Tuesdays with Sarah

Good morning! The past couple months have flown by and we're almost to spring! Don't forget to set your clocks for daylight savings on Sunday morning too. The only problem with Spring is that our clocks will spring ahead, leaving us with one less hour of sleep (and I'm strongly against stealing sleep...)

*Image at right is from www.chumpsyclipart.com

With that being said, don't be discouraged because the sunshine is definitely worth losing a little sleep over. So chin up! It's going to be a great spring/summer...

Things have really been hopping at Fedtech. We've been completing a lot of cool projects that are definitely noteworthy. And since I can only pick one super sweet part of the week, you'll have to tune into our case studies section for all the others that don't get focused in on here!

Also, if you haven't already checked us out on Twitter, you definitely should. We post daily and keep our followers updated with projects, contests, news, and other fun stuff too. You can check us out at @Fedtechinc!

Well, without further adou, I suppose we should get on with the show!

Are you ready for....


Sarah's Super Sweet Pick of the Week
(Where, I, Sarah, pick my favorite parts that I found on the production floor)

The part seen here was one of many produced here at Fedtech. They were cut using abrasive waterjet cutting, and were processed from .020" thick anodized aluminum.

If you were to look at the parts, you'd probably guess it were for some sort of automotive dashboard or some sort. If that really was your guess, then you're very right! The panels that were waterjet cut were used in select models of Ford Mustangs (not from the OEM but for aftermarket customizing).

The initial material came in 48" x 96" sheets of aluminum and fit with room to spare on our waterjet table. When the parts are all finished, they're inspected for quality and precision and then are shipped to the end customer.

I enjoy cars in general, and these parts would be awesome to see on the end product. I also thought in light of the auto show going on this week (in the Twin Cities, MN) that an automotive dashboard panel might not be a bad part to feature!

Hope you enjoyed!!


And now... for the questions of the week!

Question and Answer Segment

Q) Can you cut G-10 with the waterjet?
A) Yes! And here's a case study we've done to prove it: http://www.fedtech.com/phenolics

Q) How thick can a laser cut?
A) Our industrial lasers typically cut up to 5/8" in stainless steel and carbon steel and 1/8" for laser cutting aluminum.

Q) If I wanted to cut linoleum, what process should I use?
A) Waterjet cutting, since there's no heat affected zones (HAZ) then the linoleum won't have any issues with distortion or melting.


Sorry it's kind of a short list, but I must cut it short this week! Hope you have a great week.

Until next time!!

Sarah

Manufacturing for Smarties

Today is going to be short and sweet. Straight to the questions, with no dilly-dallying!

First question, please!

Where can I find a Bystronic laser slat cleaner?
Depending on how much time and money you want to put into your slat cleaner, you have a few different options. First one (and the cheapest option) is to purchase one from http://www.lasergrating.com/ for $89.95 this tool is built for one person to manually remove the slag. See the video on youtube to see how it's done.

Another option is to purchase Bystronic's automatic copper grid cleaner. This is also a one-person product and can be found on their website (http://www.bystronicservice.com/files/Gratecleaner/GrateCleaner.zip)

Can you waterjet FR4?
Yes. FR-4 stands for 'flame retardant 4' and is used on certain circuit boards. This composite material is actually best for waterjet, and not laser.

Is Fedtech a large contract waterjet cutter?
Yes.

Where is that link to the movie theater decor that you guys made?
You can see that case study here on Fedtech's website. We made the ticket windows from brass and fabricated the angel as well. They turned out great!

Where can I waterjet cut G10?
G-10 is related to FR-4, in that FR-4 is the flame retardant version of G-10. And to answer your question, Fedtech can definitely waterjet cut G-10.

Well that's all the questions that I can answer for today. Thanks for stopping by!!

Sarah