I've been looking at 40 and 80 watt CO2 laser engraver/cutters lately.
Prices have come way down and one machine I looked at with a 40 watt
laser was less than 3000.00 bux. There are even cheaper ones but they
were a little too basic for me. The price for a new tube is $300.00
which translates to about 30 cents an hour operating cost for just the
tube. But what I am really interested in is what CO2 can realistically
cut and engrave. Not what the website says but real world experience.
I know I'll be able to engrave black anodized aluminum and black
acetal plastic, two materials which I would be engraving and have paid
for engraving in the past. But titanium engraving would be nice. And
cutting thin metal sheet and maybe thin plastic sheet. And laser
sintering Saturn 5 boosters. Well, maybe not Saturn 5 boosters. But is
40 watts even capable of cutting thin metal at any kind of decent feed
rate? And how thin is thin? When it comes to that, what kind of feed
rates when engraving black anodized aluminum or black plastics?
Thanks,
Eric

wrote in message
...
I've been looking at 40 and 80 watt CO2 laser engraver/cutters lately.
Prices have come way down and one machine I looked at with a 40 watt
laser was less than 3000.00 bux. There are even cheaper ones but they
were a little too basic for me. The price for a new tube is $300.00
which translates to about 30 cents an hour operating cost for just the
tube. But what I am really interested in is what CO2 can realistically
cut and engrave. Not what the website says but real world experience.
I know I'll be able to engrave black anodized aluminum and black
acetal plastic, two materials which I would be engraving and have paid
for engraving in the past. But titanium engraving would be nice. And
cutting thin metal sheet and maybe thin plastic sheet. And laser
sintering Saturn 5 boosters. Well, maybe not Saturn 5 boosters. But is
40 watts even capable of cutting thin metal at any kind of decent feed
rate? And how thin is thin? When it comes to that, what kind of feed
rates when engraving black anodized aluminum or black plastics?
Thanks,
Eric

I am sorry I can not give you much practical advice on marking and cutting,
but as an optical engineer I designed a CO2 laser system in this power range
for other material processing purposes, and I have heard a bit about their
use for marking and cutting. From what I understand, marking reflective
materials with lower powered CO2 lasers need it to first be sprayed with a
special coating that absorbs the laser energy and bonds to the metal. I
think 40W might be practical to cut thin plastics but not metal.

Have you looked at fiber laser systems? They are much easier to maintain.
The technology is advancing very quickly and will probably end up mostly
replacing CO2 systems. A Q-switched fiber laser is very good at marking
reflective materials. At lower powers, each type have advantages. Here's a
table of what each can mark, maybe you have seen a similar one.
http://www.ulsinc.com/products/pls6mw/

On Tue, 8 Jan 2013 22:04:40 -0800, "anorton"
wrote:


wrote in message
.. .
I've been looking at 40 and 80 watt CO2 laser engraver/cutters lately.
Prices have come way down and one machine I looked at with a 40 watt
laser was less than 3000.00 bux. There are even cheaper ones but they
were a little too basic for me. The price for a new tube is $300.00
which translates to about 30 cents an hour operating cost for just the
tube. But what I am really interested in is what CO2 can realistically
cut and engrave. Not what the website says but real world experience.
I know I'll be able to engrave black anodized aluminum and black
acetal plastic, two materials which I would be engraving and have paid
for engraving in the past. But titanium engraving would be nice. And
cutting thin metal sheet and maybe thin plastic sheet. And laser
sintering Saturn 5 boosters. Well, maybe not Saturn 5 boosters. But is
40 watts even capable of cutting thin metal at any kind of decent feed
rate? And how thin is thin? When it comes to that, what kind of feed
rates when engraving black anodized aluminum or black plastics?
Thanks,
Eric

I am sorry I can not give you much practical advice on marking and cutting,
but as an optical engineer I designed a CO2 laser system in this power range
for other material processing purposes, and I have heard a bit about their
use for marking and cutting. From what I understand, marking reflective
materials with lower powered CO2 lasers need it to first be sprayed with a
special coating that absorbs the laser energy and bonds to the metal. I
think 40W might be practical to cut thin plastics but not metal.

Have you looked at fiber laser systems? They are much easier to maintain.
The technology is advancing very quickly and will probably end up mostly
replacing CO2 systems. A Q-switched fiber laser is very good at marking
reflective materials. At lower powers, each type have advantages. Here's a
table of what each can mark, maybe you have seen a similar one.
http://www.ulsinc.com/products/pls6mw/
I have been reading about fiber lasers. But only about big ones and
they are too expensive. The fiber laser made by the linked company
above will only cut metal foil. They do sell a CO2 laser that cuts
metal though. There is obviously a lot to learn before I buy anything.
Eric

On Wednesday, January 9, 2013 12:10:18 PM UTC-5, wrote:


I have been reading about fiber lasers. But only about big ones and

they are too expensive. The fiber laser made by the linked company

above will only cut metal foil. They do sell a CO2 laser that cuts

metal though. There is obviously a lot to learn before I buy anything.

Eric

Please do keep us up to date with what you find. This is a subject that has been on my mind lately, hopfully to be able to fabricate small prototype cases for electronics, and (possibly) to fabricate printed circuit boards. I was JUST about to start doing some research when your post came up.

On 2013-01-09, anorton wrote:

Have you looked at fiber laser systems? They are much easier to maintain.
The technology is advancing very quickly and will probably end up mostly
replacing CO2 systems. A Q-switched fiber laser is very good at marking
reflective materials. At lower powers, each type have advantages. Here's a
table of what each can mark, maybe you have seen a similar one.
http://www.ulsinc.com/products/pls6mw/

Interesting. Does this mean that the laser rod is a bundle of
flexible fiber optics -- or even just one instead of a rigid rod like
the NdYAG ones which I have used in the past? (Those had a rotating
roof prism as the Q-switch, FWIW, and perhaps these days there are
electronic shutters which can do the task, to allow more precise control
over firing timing.)

Enjoy,
DoN.

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