27 Aug Project Snapshot: Casino card reader housing
Our range of existing clients know the extensive range of skills and machines we have on site and often turn to us for non-standard work. A prime example is a set of casino card reader housing units we manufactured recently from 1.5mm thick, 304 grade, stainless steel with a brushed finish.
The concept is for the card reader (plastic electronic piece of equipment) to sit within the housing unit that we will manufacture. Then the unit is affixed to a structure or plinth on the casino floor. The housing unit had to be hardwearing due to the excessive use it will encounter so the client decided upon a metal based unit.
After the pieces were cut on our laser cutting machine, they were taken upstairs to our group of traditional metal work machines and hand tools. In the group is a set of powered pinch rollers that are used to create beautiful curved pieces of metal.
The radius bend is set on the rollers, and the flat piece guided through to produce the curved bend. It is tested a few times to check the bend is correct and the pieces will join together during the welding phase.
The newly curved piece along with the flat top is taken to the welders. Firstly the welder takes a piece of box section and fits it in the card reader slot.
This effectively acts like a ‘jig’ and was made specifically to keep the shape and parts aligned while he tack welds the top to the base. Tack welding is the same principle as pinning two pieces of cloth together before hand sewing it. The tack weld prevents movement of the pieces of sheet metal while welding.
A short video of him tack welding…
The welder then grinds down a few tack welds he thinks need attention before moving onto the next step.
Grinding in action…
Next is to TIG weld the unit’s lid and base together. In case you didn’t know, TIG welding is an arc welding process, where an electric power supply is combined with a filler metal to melt therefore joining two pieces of metal together.
The result is a single housing unit for the card reader.
Next stop is the grinding, linishing and polishing team. The team start by sanding and grinding down the edges of the welded joins to produce smooth edges and finish.
Then the card housing unit is put on the sand belt to give a consistent one directional grain effect on the metal work.
The finished product is a wonderful grain effect piece of metal work, ready to be used on the casino shop floor. The little hole you see in the top is for the LED light indicating red or green, as it’s an access entry card reader for the casino.