At Advanced Kiffer Systems Inc., Cleveland, durability is a top concern, as it employs heavy-duty construction techniques for its plasma cutting solutions, most notably the dura-kut gantry precision cutting system. Founded in the 1930s as a basic machine shop, AKS has taken its machine-building experience into new realms, including the plasma market, all while maintaining the philosophy that products built tough are the best answer for tough manufacturing needs.

"What we’re trying to take to market is a system that’s developed toward machine tool quality and is heavy in design," says George Stelmaschuk, regional sales manager for AKS. "We utilize the best-quality components out there to provide a system that, in a nutshell, will last longer than competitive models and provide years of good service."

The system is built and reinforced to endure beyond the intense and constant production needs of its users, which allows for added material size capabilities, faster cutting speeds and higher cut qualities.

Super strength
The dura-kut boasts welded, reinforced components with contact surfaces specifically machined to match mating surfaces. Its unusual design uses the same rail beams used on railroads, giving it a distinct advantage of enhanced rigidity and sturdiness over the more-common rail beam systems that are derived from elevator systems. Coupled with oversized bearings and a wide wheel base, the dura-kut’s rail system benefits from the lightweight engineering of the gantry, which can accommodate a total of six cutting heads, be they oxy-fuel or plasma, to enhance throughput.

"The rail system is going to determine the life of the machine, so if you’ve got a nice rail system, it can last indefinitely, as long as you maintain it," says Stelmaschuk. "On the gantry part of it, a lot of companies will just take their tubing and they‘ll wall a couple tubes together, which is fine, but we take it a step further. We actually construct that into a ribbed construction, almost like an airplane wing. This makes it strong and rigid, yet it lightens the weight of [the gantry]. And the lighter you can make it, the better you can perform, as far as the cutting process goes."

In response to overheating issues, the dura-kut also features a cooling system that circulates air through the beam bridge to keep it cool, as well as heat shields to prevent heat buildup.

With this heavy-duty point of view, the dura-kut is aimed at operations with heavier plate or sheet fabrication, be they mild steels, stainless or aluminum, and operations with high production quantities, as it can outpace the average laser system on thicker materials.

It comes in various widths and lengths to accommodate any size application required. It also has optional add-ons, such as oxy-fuel height control and an automatic oxy-fuel station ignition, a straight bevel cutting station, and plasma and scriber marking stations.

Doubling up
For Precision Machine & Metal Fabrication Inc., a job shop in Tupelo, Miss., that prides itself on its ability to cut almost anything that comes through the door, the size of the dura-kut cutting table, combined with the machine’s reliability and its simplified and user-friendly interface, has noticeably enhanced the company’s versatility and output potential. Now, one of its primary products, 28-cubic-yard dump trailers, is manufactured with swifter load times and production times, enhancing quality and potential quantity. In fact, the dura-kut performed so well running nonstop for several months, Precision Machine purchased a second machine to further increase its productivity.

"[The dura-kut] ran so well for so long that it pretty much justified the purchase of another," says John Finley, conventional machine and fabrication manager at Precision Machine. "And [like the first machine], we haven’t had any issues with the second. It’s so big and heavy, which was what we liked about it. For the money, you just can’t buy a better-built machine.

"The added cutting capacity has reduced load times and increased production and quality dramatically," Finley continues. "We currently cut parts on the dura-kut that we previously would’ve only cut on our waterjet."

The added cutting breadth on Precision Machine’s floor has allowed the company to purchase mill-sized plates directly from the mill, erasing a significant hindrance on its production.

Simple power
At the heart of the dura-kut system is its CNC controller, which features MicroEdge technology from Hypertherm Inc., Hanover, N.H. The Windows XP-based system is designed to be frequently upgraded and includes a 15-inch LCD touchscreen and the ability to program the next job while one is being completed on the machine.

"It’s so user-friendly," says Finley. "You can stop in the middle of a production run and run one or two little parts you might need for the hot job that comes in, and then boom, you can resume right where you left off. You don’t miss a beat."

According to Stelmaschuk, the Hypertherm CNC system was developed from that company’s extensive research into operator behavior and needs. The result is a system so easy, seemingly anyone can use it. "[Hypertherm] implemented a cut wizard within its system so that you could take somebody that doesn’t even know anything and put them in front of this thing, and it’ll guide them through," says Stelmaschuk. "You do one thing at a time. It steps you through selecting the file or the program to run, aligning the torch to the material, then setting all the cutting parameters. It’s one of the most intuitive systems out there."

Along with simplified usability, the dura-kut follows a growing trend in machine manufacturing in that it has the potential to be accessed remotely by AKS through the Internet, expediting troubleshooting and maintenance issues. This, along with the detailed machine training AKS offers its customers, is indicative of its customer service philosophy being as heavy-duty as its machine engineering.

"The system gets installed by our factory installers," says Stelmaschuk. "We don’t substitute that out to anybody. We send a person there. And typically they stay there, supervise and work with the customer’s maintenance and production people to get the machine installed and up and running."

With enhanced production capabilities and a greater ability to meet customer demand, Precision Machine has become a stronger company thanks to the strength of the dura-kut.

"Our operators love the ease of use and the user-friendliness of the [dura-kut] machines," says Finley. "And as we all know, that translates into increased production and operator longevity." MM