Plastic Injection Moulding Specialists. Est 1948.

Tags: S.B.Weston Ltd., Vacuum Forming

Top Specs For Queen Guitarists 3D Viewer
Cover article taken from Plastics & Rubber Weekly 15.09.09

S. B. Weston Ltd, a plastic injection moulding company based in Sunbury-on-Thames, have recently been working on the production of a revolutionary 3-D Stereoscopic Viewer with legendary Queen guitarist Brian May, who designed the instrument.

The injection moulded viewer will accompany Brian’s second book, co-written with photo-historian Elena Vidal, and titled ‘A Village Lost and Found’, which will be available mid-October.

The subject matter of the book is a lost English work of art – a series of stereo cards created by pioneering 1850s stereoscopic photographer T. R. Williams, whose work Brian has been researching for the past 30 years.

The plastic stereoscopic viewer is essential to appreciate the depth element of the images in the book, which, in 3-D, provide the reader with a virtual window into a time long forgotten.

Brian, a keen supporter of UK industry, insisted that all the design, toolmaking and manufacture of the viewer be performed in the U.K. at S. B. Weston’s West London premises – a decision which allowed him to be involved in all parts of the project’s development. May, now owner of the London Stereoscopic Company, who are co-publishing the book, says: “Working on this injection moulding project has been a whole new voyage of discovery for me. Tony Weston and his team have been a joy to work with, always willing to stretch their design and technical skills to the max; this will be the Rolls-Royce of stereoscopes!”.

Manufactured in polypropylene to allow for numerous integral live hinges, the viewer presented Brian and the Weston team with numerous challenges – not least the fact that the whole instrument has to fold flat to 6 mm, in order to fit into the book package.

The end result is an entirely new fully focussing flat-pack stereoscopic viewer which all concerned are very happy with.

Brian comments: For most of my life I have been championing stereoscopic images. Now the stage seems set for a new Golden Age of 3-D – in the cinema, on TV, and even in magazines. The unique power of this new stereoscope will enable a 21st Century audience to rediscover the original 1850s method … which actually still gives the best stereoscopic experience of all. Judging by the great reactions we’ve already had, it seems likely that this stereoscope – which we call the London Stereoscopic Company OWL – will also have successful life of its own outside the book … in the big wide new world of 3-D !!!

Written by Chris Dodman

www.brianmay.com
www.londonstereo.com
www.sbweston.com

Tags: Clients, Plastics and Rubber Weekly, S.B.Weston Ltd., Stereoscopic Viewer

S.B.Weston Ltd. Plastic Injection Moulding Specialists

Manufacturing

S.B.Weston Ltd is equipped with a range of electro-hydraulic Demag plastic injection moulding machines. Our machines are NC controlled allowing precise adjustments to the manufacturing process, necessary when moulding consistent quality products.

We have a range of machine sizes enabling us to react quickly to clients orders whilst maintaining constant production of our Weston Boxes. View our plant list for full details.

Specialist Staff

Setters – S.B.Weston Ltd. employ a team of trained machine setters who fully utilise the NC technology available on our Demag machines. Our setters are responsible for closely monitoring the performance of your mould from its initial trial right through to its final production run, making the necessary decisions and modifications to the production process to ensure that your tool runs at optimum efficiency, with the correct temperatures, speeds and pressures maintained over the production cycle.

Maintenance – We service our machines regularly to ensure their optimum performance. A team of qualified Demag technicians perform all necessary repairs and major works, whilst our setters deal with replenishing consumables such as hydraulic oils, grease and lubes.

Material Selection

Our in depth knowledge of  plastics enables us to recommended a material perfectly suited to your job. Required material properties often include strength, impact resistance, flexibility or temperature resistance, all of which can be catered for. If necessary we will test run your product in a number of materials to determine which is the most suitable for the final production run.

Health & Safety

Auto-stop devices are installed on all our machines. Guarding is always present and will shut the machine down if removed or tampered with. Our staff are always trained to understand the potential dangers of the process if health & safety measures are disregarded.

Environmental Impact

We have the facilities on-site to recycle all the plastic scrap we produce and feed it straight back into our processes. All Weston Boxes are manufactured in recyclable polypropylene minimizing the effect of S.B.Weston Ltd’s environmental impact.

Quality Control

We deliver optimum quality mouldings across your entire production run as standard. Quality control checks will take place to ensure you get the exact spec on the mouldings you have ordered.

Machining / Assembly

We regularly perform additional machining / assembly tasks. From simple separation or assembly of multiple parts through to more complex actions such as heat insertions, printing – using hot foil techniques or jigging to set mouldings at a particular shape. We will always look to employ the most efficient methods of production, streamlining so as to minimise the amount of time and labour required and as a result,  keeping the cost to you as low as possible.

Finishing / Packing

If required, we can take care of any finishing / packing that your job reqiures. We are regularly supplied packaging for injection moulded products which we assemble, pack and palletise at the time of production. This can be massively cost effective with mouldings being packed and palletised with in the machine cycle ready to go out of the door to your customers.

Tags: Injection Moulding, Injection Moulding Machines, Mouldings, Plastic Injection Moulding, Plastic Injection Moulding Machines, S.B.Weston Ltd., Weston Boxes

Put your project in safe hands…

We want you involved in your project at every stage. The most important aspect of any brief is to give the client what he requires… plus a bit more!

Guidance

Letting us handle your project does not mean handing your project over to us. We simply guide you through CAD component design, prototyping, and then CAD/CAM tooling and manufacture. We have the design expertise and in depth knowledge of plastic injection moulding that your project will require, but will always work to your design requirements.

Communication

We pride ourselves on close interaction between our in house designers, toolmakers and manufacturing experts. Good communication between our staff in these key roles enables us to work quickly and efficiently and allows us to consistently achieve great results for our clients.

Co-ordination

S.B.Weston can co-ordinate any specialist processes required by your project. We regularly work with prototyping experts, laser welders, vacuum formers, metalworkers and many others.

Time Management

We will schedule regular meetings to keep you informed of all aspects of your project. Not all scenarios can be catered for, but after 60 years experience many can be predicted. We are able to give accurate estimates on the cost and timescale involved in a project and will allow time for modifications to either component or tool design.

The experience we have gained over the last 60 years is waiting to be applied to your product!

Tags: Plastic Injection Moulding, Project Management, Prototyping, S.B.Weston Ltd.

2009

• S.B.Weston Ltd’s 3rd generation website and online store go live.
• S.B.Weston design and manufacture Brian May’s 3D Stereoscopic Viewer to feature in his book ‘A Village Lost & Found’ released 22.10.09.
• Business Card Wallet Mk2 tool built. Manufacturing begins 03.11.09

2008

• S.B.Weston celebrates 60 years in business
• A4  Mk2 box tool built. Manufacturing begins 10.02.08
• Double Depth BC Box tool built. Manufacturing begins 03.06.08
• Playing Card Box tool built. Manufacturing begins 07.04.08

2007

• Robotisation of BCB-3 production installed.
• BCB-3 tool built. Manufacturing begins 12.06.07
• DL/CompSlip tool built. Manufacturing begins 24.07.07
• A6 Box tool built. Manufacturing begins 24.07.07

2006

• Peel Off tool built. Manufacturing begins 08.10.06
• 12×12 Box tool built. Manufacturing begins 15.02.06

2004

• A5 Box tool built. Manufacturing begins 25.03.04

2003

• A4 Box tool built. Manufacturing begins 03.08.03

2001

• Having again outgrown their premises, the company moves from Platts Eyot to Harris Way in Sunbury where it currently resides.
• Business Card Wallet Mk1 tool built. Manufacturing begins 25.04.01
• Business Card Box Mk2 tool built. Manufacturing begins 16.07.01

1999

• Business Card Box tool built. Manufacturing begins 12.05.99
• CompSlip Box tool built. Manufacturing begins 22.11.99

1998

• S.B.Weston celebrates 50 years in business

1987

• Reid Weston, Selwyn’s grandson joins the company after an apprenticeship at British Aerospace. He currently manages the business.

1969

• The company outgrows its premises in Teddington and moves to an unusual location the historic island of Platts Eyot on the river Thames

1967

• After advertising the service of injection moulding, the company was overloaded – bought more plant and switched from producing wholly own product to a mix of the latter and trade.

1966

• The first injection moulding machine is purchased in order to produce the companies own products. Selwin Buyers Weston dies.

1963

• David Dodman joins the company after an engineering apprenticeship at Black and Decker

1962

• Tony Weston joins the company after an engineering apprenticeship at Black and Decker

1948

• Selwin Buyers Weston starts the company. Plastic injection moulding is in its infancy. He designs a range of pumps for the pharmaceutical industry

Tags: Injection Moulding, Plastic Injection Moulding, Production, S.B.Weston Ltd.