Laser Cutter/Engraver

[1018Machine]

The beam size and optical power I believe directly relates to the engraving and cutting capabilities although it is poorly stated everywhere. I believe this is similar to using a magnifying glass & the sun to burn wood. The tighter the focus the hotter the point of light, but it's smaller. So a 20W laser with a very small dot size could have dramatically higher power per square unit of area. And conversely a strong laser with a fuzzy dot could actually be slower and less capable. Although it depends on what you want - a big fat black line with the small laser dot size would take many more passes, the fuzzier dot would take fewer passes but with a slower travel time. There is a limit where a diffuse beam does not do anything - e.g. like how the magnifying glass with a 1/2" circle does nothing.

Trade offs as usual... But what laser strength do you need and what dot size to engrave metals, plastics, wood? Or maybe what can I get for $2000 to $3000? And do you mean "marking" or "engraving"? The horse above from @1018Machine is a great example of engraving. (What material is that horse @1018Machine ?)

The horse is brass but only because it gives the best results for 2.5D engraving.

As for spot size it's reliant on the lens size. Obviously the larger the lens the larger the spot size. Detailed work is best one using a 70mm lens because the spot is very concentrated. You trade off work area but most fine work tends to be small.....like these letters I'm working on now.

 

[PeterT]

like these letters I'm working on now

Wow, that's nice. Confirms what my machinist buddy told me a long time ago. Lasers don't have to be that raggy, slaggy edge we often see. Other factors <pick one or many> machine constraint, operator issue, or perfectly capable of better but overridden by incentive to knock them out fast because time is money.

 

[Tom O]

5 Bucks.

 

[Bandit]

So, I am trying to get a bit of a handle on lasers, cutting and engraving. NOTE, I have not spent any great amount of time researching on the subject as it seems to have become a very wide field.
We seem/have gone from a mirror coated glass tube filled with gas, projecting a light beam through a ruby, to diode and fibre and the gas units.
Even power seems to be somewhat hard to relate to capabilities of the types.
@1018Machine laser— fibre —30watt, can cut many metals well at 0.30” thick, speed?, slower at .100” thickness. Looks to engrave very well to depth of ?, speed? possibly extreme samples would be the skulls and horse head in post #2.
@Chris Cramer laser — diode laser —40 watt, can cut metal to ? well, engraving, depth ? — 20 watt ?, can cut metal? Post #25 pictures.
Others on the forum, seem to be a few more, what you got, and what it can do.

A Happy New Year to all and the Best in the new year!

Adding
@whydontu — 5 watt— type?, can engrave plywood, mds, slate, anodized aluminum. Post #2
@DavidR8 — 40watt— type?, cuts 1/2 inch birch plywood “easy”, also “removes” Ty fighters. Engraving. Post #4
@van123d —10watt —diode laser, cuts at least 3/16 inch plywood (1/4 inch?). Post#3.

 

[Susquatch]

5 Bucks.

I think that is being very generous.....

 

[Bandit]

@Chis Cramer, what is the “air asist” in post #25 on the D1 Pro?
@1018Machine , how many times would you have to lower the head for .25 inch engraving? Or what is accurate? depth of cut/metal removal when engraving? I realize focus/ size/diameter of beam changes things. A small/tight?/focused beam needs less wattage to do the same thing? and gives better/higher definition.

 

[whydontu]

@Chis Cramer, what is the “air asist” in post #25 on the D1 Pro?
@1018Machine , how many times would you have to lower the head for .25 inch engraving? Or what is accurate? depth of cut/metal removal when engraving? I realize focus/ size/diameter of beam changes things. A small/tight?/focused beam needs less wattage to do the same thing? and gives better/higher definition.

Air assist is a small blower or compressed air supply arranged to blow air past the laser lens. The idea is to reduce the amount of smoke/contaminants/guck that builds up on the lens. Makes a huge difference in laser service life if you’re working a lot with wood or plastics, materials that produces fumes that might coalesce on the laser lens. My air assist is an aquarium air pump, a shop-made brass collar, and a couple of feet of 1/4” vinyl tubing. Think of it as the laser cutting equivalent of flood coolant.

 

[Janger]

I can't find that A20 fiber laser on atomstack site... is this a full machine or a module

https://atomstack.com/products/atomstack-a20-pro-1064nm
gantry type xy desktop machine..

@TorontoBuilder please post your thoughts on this one.

 

[Janger]

Air assist is a small blower or compressed air supply arranged to blow air past the laser lens. The idea is to reduce the amount of smoke/contaminants/guck that builds up on the lens. Makes a huge difference in laser service life if you’re working a lot with wood or plastics, materials that produces fumes that might coalesce on the laser lens. My air assist is an aquarium air pump, a shop-made brass collar, and a couple of feet of 1/4” vinyl tubing. Think of it as the laser cutting equivalent of flood coolant.

The air assist also keeps the air clear so the laser can hit the material and the beam is not lost to interference from the smoke.

 

[Janger]

More machines added to my table. @jcdammeyer I added the Xtools higher end Galvo head and also another machine the monoport GP20 galvo head, it's cheap but the specs were not clear.

The XTools F1 Alpha Galvo head now has the highest power density in my table at 22,222W/mm^2, even higher than the Beamer, . Really small laser dot/kerf at 0.0012". Assuming it is an accurate specification. I'm sure the beamer spec is accurate, the xtools, hmmm. It's a bit of a hype type company.

 

[Janger]

I'm now thinking I want two lasers. 1. A gantry type to do wood and big pieces both engraved and cut. 2. a small galvo to do high quality marking/engraving on metal. Come on forum help me spend a lot of money.

I have a thought to convert an old 3d printer for wood engraving/cutting. Make the gantry 2' wide? I suspect a conversion is a waste of time I should just find a suitable machine. I want to make parts not make a machine.

 

[Janger]

The horse is brass but only because it gives the best results for 2.5D engraving.

As for spot size it's reliant on the lens size. Obviously the larger the lens the larger the spot size. Detailed work is best one using a 70mm lens because the spot is very concentrated. You trade off work area but most fine work tends to be small.....like these letters I'm working on now.

@1018Machine could you please post a high res picture so we can zoom in on that letter R? That is a cool picture wow.

 

[DavidR8]

I'm now thinking I want two lasers. 1. A gantry type to do wood and big pieces both engraved and cut. 2. a small galvo to do high quality marking/engraving on metal. Come on forum help me spend a lot of money.

I have a thought to convert an old 3d printer for wood engraving/cutting. Make the gantry 2' wide? I suspect a conversion is a waste of time I should just find a suitable machine. I want to make parts not make a machine.

That's my current thinking too.
I'm going to set up an anodizing rig and then burn off the anodizing with my diode laser.

 

[Bandit]

I've got one, supposed to be 150 watts. It has seen zero use, all I've done is pry the lid of the crate off to have look. I imported a 12,000 watt laser for work and negotiated to have the small one thrown in. Shipping was free, it piggy backed in the containers of the big laser. Seemed like a great idea at the time ..... still sitting in its crate while figure out how to fit it in, get it through a doorway and down the stairs. Disassembly required.

The big one (during assembly a year ago) and the little one, alone and forlorn



View attachment 57064

View attachment 57065

@Mcgyver, For the curious, (me at least), what are the capabilities of these 2 lasers and what type are they, CO2, fibre??

 

[Mcgyver]

@Mcgyver, For the curious, (me at least), what are the capabilities of these 2 lasers and what type are they, CO2, fibre??

The large one replaces our defunct plasma table at work. It's a 12,000 watt fibre laser. They don't let me touch it, but I think we've done 1.25" (steel). They usually run it a high power and adjust speed for thickness. On thinner stuff it is FAST. Sheet capacity of 4m x 2m or about 13 feet x 6.5 feet. I would have gone bigger as it wasn't that much more and we sometimes need to work mill sheets, e.g. 10zx20', but the 4000x2000 was the biggest size that could fit in a container. We don't need big sheet capacity that often and decided we'd just outsource when we do (it's become hardly ever). Dual table so you're loading one while the other is cutting. Nothing but praise for, it works well and is very accurate (.002"). We imported it ourselves which made it affordable, 2x the cost for Chinese machines with local representation, 4x for NA made. GWeike sent a factory technician to install it as part of the price and we even had him stay with an employee to keep the costs down - plus he had zero English and doesn't drive so would have been a bit lost on his own.

The little one is a CO2. It was a 100W but they said could upgrade it to 150 and were supposed to. I was excited to get it but am a bit bummed out at it just sitting there. Got to get it home and get it working, but for those who've seen my world, there are some challenges. Because it was pretty much a bonus I didn't think too hard about it, but it will NOT go through a doorway which is a major issue. Complete disassembly isn't that appealing. I've been thinking of setting it up at work, but when I'm there I'm either working or wanting to leave (160km commute), I just don't have the mindset for hobby stuff when there.

 

[Dan Dubeau]

Sheds man, I'm tellin ya. The answer is Sheds.

 

[1018Machine]

@1018Machine could you please post a high res picture so we can zoom in on that letter R? That is a cool picture wow.

This is the best I can do without pulling out all my camera gear! I taped a loupe to my iphone

 

[darrin1200]

More machines added to my table. @jcdammeyer I added the Xtools higher end Galvo head and also another machine the monoport GP20 galvo head, it's cheap but the specs were not clear.

The XTools F1 Alpha Galvo head now has the highest power density in my table at 22,222W/mm^2, even higher than the Beamer, . Really small laser dot/kerf at 0.0012". Assuming it is an accurate specification. I'm sure the beamer spec is accurate, the xtools, hmmm. It's a bit of a hype type company.


View attachment 57147

What about the Gweike G2 Pro 30W or the G2 Max 50 . They are both Galvo with a 15cm working area.

I am still working on funds for the G2Pro $2100USD right now.

 

[jcdammeyer]

The large one replaces our defunct plasma table at work. It's a 12,000 watt fibre laser. They don't let me touch it, but I think we've done 1.25" (steel). They usually run it a high power and adjust speed for thickness. On thinner stuff it is FAST. Sheet capacity of 4m x 2m or about 13 feet x 6.5 feet. I would have gone bigger as it wasn't that much more and we sometimes need to work mill sheets, e.g. 10zx20', but the 4000x2000 was the biggest size that could fit in a container. We don't need big sheet capacity that often and decided we'd just outsource when we do (it's become hardly ever). Dual table so you're loading one while the other is cutting. Nothing but praise for, it works well and is very accurate (.002"). We imported it ourselves which made it affordable, 2x the cost for Chinese machines with local representation, 4x for NA made. GWeike sent a factory technician to install it as part of the price and we even had him stay with an employee to keep the costs down - plus he had zero English and doesn't drive so would have been a bit lost on his own.

The little one is a CO2. It was a 100W but they said could upgrade it to 150 and were supposed to. I was excited to get it but am a bit bummed out at it just sitting there. Got to get it home and get it working, but for those who've seen my world, there are some challenges. Because it was pretty much a bonus I didn't think too hard about it, but it will NOT go through a doorway which is a major issue. Complete disassembly isn't that appealing. I've been thinking of setting it up at work, but when I'm there I'm either working or wanting to leave (160km commute), I just don't have the mindset for hobby stuff when there.

Remove living room winow and furniture. Place in middle of room. Put window back in place.

 

[jcdammeyer]

More machines added to my table. @jcdammeyer I added the Xtools higher end Galvo head and also another machine the monoport GP20 galvo head, it's cheap but the specs were not clear.

The XTools F1 Alpha Galvo head now has the highest power density in my table at 22,222W/mm^2, even higher than the Beamer, . Really small laser dot/kerf at 0.0012". Assuming it is an accurate specification. I'm sure the beamer spec is accurate, the xtools, hmmm. It's a bit of a hype type company.


View attachment 57147

I wondered about xtools. As I know nothing about lasers or what a Galvo head is I suspect like many, i'd probably buy into the hype and purchase one. Luckily I don't have room at the moment.