Yeti Tool has celebrated a product patent milestone by taking our unique portable large-format routing machine up a Welsh mountain to operate CNC on a summit.
SmartBench, the world's only portable large-format CNC routing machine, was granted a full UK patent recently, and Yeti Tool members of staff decided to celebrate in style - by transporting our flagship routing machine SmartBench PrecisionPro up a mountain in the Brecon Beacons to cut a plywood project.
A team of 17-strong took the CNC router on a four-hour trek up to Corn Du in the Brecon Beacons, where a plywood bench was cut, as Technical Director and Yeti Tool co-founder highlighted:
"We've had a patent pending for some time, which has given the unique CNC technology in our SmartBench product protection, but to get a full UK patent granted felt like it deserved a really unusual event to celebrate it. We opted for CNC on a summit."
Corn Du is a summit of the twin-topped Pen Y Fan and the second highest peak in South Wales. Situated in the stunning Brecon Beacons National Park, Corn Du is 2,864 feet high.
"It was great weather on the day, and we transported SmartBench PrecisionPro as well as an 8x4 plywood sheet to cut the bench from at the top," added Ed.
"It felt like a huge milestone to get the patent approved, and we wanted to push SmartBench to its limits. Being 873 metres high seemed like an appropriate way to demonstrate our whole concept of CNC on the move."
Manufacturing is becoming more robotic and automated, and SmartBench PrecisionPro provides the perfect portable product for construction professionals looking to make products in all kinds of locations on site.
"The climb up Corn Du took the team with all the kit about four hours, and at some points, it was so steep we were climbing in 100-metre stints then taking 15-minute breaks," said Ed.
"SmartBench took less than five minutes to assemble, and the bench project was cut in 34 minutes. We designed and made a contemporary bench to reflect our modern vision of manufacturing and the disruptive technology embodied in every SmartBench we've made over the last 48 months," added Ed.
The bench was made at the summit with a memorial plaque to Ian Adkins, the inventor of SmartBench, who sadly and unexpectedly passed away in 2019.
"It was an unusual and unique take on a bench, and we wanted to honour Ian by dedicating it to him. He would have loved seeing the CNC on a summit."
To see a video outlining the full testing trip to the Corn Du summit with a Yeti Tool SmartBench, including some stunning aerial drone footage, please visit here.
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To find out more about our unique SmartBench portable large-format CNC Router, please get in touch with us here.