As you’d expect from a well established sign company, there is a multitude of different equipment here in our Birkenhead factory.
Some for print, others for manufacture, others we cant find the instructions for!
To take you behind the scenes, I’m adding these posts to explain what we have and why we use it.
Hopefully you’ll get a better understanding of the services we provide and how we would be a solid fit for designing, developing and manufacturing your branding.
Our first post looks at why our AXYZ CNC router is one of our most regularly used pieces of kit here at EP Cowens.
We invested in the AXYZ after looking at all the other options available in the marketplace.
To offer a complete CNC cutting service, we knew we needed a machine that could perform day in, day out.
Our priorities were for a machine that could cope with our many different (and demanding) uses plus be as tough and hardworking as the rest of us here at Cowens!
The AXYZ fits the bill perfectly.
We’re at a couple of years now after purchasing and still sure we made the right choice.
Sign Tray Manufacture & CNC Routing
As you can guess, we get involved in signage projects from a local shop front right through to the largest national (and International) campaigns.
Manufacturing this wide variety of signs all in-house can be a challenge. We need to be able to create the base trays as quickly and efficiently as possible.
The router trims the aluminium composite to the desired size. It leaves a clean edge and being fully computer controlled, it’s incredibly accurate.
The router then creates the grooves that when folded over make the four sides of sign tray.
We can have a sign tray ready for the next stage of production in minutes.
For a full CNC routing service to have the quick turnaround your projects need, we knew our machine had to be quick.
Fabricating Plastics
When we need to produce cut letters or logos for branding, our router really comes into its own.
Cutting panels of acrylic and Perspex where accuracy is essential is made possible by the specialist tools (and automatic tool change) the AXYZ offers.
It has handled all the industrial plastics we’ve needed it to and created finished products with edges as smooth as silk and with as much shape definition we could ever ask for.
For a real production beast, it can perform the most delicate of cutting and routing tasks.
Shopfitting & Point of Purchase
As much as we can produce the big signs for outside, we’ve also got the expertise to fit out the store inside.
From complex shelving and display schemes through to ceiling bulkheads and window partitions, our CNC router can produce the panels needed to build up your store designer’s vision.
Point of sale free-standing display units can be printed on our Vutek flatbed and then processed individually on the router.
The router’s different tool sets can construct tabs to be folded and any separate sections that will fit within the main design.
Whether your FSDU is made from MDF (our machine has a dust collection unit), or one of the more ecologically friendly alternatives such as Xanita or Reboard, we can manufacture the displays that will get your product noticed.
With corrugated cardboard, the AXYZ has a vacuum deck to keep the substrate flat.
It ensures accurate cutting and can be the difference between the store being able to put together the displays or having to send them out pre-built.
Think of the logistics and space saving from being able to send these FSDUs out flat-packed rather than pre-built.
With the strength of the honeycomb closed-cell Xanita board almost rivalling that of MDF (but made from 100% recyclable properties), getting 20 units on a pallet rather than 2 can make a huge saving to costs.
If you need us to project manage the whole campaign, get in touch and we’d be more than happy to create samples using different substrates.
As you can see, our CNC router is a versatile piece of equipment that makes for effective and efficient manufacture of signage, displays and much more.
For more information on our CNC cutting series and what we can produce, have look around our projects here.
When you need to get in touch, talk to us at 0151 647 8081or email: sales@cowensigns.com
For another machine we just wouldn’t be without, check out this post on our automatic letter bending machine and how it's meant we can now manufacture and offer a complete channel letter service in-house.