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Up to the nineties, most of Letters and Logos' work comprised Foamex with cut vinyl, and printed graphics. The substrate was hand cut by knife. Subsequently, the company increasingly used aluminium composite materials, cut with a foam board cutter. However, cutting accuracy proved a problem.
Director Peter Halliwell said: ""More recently we tried using a table saw and a hand-held circular saw. Neither was ideal, the table saw requiring a very large amount of operating space, and the hand held saw being unwieldy and inaccurate. We realised the time had come to look at vertical panel saws."
Peter initially found the panel saw market polarised, comprising low cost collapsible units or large, significantly more expensive static wall saws. Peter then saw a Sagetech Industries advertisement promoting the Koolkut range.
Peter explained: "The ad caught my eye, as the saws appeared to be robust, but priced at a level that made sense for us. We researched the machines more thoroughly on the Sagetech website and arranged to see one in action. We were impressed."
Letters and Logos ordered a Koolkut KK116, with the unit's 3,100 by 1,600mm sheet capacity making it ideal for common 10 x 5ft sheets. The machine immediately became a key resource. Cutting Dibond, Foamex, plywood and acrylics, the saw has made a significant difference for the company.
Peter said: "Because we no longer need to buy in sheet materials cut to size, we can now achieve shorter lead times on customer orders, and we've also significantly cut our costs. It's also excellent with large sheets in a relatively small workshop: this was a serious problem with both the table saw and the hand-held.
"With a hand held saw, you have to move sheets around during the cut, as well as marking up at least two points on the sheet for each cut. With a table saw, you need two or three people to feed a large sheet through. The Koolkut is a revelation: set the dimensions, load the sheet onto the saw and cut. It's quick, accurate and a genuine one man job.
"Sagetech were very helpful while we were deciding whether to buy a Koolkut, and, later, which model to go for. They really know their product and also understand the issues that signmakers face.
"We had some difficulty in getting the saw set up square, and Sagetech arranged for their installation engineer to visit and set it up for us. It was all done quickly and without any fuss or complication.
"The Koolkut is an extremely solid piece of equipment, but it's compact enough to fit in a small workshop. The price represents excellent value for money, and I'd certainly be happy to recommend it to other signmakers."
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