CY still houses an IPG-equipped lab where the two companies jointly perform research and development.
CY sold its first fiber-laser cutting system in 2005 (2 kW ), and began mar- keting to the United States in 2009. In 2011 it received a U.S. patent for fiber- laser cutting systems, and just last year it opened CY Laser America, in Sterling Heights, MI.
CY machines share the same design as do Salvagnini machines—“we call the design a ‘wing,’ ” says Frank Vanin, U.S. sales manager. “Compared to gantry-style machines, the wing shortens machine- installation time at the customer and
optimizes flexibility in terms of the shut- tle-table configuration and greater oper- ator access to the cutting table.”
In addition to the soon-to-be- released sheet- and tube-cutting heads, CY also showed us a couple of new developments for its sheet-cutting machines that will debut at FABTECH. These include a shuttle table with wheels, allowing an operator to move the table around a shop from machine to machine; and a CNC fume-collection device that follows the cutting head to collect fumes directly under the head. Developed by Italian manufacturer Sideros, the setup proves more effective and consumes less energy than the more typical segmented-table design used to collect fumes, says Vanin.
Before making our way to Esse- quattro, we paid a quick visit to a job- shop machining company (NGR). It manufactures CY’s cutting-head com- ponents, including those for the soon- to-be-released heads, for which CY pre- dicts to enjoy a large retrofit market.
Then we made a quick stop at job-shop fabricator Zanella Snc, in Schio, which acquired and still operates the first fiber-laser cutting system ever manu- factured, says area sales manager Fed- erico Zocche. The fabricator employs the 2005-vintage machine, with 1.5- kW laser, to produce parts not only for several job-shop customers, but also for its own brand of barbecue grills.
At Essequattro, in the small Italian town of Grisignano di Zocco, we then saw a beautiful display of how laser cut- ting turns sheetmetal—primarily stain- less steel and brass—into works of art. With its 2-kW fiber-laser setup, the firm cuts stainless sheet to 6 mm thick. Bring- ing the work inhouse, explained Zop- pelletto, not only streamlines production but it also makes the firm more respon- sive to the whims of the architects serv- ing its high-end retail clientele.
“Architects often change the designs of their store features such as curtain walls, doors and other building ele- ments, and sometimes do so at the last minute,” he says. “With laser cutting inhouse, we can be extremely responsive to those design changes and still meet just-in-time delivery requirements.”
Essequattro operates its CY cutting machine over two shifts, and it can run lights-out if necessary. To do so, Zoppelletto employs a special control- panel extension that resides on his laptop computer. A closed-circuit cam- era mounted to the cutting machine allows Zoppelletto to monitor lights- out production.
Grazie!
Andy and I found the whirlwind tour of Italian machine-tool manufactur- ers and their fab-shop customers extremely enlightening and educa- tional. And, all of our hosts were very gracious and forthcoming. So, many thanks to all of the companies we vis- ited with, and to the Italian Trade Com- mission for its support.
And, I know there are several man- ufacturers of metal-fabricating equip- ment in Italy that we didn’t visit this go- around. So, stay tuned—we may be going back! MF
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