The Wightman Stewart name is synonymous with the supply of high quality production machinery to both engineering subcontractors and to different sectors of the UK’s manufacturing industry. Whilst waterjet cutting technology has for many years formed a mainstay of the company’s range, deburring & polishing machines, press brakes, plate roll & section bending technology and plasma punch presses from world leading manufacturers are also distributed by the company.
Known today as Wightman Stewart Waterjet and based in Ripponden, West Yorkshire, the company was formed as long ago as 1987 and is led by Managing Director Simon Fitton with over 30 years’ experience in the application of production engineering and profiling technology. Wightman Stewart Waterjet is also renowned as a company that offers its customers outstanding technical and customer support, from initial enquiry right through the lifetime of an installation.
Services include a 24 hour on-site response service using factory trained engineers, computerised tracking of all reported incidents for breakdowns and a comprehensive range of maintenance contracts tailored to suit individual machine usage patterns and known maintenance costs. Operator, maintenance & programming training can also be provided as well as assistance with cutting/ forming trials and time-cost evaluations.
As the name suggests, Wightman Stewart Waterjet has particular experience with the waterjet cutting process. The company represents the Waterjet Corporation of Italy with its extensive range of cantilever, gantry and specialist abrasive cutting machines. The versatility of the abrasive waterjet cutting process means it can be specified for a wide range of applications, including the cutting of virtually any material cleanly, accurately and efficiently. Prima, Practica, Classica and Suprema ranges are available with optional equipment as well as high-tech add on devices. The ITC (Intelligent Taper Control) system, for example, corrects for taper and achieves wall straightness and the highest possible cutting speeds, by using the CNC to compensate the inclination (up to 2°) and the orientation of the high pressure water jet allowing increased cutting speeds in a contour. Accuracy and repeatability of +/-0.001” can be achieved.
Evolution X5, 5-axis waterjet 3D cutting technology is designed to appeal particularly to companies in the aerospace, oil, gas and power generation sectors who can all benefit when cutting metals, composites, glass, stone and many other materials. ITC functionality, anti-collision technology, touch probe height sensors, laser pointer non-return valve on the abrasive feed line and vacuum assist sensor can all be included.
Market leading intensifiers, including the renowned KMT brand, and associated waterjet technology such as abrasive management systems are available from Wightman Stewart Waterjet. The company also offers a comprehensive range of waterjet spare parts and consumables designed to match OEM quality. Products include abrasive nozzles, seals, valves, orifices, check valves, cylinders, hoses, tubing and other wear parts for many different waterjet brands including Calypso, Omax, Jet Edge, Flow, WSI, KMT and AccuStream.
As the sole UK outlet for the deburring, polishing and sanding machines manufactured by Costa Levigatrici Spa of Italy, Wightman Stewart offers products that are an ideal complement to waterjet, plasma and laser cutting technology. The manual removal of sharp edges and burrs from cut profiles can be a time consuming and costly exercise. Therefore the addition of a Costa machine to the production process represents a worthwhile investment by removing production bottlenecks and with short payback term. The Costa range covers simple manually fed machines for low volumes through to the high volume systems.
Wightman Stewart Waterjet is also a UK distributor for Ursviken press brakes and guillotine shears, designed for heavy industrial use. Optima and Optiflex press brakes provide from 100 tons to 10000 tons of press power and can be supplied as either standard machines or custom-built for use within steel mills, steel service centres, pipe & tube manufacturing as well as general heavy fabrication.
With probably the most experienced team of press brake engineers in the UK, Wightman Stewart plays an essential dual sales and service role for Ursviken, with many press brake customers on long term service contracts including support 24 hours per day, 365 days per year if required. This underlines the essential role of Ursviken press brakes within many UK manufacturing, assembly and service centre operations.
Davi Promau of Cesena, Italy, is the world’s largest manufacturer of plate roll and section bending machines and the company’s systems are used in the fabrication of wind towers, off-shore manufacturing line production, aerospace industry manufacturing, shipyards and general fabrication. Wightman Stewart Waterjet’s vast sales and technical experience in the metal forming and metal cutting sectors makes the company the ideal partner for any UK company considering investment in this technology.
Completing the products available from Wightman Stewart Waterjet are combination punch plasma machines from WA Whitney of Rockford in the United States and a division of Megafab. For details of all these products including pre-owned machines, contact Wightman Stewart Waterjet, simon@wightmanstewart.co.uk Tel: 01422 823801, visit www.wightmanstewart.com
