Projects
Kimberley prototype cell
Laser and CNC first cuts with calibration logs.
Scope from Kimberley’s plant team
A production manager north of the Big Hole wanted to get a proof-of-concept cell running for in-house panel work. The plan was to size up a basic, practical starter combination for laser and CNC routing, matched to how their bench crews actually handle jobs. It wasn’t a greenfield site, but the space had to take both heavy-mild Highveld dust and patchy 230 V supply, with just enough humidity swings to worry any maintenance planner from Cape Town. They needed everything reachable from Kimberley, not just your Jo’burg basin.
Email landed at our contact form on a Monday morning: ‘Please quote recommended starter kits for 3-metre bench, laser and CNC, new team, basic training, nothing fancy, need by month-end.’ That type of brief is exactly what we see across South African yards.
Shortlist: focused, local, practical
Our team at Sunnyrock Trade Yard reviews every enquiry against past installs. For Kimberley, we built a shortlist centred on reliability first. Kit included a 60 W CO₂ laser with proper fume extraction for thicker ply and acrylic, plus a 1.3 x 2.5 metre CNC router, those dimensions still let you move sheet in and out solo if your loader’s late.
We added midweight hold-downs, an air-assist kit (for those dry Highveld afternoons), and supplied the calibration jigs most teams skip until it’s too late. You wouldn’t believe how often a new operator finds an axis slip after only a week if its not checked.
- Single-phase 230 V safe for Kimberley lines
- Dust covers, Highveld-graded
- Plug-and-play controller boxes
- All tools factory registered (no orphan warranties)
First snag and the fix
During setup, they hit a snag: after install on the CNC router, the Y-axis limit switch wouldn’t clear travel, so calibration ran off zero each time. It’s not a rare slip on new benches, but it might’ve cost a lot of production time. We walked it back over email, confirmed mount position, and sorted the cable run with their team. The shop was back in calibration and ready to run.
How it runs now
Today the Kimberley cell’s logging real jobs: 18 panels a week on mixed timber and acrylic. Operators keep calibration logs in a bench book, old-school, but it works. No callouts for power tripping so far, and they’ve run back-to-back shifts even with Tuesday power cuts. Support is in writing first, but our Germiston crew keeps kit and spares moving if anything stops. The plant manager says the crew’s keen for a DTF shortlist next, as digital is picking up in the Northern Cape malls.
What our Starter Kit customers say
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Email the ByThis shortlist team
Tell us the city, the station sentence, and which pick you already tried. We reply from Sunnyrock with a shortlist that fits the week ahead.