Trotec Laser is a cut above for Sheffield Knife Manufacturer

Samuel Staniforth's core product offering includes white-label products alongside their own traditional, bespoke knives, custom-made by staff.  
  
Within the workshop, each cutlery handle is handcrafted. Meanwhile, the business outsources the laser cutting of stainless steel for blades which are then ground in the workshop, assembled with the handle and, finally, finished with a "Made in Sheffield" mark and the Samuel Staniforth logo as standard. 
  
Originally, the marks on blades were made by acid etching in large batches. However, this method was not without limits. Alongside long production times and operational costs for consumables, the technology worked with stencils and therefore was not flexible enough to facilitate bespoke engravings without the added cost and time spent to create new templates. The acid-etched result also lacked the sharpness the team desired. 
  
To counteract the long production times and achieve a crisper contrast when engraving, a CO2 laser engraver was introduced. Alongside the improved results, the laser brought the flexibility to easily personalise knives and to cut materials which proved invaluable for jig making. The drawback to using a CO2 laser for this application was the requirement to apply a solution such as CerMark to achieve a black mark on the metal blades; this incurred additional costs and production steps.   
  
Owner Chris Hopkinson was keen to improve the production flow and remove unnecessary steps and costs, which led him to investigate new laser systems. Chris discovered Trotec laser and their range of fibre lasers.