Ultrafab installs fifth hand

"In our business it is not just about making products, it is about making the best products in the most effective way," said Derrick van Niekerk of Ultrafab, one of two brothers working in the family business established by Dad Hennie.

"Early in 2021 we invested in a Penta Swan hand-held fibre laser for welding. Laser welding isn't new. The technology has proliferated for years in select industries like automotive, medical, defence and aerospace. This includes OEMs and the suppliers that serve them. Even in this arena laser welding isn't ubiquitous, but it isn't rare either."

"Still, venture outside these niches and into the general custom fabrication arena and you’ll find that laser welding remains a true rarity. Even if a fabricator does offer laser welding, it remains a fringe process, utilised for select jobs."

Ultrafab have invested in a LightWELD from IPG Photonics Corp, a new hand-held fibre laser welding system

"Arc welding remains the dominant way most fabrication shops join two pieces of metal together. Why, exactly? Volumes may have been a concern in the past, but today plenty of custom fabricators have adopted robotic arc welding with great success. The dominant concerns now involve part fit-up and fixturing, and the fact that many parts have designs that don't account for laser welding requirements."

"Those challenges are real, but overcoming them isn't as difficult as you might think. This is thanks to not only the evolution of laser welding, but also the accuracy of upstream processes, including laser cutting and bending, as well as some fresh approaches to fixturing."

"The science of laser welding has come a long way. Like in cutting, welding with a laser comes down to analysing how a certain material absorbs the laser's energy. Fibre lasers for welding and cutting behave much the same as they travel from the power source and through the delivery fibre."

A new advertising display unit that has been cut, bent and welded before finishing takes place

"The difference happens at the processing head. Positioned millimetres above the material surface, the cutting head focuses the beam and the assist gas (the laser's "cutting tool") evacuates molten material to create kerf. A fibre laser welding head operates farther from the material surface and focuses the beam in such a way as to achieve the optimal weld. And like in arc welding, laser welding uses gas (such as argon) to shield the weld from the atmosphere."

"When we purchased our first hand-held fibre laser welding system we soon realised we had made a great decision. It achieved results that we did not expect. In our business the less post processing work you have to do the more you save on costs and time. The hand-held fibre laser welding system was doing just this for us."

"We decided to invest in a hand-held laser welding system because of the potential it offers to the job shop environment that we operate in. Manual fibre laser welding will never replace the traditional MIG and TIG welding processes. But it gives a company like ours an opportunity to offer an extra finishing fabricating service. Once we have cut, punched or bent sheet for a client we can now offer a welding service. It is quick and easy to use, faster than the traditional welding processes and the finish is better."

"After acquiring our first system another three followed and now we have taken delivery of our fifth system."

One of the five hand-held fibre laser welding systems being put to good use

"This time we have invested in a LightWELD from IPG Photonics Corp, a new hand-held fibre laser welding system that gives fabricators more flexibility, precision, and ease of use compared to traditional welding products. Designed and built with patented and patent-pending IPG fibre laser technologies, LightWELD represents a paradigm shift due to its extremely small size and weight, as well as unique air-cooling."

"Compared with traditional MIG and TIG welders, LightWELD enables dramatically faster welding, is easier to learn and operate and provides consistent, high-quality results across a wide range of materials and thicknesses with low heat input and aesthetic finishes with minimal or no filler wire."

Ultrafab love the finish they get with the hand-held fibre laser welding systems

"Unlike traditional methods, welding fixtures are simpler or not needed, metals do not need to be pre-brushed or ground completely clean, and even novices can reliably weld materials with dissimilar thicknesses and high/low electrical conductivity. In addition, the heat-affected zone is minimised, as is the need for traditional post-processing grinding or polishing that increases productivity, reduces scrap and the cost-per-part."

"Laser power up to 1 500 watts is easily adjusted with intuitive controls that can quickly dial in optimum weld settings for various materials and thicknesses. Select stored modes provide up to 2 500 watts of high peak power for even greater welding capability."

Hand-held fibre laser welding systems enables dramatically faster welding, is easier to learn and operate and provides consistent, high-quality results across a wide range of materials and thicknesses with low heat input and aesthetic finishes with minimal or no filler wire

"Other features include wobble welding (which provides up to 5mm of additional weld width), a five metre delivery cable, which enables flexibility, connections for gas and external connectivity, multilevel sensors and interlocks and a laser-welding gun with wobble/scan capabilities."

"Laser welding calls for fabricators to think anew, not just about weld gap tolerances or fixturing requirements, but about the entire process of metal fabrication."

For further details contact Ultrafab on TEL: 011 474 9810, email [email protected] or visit www.modula.com