The Problem:

Alabama Laser Technologies (ALT) in Munford, Alabama, is a manufacturer of products used in corrosion monitoring and the medical industries. They work with many types of alloys from common steels to exotics (the company currently stocks 2000 different alloys), some of which are difficult to cut. In 1988, when laser cutting technology was in its infancy, the company purchased its first laser cutting system for its own use. They soon started to receive requests from other companies that needed laser cutting and became the local experts in the subject. Today, ALT is one of the largest job shops in the country and one of the few ISO 9001 certified laser shops in the Southeast, offering a full range of laser cutting, welding and etching services using more than 20 laser systems.

From the very start, ALT has been dedicated to meeting customer needs and quickly recognized that to do that, the company needed to expand its services beyond laser cutting to become a one-stop metal processor. Today, ALT offers CNC punch presses and press brakes as well as other state-of-the-art machining equipment and also houses a powder coat line, a full capacity machine shop and a welding shop to handle all their customers’ manufacturing needs from one location. They also recognized that providing full service to their customers means utilizing a broader spectrum of cutting systems to produce parts that are not practical or possible with a laser cutting system. This led company president Matthew Johnson to explore waterjet cutting for certain high precision jobs and to cut non-metals. He was also interested in possibly purchasing a plasma cutting system for cutting thicker materials than could be done with lasers.

The Solution:

While researching waterjet systems, Johnson discovered the ESAB HydroCut waterjet/plasma combination cutting system and recognized that he could answer both needs with a single machine.  

The HydroCut is a small, three-axis waterjet gantry that carries up to two waterjet heads and one plasma station. It features rack-and-pinion drives, a precision machined box beam design, fully enclosed y-axis beam and drives, digital AC drive amplifiers for years of maintenance free operation and accurate speed control, and precision y-axis guide ways.

“The waterjet provides tighter tolerances and allows for more intricate shape cutting, while the plasma provides greater speeds for less critical cuts,” Johnson says. “The precision plasma cutter provides a straighter edge with less of a bevel than that produced on standard plasma cutters, and because of the low dross, little secondary cleanup is required. The waterjet system produces clean edge cuts. No heat is involved in the process, so heat-effected zones are not a factor.”

The HydroCut model purchased by ALT can cut thicknesses up to 6" with waterjet and up to 3" with plasma and can handle material up to 6 ft. wide by 12 ft. long. The machine can be used as a standalone waterjet system for very tight tolerance cutting or to cut parts out of plastics, rubber or other non-metals. The precision plasma system can be used alone to cut thicker materials such as 3/4” carbon steel. Having both systems on a single gantry, however, allows the waterjet to be used for intricate, high tolerance cutting and the plasma system to be used to make lower tolerance cutting, such as outside perimeters on the same part, much more quickly than the waterjet could do it.
   
The HydroCut’s capability enables ALT to take on new projects it could not do before. For example, the company was asked to cut a part for a military vehicle from 1/2” aluminum. “We wouldn’t have been able to take this job if we hadn’t bought the waterjet/plasma machine, because you can’t cut 1/2" aluminum with lasers,” Johnson says. With the HydroCut, they were able to cut the intricate interior features with the waterjet, and they used the plasma to quickly cut the outside profile. “It worked just wonderfully. If we didn’t get this machine, we would not be able to quote some jobs that we didn’t want to give up.” Johnson says the company also uses the plasma alone on some lower tolerance jobs, and this has significantly increased productivity on those jobs.

“Our primary business is laser processing, but the waterjet/plasma machine is running every day and definitely helps us service our customers,” Johnson says.

For more information on Alabama Laser Technologies, visit www.alabamalaser.com.