Material: Lexan* Resin EXL9330
Mould material: steel
Moulding: injection
Engraving technique: laser engraving
Surface texture: anti-glare Micro Laser Grain
Clay Paky represents since 1976 an international reference brand in the show-lighting world: its reflectors have been trained on the most important events and shows worldwide: the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games of Sochi and London, the Academy Awards ceremony, Madonna's and Bruce Springsteen's concerts, up to the Queen Elisabeth Jubilee.
The customer's requirement: obtain the minimum achievable gloss degree of the surface texture
For Supersharpy, the new ACL beam type moving head featuring a 470 watt, 7,800 K lamp, Clay Paky demanded ML Engraving a finishing -
Micro Laser Grain -, that had to cover the entire surface of the product. The technical challenge underlying the project stood in the special plastic material of Supersahrpy, that is Lexan* Resin EXL9330, innovative and high-performing, but difficult to treat. Any moulded surface texture on this material, in fact, has very high gloss.
As easily deducible, a high gloss degree can threaten the performances of the reflector: if the light hits them during a show, they could reflect the beam and disturb the effect on the stage.
The R&D team of ML Engraving and the technical department of Clay Paky dedicated months of hard work to researches on the material and on the texture, performing a series of tests and measurements with a glossmeter (gloss degrees from 0 to 100%), to measure the specular reflection gloss of the moulded surface and to finally obtain a matt, anti-glare effect. The tests brought to achieve a gloss degree of 0.1 on the mold cavity and of 2.1 at the height on the moulded surfaces, depending on the material type and moulding conditions.
Technical requirements and esthetic return
Once the optimal gloss degree was achieved, the focus of the work became the design of the finishing of Supersharpy. The pattern development was made in
co-design between ML Engraving, Jockoo Texture Factory and Andrea Bello, industrial designer of Disegnobello. A chessboard pattern, that is both technical and elegant in nature, has been chosen in order to increase the added value of a product, that offers excellent performances and will enlighten many events and locations worldwide.
The
surface texture was mapped on the file of every component of Supersharpy through state-of-the-art mapping techniques. The effect of the render and of the final product are perfectly equivalent: there's no texture distortion, also in the round areas of the object.
New events, new shows and new concerts will be on the stage, enlighted by the special effect of the reflectors Clay Paky. Which event won't you miss?