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, a specialist division of Sharp & Tappin (Holsworthy, U.K.) that designs and manufactures state-of-the-art composite cutting and machining solutions, is improving its supply and service to the European market by teaming up with specialist partner  (Nazareth, Belgium). The developer, manufacturer and worldwide supplier of sample preparation and testing equipment for labs, will now contribute to the composite cutting revolution by actively promoting, selling and technically supporting the latest Compcut composite cutting machines used primarily for the swift and safe preparation of consistently accurate composite test samples.

Compcut machines have quickly become the norm for many manufacturers, test houses and academic institutions producing test samples, the division notes; in the U.S., the solution is supported under the Labcut brand by Extec Technologies (Enfield, Conn., U.S.). The partnership with Aptco, however, will enable more companies and organizations to produce critical composite test samples using these machines, which are said to be safe, easy, quick, clean, cost-effective and more consistent versus other options. Comput cut machines have the capability to accurately cut an array of composite materials, including carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP), ceramics and other matrix composites (CMC), as well as thermoplastic and aramid fiber composites.

“While we have already sold to a number of high-profile customers in mainland Europe we have up until this point held back on actively supplying machines in the territories as we did not feel confident that we could effectively locally supply and support a large number of units,” Jon Small, Compcut head of sales, says. “The Aptco team do not only have local reach and knowledge, but they have significant experience producing, supplying and technically supporting a range of machinery used for materials testing. They are a true pan-European operation with a commercial head office in Belgium and a technical base in Germany.”

This year, the Compcut and Aptco Technologies teams will be attending JEC World in Paris, where they will be demonstrating how effective the machines are by cutting materials live at the booth. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own composite material to test in a live demonstration, to determine whether the machine is suitable for their own materials.