Band saws increase distributor’s cutting capacity on hard-to-cut metals

Situation

Metal distributor Langley Alloys knows its way around materials that are considered difficult. At its U.K. facility in Newcastle under Lyme, Staffordshire, 70 employees cut tubes, sheets, and bars made of duplex or super duplex stainless steels, high-strength austenitic stainless steels, copper-nickel, and nickel-based alloys.

The company, which serves customers from small workshops and the automotive industry to constructors of large steel bridges, industrial buildings, and ships, was ready to expand capacity but realized that wasn’t possible with its existing saws. After 10 years of processing difficult-to-cut metals, its Kastotec AC 4, Kastowin A 4.6, and Kastowin pro AC 5.6 band saws had reached their limits. And a lack of space in the production hall prevented the acquisition of more band saws.

With the goal of acquiring saws that could use carbide bands to achieve shorter cutting times for large stocks of nickel alloys, representatives of Langley Alloys approached Kasto Maschinenbau’s U.K. branch in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, to discuss possible options.

Resolution

Langley Alloys acquired new Kasto band saws with improved CNC that allows the employees to set up various sawing jobs faster. The machines set the speed and feed correctly for each job, without relying on the operator’s knowledge, opening up a greater potential for operator selection.

The saws handle all sawing jobs at Langley Alloys, including hard-to-cut metals, with little downtime. Cutting capacity and precision have increased without complex monitoring.