Page 24 - MetalForming January 2016

High-Power CO2 Laser
...is a sure bet for this Las Vegas fabricator looking to cash in by fabricating relatively thick metal parts, including signs and decorative sculptures for a new highway that will connect Arizona and Nevada.
Las Vegas-based P&S Metals and Supply Co., a provider of metal- alloy sheet and plate as well as fabricated-metal products, has found a winning combination with a Mazak
Optiplex 10- by 5-ft. laser-cut- ting machine paired with a 4000-W CO2 resonator. With its roots
tracing back to the 1970s when the Vegas construction boom brought plenty of heavy structural fabrication its way, P&S has reinvented itself in recent years. As structural work has dried up in the Vegas heat, P&S has hit the prover- bial jackpot with an uptick in plate and sheetmetal fabrication.
“We’re processing 1000 tons of steel sheet per month,” says P&S owner
Gene Perry. “Some 25 percent of our work is for the slot-machine and high- way industries. We fabricate for sever- al suppliers to the slot-machine OEMs, and also fabricate metal signs, guard rails and decorative metal sculptures found along roads and bridges.”
A Laser-Cutting Powerhouse
P&S operates out of four buildings
BY BRAD F. KUVIN, EDITOR
Mazak rates the 4000-W machine installed recently at P&S Metals for cutting mild steel to
minum to 3⁄8 in. Positioning accuracy in the x-y directions (rack-and-pinion drives) is 0.002
machine “the gift that keeps on giving,” because not only has it helped to bring in new customers, but it’s also opened up shop capacity.
22 MetalForming/January 2016 www.metalformingmagazine.com
1 in. thick, stainless steel to 0.5 in. and alu- in./20 in. Perry considers the new cutting