Agawam, MA—Ron Lalli qualifies as a pioneer in the laser job shop market, although he cut his materials processing teeth on electron beam welders. At the recent open house to celebrate the move into a new, purpose-built 23,500-square-foot facility we compared notes on the progress made in the 25 years he has been job shopping with solid-state lasers. His company, Litron Inc., operates five systems with TRUMPF Nd:YAG lasers, which are located in a separate room with their output delivered by fibers.
In an adjacent cleanroom are two of the company's hermetic sealing systems powered by TRUMPF Nd:YAG lasers. These systems are the same as those the company manufactures and sells to customers. As a laser systems manufacturer they will have delivered more than two-dozen of these units by the end of this year.
Litron was founded in Springfield in 1997 as a laser-based processing shop. Customers with growing production demands asked Lalli to supply systems for the increased needs. Thus Litron is equipped to assist customers with feasibility studies, pre-production contract processing, and eventually to supply their equipment needs.
An interesting part we saw being processed with the Nd: YAG laser is a flexible shaft bone drilling device that is laser machined from 0.100-inch wall 304 stainless steel hollow rod. The serpentine cut, shown above, allows the shaft to bend and conform to the contour of the bone, while the thick wall maintains strength and stability as the burr bit is propelled. The bore of the tube is swept clean during the laser cutting process by a slurry solution. The part is electro-polished to break any sharp edges.
To learn more about Litron's job shop services and its standard laser systems, check out its Web site, www.litron.com.