TEN Magazine April 2020 TEN Magazine April 2020 | Page 28

LASERS
The worldwide laser community has also
been quick to share artwork files and advice
to enable even small craft businesses to
easily switch their production to make PPE.
Elise Williams runs Etsy shop, Goozeberry
Hill, specialising in personalised gifts
products which are predominantly made
from wood, paper and card. Elise had never
cut plastics on her Speedy 300 laser cutter
before, she said: “There was a lot of trial and
error before I perfected the cutting, but now
I am full steam ahead with over 750 masks
(& counting!) being distributed in my area.
They have gone to bus drivers, care workers,
mental health nurses and everyone in
between. The project has been funded
by generous donations from the public.”
Although there are several different
technologies available, laser cutting is
proving to be the production method of
choice for many organisations. The Engine
House in Bexley provides an innovative
workspace and incubator for start-ups as
well as a Tech Makers studio for rapid
prototyping.
Having been contacted by the local authority,
The Engine House team jumped into action.
Initially using traditional methods such as
injection moulding and die-cutting, the team
decided to make the switch over to their laser
cutter having waited a week to receive their
initial design from the fabricators, only to find
it needed some changes - The process was
too slow.
Head Of Creative Services at The Engine
House, Lewie Winters said: “We needed
proof of concept for our newly designed face
shield and decided to put our laser cutter to
use. PETG was the material of choice so we
got some on order which was going to arrive
in 24 hours, we then used a mixture of card
and laminate paper to prototype the design
on our laser cutter which was a success.
“Within a matter of hours we were able to
take an idea and turn it into reality, we are
now likely to obtain CE
certification this week and will
be able to produce 20,000
units per day to help supply
the NHS.”
Computer Engineer, Andrew Rudge, had
been using a 3D printer with an output rate
of one visor every two hours, he has since
switched production to a Trotec Speedy 100
laser cutter which has drastically increased
production capacity.
Andrew said: “I’ve been able to make 70
visors in a few hours using the laser and
now have 200 complete kits sent out directly
from the Speedy 100, with another batch
of 1000 underway.”
Alongside PPE, many companies have been
creating other solutions to help in the fight
against Covid-19, including social distancing
signage and acrylic door openers which
reduce contact with potentially dirty surfaces.
Others are getting involved with cutting
fabrics used to produce medical ‘scrubs’.
Diversification in times of need
The ability to react quickly in a marketplace
has been proven to support the longevity
and ongoing success of many businesses.
Although much of the activity which has been
happening amid the Covid-19 pandemic has
been not-for-profit, it has been evidence that
in times of need, a laser cutter can be very
quickly diverted to new tasks and materials.
For Trotec customers, the free materials
database provides guidance on machine
settings to make it easy for customers to work
with new substrates, while the online global
community has seen Trotec users worldwide
sharing ideas and supporting each other in
the unprecedented circumstances that they
are experiencing.
Trotec is providing online demonstrations of
its laser cutters and engravers as well as a
series of webinars with the first UK-hosted
event, “Laser Engravers Then & Now: The
latest advancements that you should know
about.”, taking place on 30th April at 3pm,
For more information visit
www.troteclaser.co.uk
Italian Pavilion, Fira Barcelona Montjuic,
Barcelona, Spain
BARCELONA, SPAIN
28
APRIL 2020
The Magazine for the
Awards & Imaging Industry
TROPHIES AWARDS ENGRAVING DOMING PERSONALISATION SUBLIMATION BESPOKE EMBROIDERY PRINTING IMAGING LASER
2020
Revised dates announced: January 22 & 23 2021
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