10 Things to Consider When Buying Custom Digital trimming laser company

The laser (CO2 and fiber) cutting machine has become the ultimate cutting tool for sheet metal in recent years. It’s also one of the most rapidly evolving technologies in metal fabrication and not so long ago you’d be hard pressed to find a fiber or disk cutting laser at a custom fabrication shop. Today they’re popping up everywhere. Some figures bandied about say that 28 machines were imported into South Africa just from China, last year.

With competitive price and timely delivery, JCZ sincerely hope to be your supplier and partner.

Guenter Schmitz of TRM Supplies, a company that has specialised in the sourcing, importing, and installation of a wide range of new sheet metal machines, as well as offering service, support and repairs of the equipment, believes that the manufacturing industry in South Africa needs to be educated about the do’s and don’ts of purchasing a laser cutting machine.

“For most manufacturers, buying an industrial laser cutting machine is a major investment. It’s not just the initial price you pay, but the fact that the purchase will have a great impact on the entire manufacturing process. If the wrong equipment is chosen, you have to live with the decision for quite a long time. It is not unusual to see manufacturers keep a laser for seven to 10 years, before upgrading,” said Schmitz.

“Do you know the best way to go about purchasing a laser cutting machine? Even if you currently own one, how long ago did you buy it and what has changed since then?” continued Schmitz.

“Production managers are always on the line for costs. Whenever the economy takes a dip, the microscope comes out for a closer look at how an operation can be more efficient. For a custom fabrication shop, one way is to bring the laser cutting work that they were previously outsourcing – a big decision – in-house. What they do not realise is that along with this comes a multitude of learning curves and problems, mainly because of the lack of experience and know-how of the process.”

“But there will come that time when you have to ask yourself if it is time for the company to bring laser cutting in-house. This has to be considered even if the business relationship with the subcontractor is great. If the decision is made to bring laser cutting in-house, you may be put in a position where you need to justify why the investment needs to be made. The costs associated with subcontracting out the laser cutting are just the starting point for the justification. How much more productive will the manufacturing process be with in-house laser cutting? How does this affect lead times? From an expense standpoint, not only do you have the cost of the laser cutting machine, you have labour and consumable costs.”

“This scenario doesn’t involve a lot of risk and can work if you have some flexibility with lead times.”

“Lasers have become the true workhorses of metal fabrication, and they have never been more productive. They cut nests at unprecedented speeds, which has made material handling automation even more important. All the high cutting speed in the world may not dramatically affect overall cycle time if a laser sits idle for prolonged periods, waiting for operators to load sheets and unload parts.”

“Similar thinking also applies to edge quality. Edge quality is, of course, subjective. A fabricator will look at a laser-cut component and find that the edge quality is not very good. A welder, on the other hand, may look at the same part and see a smooth, consistent, high-quality edge. Regardless, the application requirements dictate what is considered a quality edge or not. A laser can finish a nest of components in no time flat, but what if those components need to be sent through a secondary operation?”

“To evaluate which machine is best for you, you must first understand your application and define your needs and limitations, all the while accounting for new opportunities and future goals. By doing so, you best match the system capability with your needs, allowing you to take full advantage of the productivity, versatility, and quality benefits that automated laser cutting has to offer.”

“For example, since the game-changing fiber lasers were launched they have made their mark on thin-gauge cutting and speed of cutting. Power sources on fiber machines have progressed rapidly and I believe you can even get a 20kW machine these days. All will be revealed at the forthcoming EuroBlech exhibition in Hannover, Germany in October .”

“The thickness of the gauge that a fiber laser can cut is increasing but at what cost, both in quality and price? I am sure technology will improve but at the moment you must consider CO2, plasma or waterjet cutting, depending on the gauge thickness that you operate in. Each brings its own unique strengths to the table. Which begs the question: Which process is right for you? Or do you even need to go the laser cutting route? Depending on the component volume, a stamping press, a traditional turret punch press or a high-definition plasma system may deliver the lowest cost per component.”

The pitfalls of buying cheap
“These are normal business decisions and manufacturing practice that I have explained. However, South African manufacturers are notorious for buying cheap when investing in capital equipment. It is a generalisation, but I have been around long enough to give an informed opinion. Other than monetary issues, when manufacturers offer reasons as to why they are looking at purchasing a laser cutting machine, they mention control. Ask yourself these questions to see if you fall into this category:

• How many times have we lost business because of late delivery?
• Have we ever had to reject components because of poor quality?
• How would it help our image if we had our own laser cutting capabilities?”

“Once they have said yes to these three questions and the decision to invest in a laser cutting machine is made, then they go and dig themselves in deeper by buying cheap. As a manufacturer, you have numerous sources from which to purchase a laser cutting machine. There are dealers that specialise in used equipment and original equipment manufacturers that offer state-of-the-art cutting equipment and even refurbished machines that may not have the production prowess of new machines, but can still perform much more efficiently than machines of a similar age with no rework done to them.”

“Ask the supplier questions about service availability. Today’s fiber technology does not require as much maintenance as compared to CO2, but when a machine goes down, you’ll want it back up and running as soon as possible. Find out about parts availability and delivery to fix your machine if there is a breakdown. We are working with technology and things do go wrong. This is not taking the human element into the equation. Again, a laser cutting machine that can’t cut because of a damaged part just doesn’t cut it.”

“Also be aware that laser cutting machines from OEMs that are recognisable in the industry typically have higher resale values.”

Technical quality and backup service
“As the name suggests, CO2 laser uses a gas mixture based on carbon dioxide. The mix of CO2 and other gases, commonly nitrogen and helium, is electrically excited to create the beam. Solid-state lasers come in fiber or disk varieties and are available in the same power ranges as their CO2 counterparts. Like the CO2 variety, the name is descriptive, identifying the laser’s beam origin as a solid, either an extruded glass fiber or a small crystalline disk. Both have a rare-earth element suspended, or doped to use the industry term, in the solid matrix that is excited by diodes to emit light in in wavelengths from 900 to 1 070nm (commonly called 1µm).”

“From a facilities standpoint, solid-state lasers do not require nearly as many resources as their CO2 counterparts. Beyond the simplified beam delivery system, possibly of greater value is the modest floor space requirement. These days, fiber lasers from eight to 10kW require just 20 per cent of the floor space of CO2 lasers of similar power. Add the fiber laser’s electrical efficiency, which is three to five times better than that of CO2 lasers, and the hourly operating costs are much less than those of CO2 technology.”

“As fiber laser technology has rapidly advanced over the last several years, it can be hard to distinguish what is important when considering a high-power fiber laser. There are more things to consider than the highest kilowatt rating or the fastest advertised feed rates. Putting an entire package together for your success involves many areas of evaluation and can be challenging.”

“You have to consider the body and table, as well as the stability of these two fabricated items, the laser source, laser cutting head, air compressor, air cooling dryer and filter, the CNC system and many others. These are the standard items on a fiber laser and can be sourced easily, like many of the fiber laser manufacturers that have emerged in recent years. 15 years ago there were probably less than 20 OEM manufacturers of machines and the industry was dominated by a couple of manufacturers of fiber lasers, amplifiers and modules. The market has opened up and there are now many more manufacturers of these power systems, as well as the cutting systems. The software providers and CNC control manufacturers have exploded.”

“The end result is that virtually anybody with a bit of know-how can manufacture a fiber laser cutting machine. Who knows how many there are now? I estimate that in China there could be over 300.”

“This has led to the market being flooded with cheaper options, relatively speaking, and herein lies the problem. Everyone wants to gain market share and you now have a host of new one-man agents and representatives who have little knowledge about the process, have no back-up service, don’t carry spares and just sell on price. Daily we get calls from companies that have gone with the cheap option and their machine has broken down and now they want us to fix it. Well, their machines are still standing still.”

“Besides the power and cutting systems and the CNC controls, there are a whole host of intricate operating features that make up a laser cutting machine. These include the laser cutting heads, the nozzles, the diode modules, fiber block, digital power supplies and digital control electronics, to name a few. Then there are the safety aspects.”

“Technology in this industry over the last 25 years has seen many changes. It’s not just a case of buying from Alibaba and then plugging in and playing!”

“Big technology implementations are demanding. When investing huge sums of money in fiber laser cutting machines with elaborate material management setups, you expect an advantageous ROI. However, in the new rush to install these super-fast cutting machines, you might be discovering that navigating such an implementation project is more than you expected.”

“Like buying a CNC machine tool or your dream car, you need to be educated and informed about your capital expenditure. Deal with those that have the know-how, experience and services and resources to back them up.”

For further details contact TRM Supplies on : 011 974

How to Choose an Appropriate Laser Engraver Based on the Material Type

Metals

The main factor between material types that decides if a particular material type can be easily laser engraved or not is whether the material is metallic or not. Some metallic materials cannot be engraved at all. To engrave metals, ie. to remove a layer of the processed metal, it is recommended to start with a 15 W or higher optical power blue laser head. As of now, PLH3D-15W laser engraver is the best compact laser head on the market capable of engraving steel as well as stainless, carbon, tool and high-speed subspecies of it. It still is not powerful enough to engrave on bare Aluminium, Copper or brass simply because these materials either conduct heat too well or reflect too much laser light. It is possible to laser engrave copper with 30 W (optical power) blue laser heads. XT-50 is another laser engraver that allows you to work with metals, and it does so with outstanding precision (as its 50 µm wide focused beam spot corresponds to >500 real-life DPI ). These two engraving laser heads allow you to laser engrave (not just mark) the metals mentioned above.

If you are satisfied with simply laser marking the metal, you can achieve it on stainless steel and Titanium (but not other metals) with 6 W laser engravers. Laser marking is defined here as changing the color of the metal surface as a result of overheating. Laser marking is however less durable than laser engraving because the depth of the color change is much lower. Laser-marked surfaces can withstand just a few scrubs with fine sandpaper. For this purpose, the XF+ laser engraver with High-Resolution Lenses.

Nevertheless, if you want to do it really fast (>30 mm/s), then you will either need a laser with 15 W of optical power or the XT-50 laser cutter and engraver. Depending on the chemical composition and type of stainless steel you can assume speeds of 0.5 - 2 mm/s, 8 -15 mm/s, or 20-40 mm/s for the XF+ High Resolution Lens,PLH3D-15W respectively.

Wood

When buying a blue laser for cutting and engraving on wood, you often need to decide about its power. Less powerful, 2 W laser is not only cheaper but also allows for more precision laser engraving on wood. The more expensive 6-watt laser can engrave images with large pixels, and can be used where 2-watt version cannot, like cutting hard leather, or marking stainless steel or titanium. 2 W laser can work with a size of the spot of light as small as 0.1 mm, which enables wood engraving of very small details.

Results of engraving heavily depend on wood type. Several parameters need to be taken into account like hardness of the wood, surface and growth rings.

Ceramics

As a general rule, it is recommended to use an image with a resolution of at least 300 dots per inch (DPI) for laser engraving. This will ensure that the laser is able to produce a detailed and accurate engraving, even at small sizes. However, higher resolution images may be necessary for extremely detailed or fine engravings.

By using a high-resolution image and considering the size of the engraving relative to the size of the ceramic plate, you can achieve the best results when engraving with a diode laser. There are a variety of software programs that can be used to create designs for engraving on a ceramic plate with a diode laser.

With PLH3D-XT-50 and it's capabilities to perform engraving with the 500 DPI allows for amazing quality engravings on materials like ceramic tiles. Higher power density reveals new cutting and engraving possibilities. Additionally, cutting and engraving processes are significantly faster comparing to laser heads without anamorphic optics.

Thermoformed Plastics

For thermoformed plastics, optical power density is significantly less important than optical power. The more optical power you deliver to the surface being processed, the faster it melts. For this very reason, 6 W laser engraver is a good choice. It is because it is built with the highest power laser diode available on the market. Nevertheless, higher optical power laser cutters and engravers such as 15 or 30 W multidiode laser heads will do an even better job. 2 W is generally not recommended for processing thermoformed plastics but it can do the job if lower cutting speeds are acceptable.

Dangerous Materials

There are many dangerous materials, particularly plastics, for which you should research whether a given material can be safely laser processed before any laser processing takes place. For these materials, you should have a ventilation system set-up in place and well as use an air-assist nozzle to protect the lens if possible. As a result the most suitable laser engraver and laser cutter choices would be:

• Either PLH3D-XT-50 with the High-Pressure Air-Assist Nozzle;
• Or PLH3D-6W-XF+ laser head with the High-Pressure Air-Assist Nozzle;
• Or PLH3D-15W which has an air-assist nozzle built-in as a standard feature.

It is a good practice to have a ventilation system set-up for laser processing any plastics and additionally to remove the fumes with additional fan or direct fumex extraction tip from the cutting point. Remember that fumes are dangerous not only to humans, certain materials produces corroding gas or other substances that can influence your machines performance over time.

White-Colored Materials

Unlike thermoplastics, white materials require a high optical power density laser head in order to be laser engraved or laser cut. The higher the optical power of your laser engraver and laser cutter is, the higher variety of materials you will be able to cut. Hence the best choice for such materials is either PLH3D-15W or XT-50 if ultra-hd precision is preferable.

Other Types of Materials

As a general rule, most laser heads can process similar material types. Only a few particular types of materials require your laser engraver and laser cutter to have specific properties. The most common problematic materials were mentioned above.

Other types of materials can be processed with all engraving laser heads that have at least 2 W of optical power, and the main difference in their application would be the throughput obtained.

For more information, please visit Custom Digital trimming laser company.

Additional reading:
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What Are Key Benefits of Laser Cutting Controllers?

Choosing Appropriate Laser Head Based on the Material Thickness

Solving Common Issues with 5000W Sheet Metal Laser Cutting Machines
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7 Key Benefits of Fiber Laser Uncoiler Production Line
Top Benefits of Single Table Fibre Laser Cutters

The maximum thickness of the material that can be laser cut is determined by a few parameters. The most important factor is the material itself. Secondly, it also depends on the optical power and optical power density of your laser as well as the angle of the light cone. Foams in general are the thickest materials that can be cut with a laser cutter.

As a general rule, PLH3D-XT-50 or PLH3D-15W laser engravers will perform better than XF+ at laser cutting anything thinner than 5-6 mm. For material thicknesses above 8-10 mm it is advised not to use PLH3D-15W, XT-50 or XF+ as they will cause edge burning as a result of light cone angle. PLH3D-15W laser cutter will perform way better than XT-50 working with themoplastics with around 3 times higher laser cutting speed. Meanwhile, the XT-50 laser cutter will perform better at removing thin layers or laser cutting very thin materials where heat dissipation effects have smaller influence on cutting speed. Thus for materials with 8-10 mm thicknesses it is advised to use standard XF+ laser head equipped with either G2, G7 lens or High-Resolution Lens. Standard XF+ can be used to cut quite thick materials up to 40 mm. It can for example be utilized for cutting 40 mm foam in just 4-6 passes. We have also tested cutting 10 mm balsa with PLH3D-6W-XF+ Laser Head, but it is definitely possible to cut even thicker balsa with additional passes.

Compatibility with Various CNC Machines and 3D Printers - And How to Connect Your Engraver

PLH3D-CNC Adapter

PLH3D-CNC Adapter allows you to quickly connect your laser head to almost any CNC machine, including 3D printers. You may require basic electronics skills to connect it to more complicated controllers. Nevertheless, common controllers such as BlackBox controller, Duet 3D or xPro v4/v5 are quite easy to connect. We also have a controller connection database showing how to connect your PLH3D-CNC Adapter to a wide range of controllers.

CNC Milling Machines

Basically, with the help of the PLH3D-CNC Adapter, it is possible to connect the laser head to almost any CNC machine to turn your CNC machine into a laser engraving machine. One of the most important things, besides the connection, is generating an appropriate G-Code. G-Code for a laser engraver differs from the standard G-Code. The laser needs to be switched off for the duration of any idle movement while a spindle could be left spinning. The two most similar aspects of the laser and spingle g-codes are the power and the rotation speed. The same PWM signal that controls the rotation speed of the spindle can be used to control the laser power of your laser cutter and engraver. Typically, this is done with the S0 - S255 command (0 for 0% power and 255 for full power), but depending on your CNC Software and Controller, you might end up using different values, for example, S0 - S.

While it is possible to connect your laser engraver (and cutter) without the adapter, it requires basic electronics skills and an additional power source.

Opt Lasers Laser Heads are designed to work with any CNC machinery and connecting them to your system is pretty straightforward. To fire the laser head, you need to provide it with a 5V or 10V analog signal, or you can use a PWM signal. Opt Lasers laser heads can be mounted on robotic arms, robots, rovers, lathes and all kinds of CNC machinery that can operate a modulating signal or a 0/1 digital signal.

What Accessories should I buy?

All main accessories (LaserDock, High-Pressure Air Assist Nozzle) can be found in the product details section in the main menu. All other accessories as well as descriptions of their applications can be found on the Opt Lasers Accessories webpage.

The most important accessories you should consider for your laser cutter and engraver are:

How to Choose an Appropriate CNC Machine Upgrade Kit for a Particular CNC Machine?

Specially for you, we have prepared a website that guides the user through the process of selecting a laser head and then leads to the appropriate set for your CNC machine. Click the button below to visit this website.

Discover more

Get Inspired with Opt Lasers

CNC Laser Project Showcase with CNC Lasers

We are delighted with the designs our customers have sent us using laser engraving heads, and it is motivating us to continue creating and improving products. You can find a lot of useful information, creators' works and descriptions of their stories here. We publish the most interesting material on our website and social media profiles.

Discover more Laser Projects

Cutting & Engraving Wood with CNC Lasers

Cutting and engraving wood using a CNC laser depends on the type of wood, its hardness, as well as other parameters like humidity, or texture. Materials that are easiest to cut with a laser are balsa and aviation plywood. Plywood is made of two layers of slightly harder wood, and a filler - usually balsa. Laser cutting these materials is least problematic, and the process is highly repeatable, since the wood has no knags, and has a foam-like, homogenous structure. When selecting material suitable for laser cutting or engraving, you should check its uniformity. Some variants of balsa are cheaper but may contain splinters of harder wood that are more difficult to cut with a CNC laser. Similar guidelines apply to aviation plywood.

Discover more about Cutting & Engraving Wood with CNC Lasers

Laser Engraving Transparent Materials with CNC Lasers

Transparency is a physical property of materials, which means that light can travel through an object without scattering (on a macroscopic scale). A transparent material is a material that appears clear and of a single color. Examples of transparent materials include plate glass and amorphous plastics (e.g. acrylics, PEI, PC, ABS, PS, etc.). Films of certain crystalline polymers, such as PET and PP, are also transparent as a result of being stretched in two directions (and thus bi-axially oriented), which aligns the polymer molecules in the film’s plane. There is consequently no refraction because of this alignment.

Discover more about Laser Engraving Transparent Materials

Useful Links:

Website Links

You can find a lot of useful information in the same tab this article is.

To find out about typical achievable laser engraving speeds as well as laser cutting speeds for different materials, please visit:

https://optlasers.com/material-laser-cutting-tests

Step-by-step laser cutter and engraver installation guides for a wide range of popular CNC machines and 3D printer can be found below:

https://optlasers.com/user-manuals

To familiarize yourself with our laser engraver and laser cutter products installation manuals, please go to:

https://optlasers.com/user-manuals

To find the answers for standard questions, please see the FAQ:

https://optlasers.com/frequently-asked-questions

Instructions, 3D files, Software, technical drawings etc. can be found here:

https://optlasers.com/files-download

Useful Laser Engraving and Laser Cutting Related Videos on YouTube

There are a lot of videos on Youtube that show laser cutter and engraver installation for different machines or present various interesting laser projects. You can also visit our Youtube Channel, which you are more than welcome to subscribe to.

There are a lot of related videos made by professional users as well as hobbyists. You can check them out here:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=opt+lasers

We have a few playlists that differentiate our videos based on the topic discussed. These for example include playlists related to specific CNC machines, Opt Lasers Educational Series or laser projects. In the link below, you can find lot of useful information about how to use laser engravers, how to install them or find an exciting inspiration for a new project:

https://www.youtube.com/c/OptLasers/playlists

Facebook Group and Fanpage for People Interested in Laser Cutters and Engravers

We highly encourage you to join our Opt Lasers facebook group. You can use this group to show your laser work, exchange laser processing experience as well as ask any questions you might have:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/optlasers

Build a supportive community together with us!

You are also recommended to give our Facebook fanpage a thumbs up. By clicking like, you will gain the added benefit of first-hand information about our exciting new product releases, interesting laser processing movies, handy tutorials and other materials:

https://www.facebook.com/OptLasers/

You can also follow our other social media:

Opt Lasers' Twitter

Opt Lasers' LinkedIn

Opt Lasers' Instagram

Additional YouTube Videos of Use to You

Below you can find our YouTube videos showing laser cutting and laser engraving tests, technical explanations and reviews as well as other valuable content:

Contact us to discuss your requirements of China Ultraviolet laser marking system company. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.

Tests of PLH3D-15W - Videos