TRIED & TESTED: Kongsberg XL

摘要

Despite its recent role in cutting Barack Obama's presidential crest, the KongsbergXL hails from modest beginnings. It's not often a machine can boast that it produced a slice of history, but that's exactly what EskoArtwork's Kongsberg XL model did earlier this year. The Belgian-based company's i-XL table was used to cut numerous items for the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States, including a custom-built presidential stage. Despite such lofty heights, the model started out from more modest roots. Manufactured in the Norwegian town from where it takes its name, Kongsberg XL die-less cutting tables were first shown at Drupa 2000 as a replacement for the manufacturer's CM range of tables. The XL was capable of cutting at twice the speed (50m a minute) of its predecessor and came in a range of different sizes - 20, 22, 24, 42, 44, and 46 (see specifications box). Its primary function was to produce mock-ups of folded cartons - at the time of its launch, machines being used to produce such prototypes didn't have a very good reputation. "The machines were very slow and didn't do a good job," says EskoArtwork UK and Ireland business manager Paul Bates. "The XL transformed the way the sector saw these machines - they were purpose-made for the market."