PRODUCTION FACILITIES
Our creative people are empowered by the awesome facilities we have in our 145,000 sq ft production studios. Here are some of the machines we use every day with a little bit of information on how we use them! We’re experts with them and have over 16 years of experience.
We know that machines are only as good as the designers and operators that use them, so we’ve mastered the processes involved. We keep up to date and are always experimenting with new machinery and learning with every project.
CNC Milling Machines
Our CNC milling machines are an invaluable bit of kit in our workshop at EPH Creative. They’re so useful, we have two different types!
The majority of our builds start across three material types; foam & polystyrene for sculpting based projects, timber and wood sheet for joinery fabrication and metal section and sheets for metalwork. We have milling machines that are designed to focus on these specific areas.
Our CNC milling machines are used as a tool to increase efficiency and accuracy while also reducing build cost. They are one of the parts that help link our design and production departments.
In their most basic form, our CNC’s can be used to cut out simple profiles and shapes, such as lettering and logos, however, we have mastered these machines and can offer much more! From giant 3D sculptures right through to flat pack assemblies and complex finishes.
We use this as a starting point to cut out 3D files from polystyrene and foam to create sculptures. The 3D files are cut out in pieces then reassembled and refined by our skilled sculptors.
This is perfect for up-scaling 3D models of products or making full-scale figures and characters. If that wasn’t enough, it also has a 4th rotational axis, this allows a 1.2m diameter cylinder at 2.5m to be cut into.
We use this CNC for wood, plastic and metal. This sits in the centre of our joinery department at EPH Creative and is our busiest CNC. It has a cutting area of 2.5m (wide) x 1.5m (high) and can cut to a depth of 12cm.
Our joinery CNC works across a diverse range of materials and can be used to quickly produce templates, shapes and profiles. It has a vacuum bed ensuring accuracy and allowing us to cut parts of any size from full bed size right down to small scale.
As well as using this machine to cut, we also experiment with different tooling and use this machine for engraving, decorative routing and delicate reliefs.
This CNC uses electricity to heat a wire, this is then used to cut into polystyrene and foam. What makes this machine extra special is the massive working area.
With this machine we can cut shapes and 2D profiles. It’s perfect for large scale lettering and logos, using depth to give a premium feel. However, when you start combining cutting profiles and using different angles, that’s when this machine really starts to impress!
This is a dual component spray system that combines liquid polyurea plastic with a catalyst in a hot pressurised system. This is skillfully sprayed over a base material, encapsulating it within the liquid plastic. This dries extremely fast as a chemical reaction occurs between the plastic and catalyst, leaving very durable and flexible skin. This can be used over almost any base material, because of its durability and speed of finish, we use it a lot for polystyrene sculptures but also over woodwork when needed.
We achieve an unmatched high level of finish with this machine which has come from a lot of practise and our very skilled team. This finish can be a great alternative to GRP surface finishing, which can come with a higher labour cost. We have mastered the use of this surface finishing technique and have used it on numerous Event Prop Hire builds.
With any bespoke build or product, surface finish is a very important factor. When we design and build at EPH Creative, it’s something we like to discuss early and show the different final finishes available. Chosen finish tends to be defined by project budget and the use and aesthetic of the end product.
At EPH Creative we have 10 specialist painting and spray booths, these are designed to help us get amazing paint finishes.
EPH Creative Print Studio
At EPH Creative we also have a very busy print shop that offers printing services. We use large format ‘roll to roll’ printers to provide colour prints on a full range of materials, such as adhesive vinyl, pvc banner and various papers.
We can then laminate these prints using our hot roll laminator to add finish durability. We also have an application service so can provide your prints pre-mounted on a full range of substrates. This allows EPH Creative to integrate printing into our bespoke manufacturing services.
Depending on requirements, we also have vinyl cutting machines. They can turn our colour prints into stickers or alternatively can cut shapes and lettering from solid colour and special effect vinyls. We also use them to create stencils for our painting team, helping us achieve difficult and delicate finishes.
We use this primarily for scale model making but have even gone full scale in some projects. When we combine this with our other production techniques and amazing finishing methods, it proves to be an invaluable tool.
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