By Melissa Donovan
Part 2 of 4
Industrial cutters are designed to finish all types of materials, making it possible for business from a range of backgrounds to utilize them. While knifes and routers are popular tooling options, laser cutters are another alternative and useful when etching is a requirement.
Fine Art to Fine Work
Max Art Productions of Las Vegas, NV began in 2013 as a fine art and gallery market and has since progressed to gaming graphics as well as interior design. It services include fine art production, curation, and photography; wall, ceiling, and floor art and graphics; and promotional items, awards, and signage. More specifically, it offers custom framing, dye-sublimated aluminum, laser cutting/etching, CNC cutting and engraving, acrylic fabrication, three-dimensional design and printing, installation, shipping and fulfillment, and project management.
According to Nicholas Landis, president, Max Art, the same standards the company upholds while fulfilling fine art projects for brands and artists, has translated to work created for hotels, office buildings, and sporting venues.
“Our diverse production capabilities, attention to detail, and quality have been the backbone of our business’ growth and success. Max Art’s mission to create exceptional quality and value has led us to be a part of installations both nationally and worldwide,” shares Landis.
The company’s staff of 25 is equipped to offer jobs as small as custom framed fine art photography to as large as one thousand pieces for tower suites. Recent completed projects included work for Allegiant Stadium, Downtown Grand Las Vegas, Raiders HQ, and Red Rock Resort.
Digital Finishing
Many of the company’s projects require some form of cutting. It first purchases a MultiCam cutting system in 2014 and followed up with dedicated laser cutters as business dictated. After a few false starts with unsatisfactory products, Max Art purchased two Trotec Speedy 400s and a SP2000 in 2018.
Trotec Speedy 400 features a 40×24-inch work area. With engraving speeds up to 170 inches per second, 5g acceleration, and a laser power up to 120 watts, Speedy laser engravers are fast. Thanks to the OptiMotion motion control, cutting jobs are up to eight times faster than comparable laser machines.
The Trotec SP2000 features a 66×98-inch work area. SP laser cutting machines are easily accessible from all four sides and feature a loading area at the front and the rear of the machine. The setup also drives productivity with processing speeds up to 6.5 feet per second, and laser power up to 400 watts.
Both of the models were chosen based on quality and speed, and for the Trotec SP2000, Landis says the full-size bed was an attractive feature. Acrylic is the most finished material on the laser cutters, as they provide a great cut edge and cut/etch with speed.
“We pride ourselves on quality finished products. The Trotecs and the MultiCam allows us to finish our parts with excellent quality at great speed,” explains Landis.
A typical order is fulfilled at Max Art through various ways, starting through EDI, API, email, phone, or online uploads. Each order is entered into either by customer service or through EDI. Depending on the build of the job, the order can be cut as fast as the next business day. Turnaround time for non-time sensitive items is two to five business days.
Volumes are flexible, with Landis pointing to cutting as many as 15,000 parts in 24 hours—these were shields for first responders and frontline workers at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Landis, both Trotec laser cutters and the MultiCam provide Max Art with opportunities to take on jobs it was previously unable to do and at a higher level of finish quality. “We have grown Max Art almost entirely through word of mouth and quality is our goal. Digital cutting helped us grow the business in a short amount of time,” he continues.
Lean and Mean
The last 12 months Max Art doubled down with a focus on providing a safe place for its staff amid the pandemic. These changes allow for a leaner operation and higher rates of efficiency, something Landis hopes will take them into 2021. At press time, he was looking into expanding operations as its services and products have outgrown its current space.
Read part one, Making a Name for Yourself.
Apr2021, Industrial Print Magazine