Satow Goldsmiths, based in Henderson Nevada USA, combines traditional hand craftsmanship with the latest technological advancements. This business, operate by Master Jeweller Steve Satow, uses laser extensively for the creation of new and unique pieces of jewellery, re-designing an item of jewellery and repair work. With well over 10 years of laser welding experience, as well as writing articles and lecturing around the country, Steve Satow has been rated as one of the top laser welders worldwide.
The new Performance from ROFIN features an entirely re-designed housing with a novel working chamber access concept, as well as many innovative weld-assist systems such as SPEEDmode, BURSTmode and Pulse Ramping. Steve Satow was impressed to see how the new Performance can simplify and speed-up his everyday work.
Despite the extensive capabilities of manual laser welding, there is always room for further improvement. Naturally, the laser welding process itself is subject to constant optimization, but the real goal is improving user-friendliness and streamlining working processes. ROFIN – pioneer and market leader for manual laser welding systems – closely monitored how people work and based upon this evaluation, redesigned the new performance almost from scratch.
Probably the most compelling feature on the machine is the new dynamic foot switch, which operates in a similar way to a sewing machine pedal. It offers sensitive control of an arbitrary laser parameter, such as pulse frequency or laser power. Steve Satow commented: “This takes welding control to the next level. With the dynamic foot switch, I can use the Performance almost as intuitively and sensitively as a traditional goldsmith tool. Welding tasks which once required a break to change laser parameters can now be performed in a continuous cycle.”
With significantly improved user-friendliness and sophisticated weld process control, manual laser welding is now appropriate for a host of new application areas. The new Performance is about to realize another important step on the path from a technology exclusively reserved for specialists to a tool which can be used by almost anyone, anywhere.
www.rofin.co.uk