So in 2015, one of the CO 2 machines was exchanged for Laser 24's first fibre laser cutting machine, a Bystronic 3 kW ByStar Fiber 3015. Copper and its alloys, which previously could not have been considered at all, can additionally be cut as there are no conventional optics to be damaged by back reflections.
![bysoft 7 part bending bysoft 7 part bending](https://daks2k3a4ib2z.cloudfront.net/59e61fde8583900001597b05/5a0055c158ec93000140e6e0_BySoft-7.png)
However, it had become apparent that for cutting stainless steel and aluminium, it was impossible to be competitive with a CO 2 laser as fibre lasers were so efficient at processing these reflective materials. Various permutations of more powerful CO 2 laser cutting machines were operational on the shop floor over the next seven years. At the time, one of the early contracts was the production of 5,000 decorative snowflakes from 0.5 mm aluminium sheet for a Christmas display at Harrods department store in London. In a little over a decade the subcontractor has grown to employ 26 staff and has added CNC bending to its capacity.ĭue to the reliability of the Bystronic machines at his previous company and in particular the user-friendliness of the software, Laser 24's first purchase was a second-hand BySprint 1.8 kW CO 2 3015 (3m x 1.5m) laser cutting machine, which ran 24/7 in a 3,500 sq ft factory unit in Wickford, Essex. Seven years later, in mid-2008, he decided to use a small inheritance, remortgage his house and join forces with co-director Paul King to set up their own company, Laser 24, to provide similar subcontract services.
![bysoft 7 part bending bysoft 7 part bending](https://www.bystronicusa.com/us-media/img/training-scheduler/Bysoft-Bend.jpg)
Within the first three months he had reorganised the firm's production processes, started programming and operating the lasers, and took a course in the nesting, programming and simulation software, BySoft. This chart will get you close enough for most applications and may not require fine tuning on your part.After completing his apprenticeship and gaining an HND in mechanical engineering as well as an NVQ Level 3 in AutoCad, Iain Summerfield found himself at a sheet metal subcontractor in 2001 sweeping the floor and loading material onto four Bystronic CO 2 flat-bed laser cutting machines. Protective coatings, variations in the alloy and thickness as well as many other small factors all add up to give you Bend Allowances unique to your operation. The largest variations come from the materials themselves. Unfortunately sheet metal bending is not always going to be the same in every shop. The leg lengths are the part of the flange which is outside of the bend radius. The Bend Allowance is defined as the material you will add to the actual leg lengths of the part in order to develop a flat pattern. Likewise when you are trying to develop a flat pattern you will have to make a deduction from your desired part size to get the correct flat size. As this happens you gain a small amount of total length in your part. When the sheet metal is put through the process of bending the metal around the bend is deformed and stretched. Understanding the Bend Allowance and consequently the Bend Deduction of a part is a crucial first step to understanding how sheet metal parts are fabricated.