The forefront of research progressed by precision

Merely grinding a surface can require repeating five times, with the workpiece being turned between the rounds, explains Emil Stenvi, Instrument Maker.

The Ångström workshop is Sweden’s largest university-based mechanical workshop, containing lathes, cutters, 3D printers, welders and ultrasonic cleaners. The entire workshop oozes a calm sense of professional pride. It is an El Dorado for those who love precision. The various tools, i.e. the actual drill or cutter that cuts and processes the workpiece must be chosen carefully.

“It must be the right type of cutter – if the tool cuts too sharply then the surface can become uneven and the work will take longer. We have to find the right balance between cutting, cooling, time and precision requirements,” explains Pierre Fredriksson, Workshop Engineer.

The lubricant used for the more advanced machines consists of oil and water. It is reused once the metal and plastic remnants have been filtered out. All waste is sent for recycling, but not much is produced over a year as the workshop only makes individual specimens or prototypes.

Much of the instrument makers’ time is spent on planning how to process the workpiece in order to successfully produce what the researcher needs.

Instruments and tools for research

The Ångström Workshop makes instruments and tools for research. It is a division within the Department of Physics and Astronomy, but works for anyone requiring its expertise.

“We do a lot for others outside Uppsala University too. The PET Centre at Uppsala University Hospital, the Royal Institute of Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. And we make many of the measurement instruments for Max IV in Lund, as we have a collaboration agreement with them and many researchers at Uppsala are active there,” explains Lars-Erik Lindquist, Head of Workshop. Lindquist also refers to projects for CERN and several major projects conducted for researchers outside Sweden.

Companies launched on the basis of research also get in touch to get help with producing instruments and prototypes.

The requirement for precision is extreme in order to meet the need to progress the forefront of research one step further. The parts will often be used in a high vacuum, meaning the precision must be as high as possible.

“We are an important resource for the research projects we work on and we would love to develop the national basis by becoming a national infrastructure resource,” says Lindquist.

A challenge to translate blueprints

Many perhaps believe that the instrument makers stand in front of the lathe or the cutter all day long, but that is not the case. The major challenge of the work is to translate the three-dimensional blueprints provided by the researchers and designers into a series of processes in the machines. This work is done sitting at the computer, and only when this is complete does the physical processing of the workpiece begin. As the workshop produces measuring instruments and equipment for research, there are often new problems and challenges that need to be solved to help move the forefront of research another step forward.

“Despite the help from the computer programs, it can take quite a long time to plan the work, as the projects are often quite difficult. It is extremely important for everything to be completely right the entire way through, as the processes can often be highly time-consuming and would otherwise need to be redone,” explains Emil Stenvi, Instrument Maker.

Fiber cables between the machines and the computers

Another way of describing the complexity is that the workshop has had to install fibre cables between the machines and the computers on which the instrument makers prepare the way they will process the workpiece to produce what the researchers require. Without fibre cables it took too long to convey the instructions to the machines.

“It’s a fun workplace. As we make individual parts instead of having an ongoing production, we do new things the whole time,” says Stenvi.