Laser welders?

[zeppelin builder]

Must be gas flow either insufficient or too high causing turbulence.

Or oxides/contamination of the metal or filler metal.

it realy annoys me when some lady or boy zipps round some metal with ease and even underwater then you get
to the actual buying bit and its a totaly differen t thing a pistol grip soldering iron with a roll of
60 40 hanging on the back f all to do with laser welding .i wonder how many buyers were dissapointed that they couldnt weld that 6 mm plate with a 60 w soldering iron

 

[redlig]

it realy annoys me when some lady or boy zipps round some metal with ease and even underwater then you get
to the actual buying bit and its a totaly differen t thing a pistol grip soldering iron with a roll of
60 40 hanging on the back f all to do with laser welding .i wonder how many buyers were dissapointed that they couldnt weld that 6 mm plate with a 60 w soldering iron

Caveat Emptor ! If it seems to be too good etc,,,

 

[jmp49]

How about the 1500w/2000w reci powered laser 4 in 1 machines, anyone with any direct experience of them on here?
I'm interested but only from the perspective of laser cleaning, I dont believe they live up to the hype as welders, and I already have tig/mig/gas etc that will give better resutls, but ablating rust off things without damaging them seems mighty useful.
I've been tinkering & building things with co2 lasers for a few years and understand reflection and precautions, so I'm more interested in hearing about the actual units from someone with experience.

Aliexpress keeps tempting me with one for 3000e all in with ship from Germany with the reci fibre source, gun, chiller and wire feeder, which to me is the final price, yeah it'd be a toy, but one I would find incredibly useful and just for once I have the funds...

 

[Johnnybravo]

How about the 1500w/2000w reci powered laser 4 in 1 machines, anyone with any direct experience of them on here?
I'm interested but only from the perspective of laser cleaning, I dont believe they live up to the hype as welders, and I already have tig/mig/gas etc that will give better resutls, but ablating rust off things without damaging them seems mighty useful.
I've been tinkering & building things with co2 lasers for a few years and understand reflection and precautions, so I'm more interested in hearing about the actual units from someone with experience.

Aliexpress keeps tempting me with one for 3000e all in with ship from Germany with the reci fibre source, gun, chiller and wire feeder, which to me is the final price, yeah it'd be a toy, but one I would find incredibly useful and just for once I have the funds...

Unless it’s about £20k, it’s a scam. And even at that price point I would be extremely wary….
And that from someone who has one, bought about 8 years ago for £40k..

 

[tom2207]

the 40 quid ones are actually soldering irons with a little wire feed for solder , works off the trigger ,, I had one years ago for doing xlr plugs , it was good , but a faff so I stuck with a 40w weller

 

[qwakers]

 

[hotponyshoes]

Is this the precursor to another welding revolution ? We see how fast transformer MIGs rapidly becoming a distant memory, TIG welding becoming available to the masses (but still require a lot of effort to be mastered. If we are to believe the commercials, this new welding technology is much faster (although this is irrelevant for most DIY-
ers) welds aluminium and does away with the need to clean and cut the materiels.

I can see it being the equivalent of the laser cutters when they arrived.
So expensive at the start that they were only in the hands of aerospace and F1 teams.
Now, smaller companies have them, they have sucked up all the local market and offer services online to bring work in.
I can sit on the sofa and order complex laser cut parts in stainless steel cheaper than I can buy the bare metal.

They have now hit the price level for hobby/shed users. Same thing, I can go onto ebay and buy custom size laser cut washers for the same price as the bare material needed to make my own.

There are already online services that will cut, fold, weld, (and pretty much anything else) your design and deliver it to your door.
Once these places get hold of laser welders (I'm sure some already have) they'll be offering the use of them to individuals once they have captured all the industrial work.

Once they are established in the small-firm market suppliers will be competing hard on price/features/finance deals. In 10 years the shed users will be able to pick up these £50k units at liquidation auctions for hobby money if they have the inclination to play with them and enough power to the shed.

 

[Porkypine]

I got one of those youtube ads the other day, made me chuckle at least !
surely though it's complete fraud as what's being sold is not the advertised thing at all, you'd think youtube would have to pull the ads, as they must surely have had complaints ?

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

The idea of laser light at that intensity bouncing round my garage is enough to put me off....I set fire to enough stuff with my mig and stick welding!

 

[fizzy]

Unless it’s about £20k, it’s a scam. And even at that price point I would be extremely wary….
And that from someone who has one, bought about 8 years ago for £40k..

Not any more. Joshua De Lisle videos are great. And no he isn't related to the chap who invented the De Lisle carbine - I asked

They were about £3000 on kickstarter but I see they are around £7000 now.
Prices will keep dropping hopefully.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Incredible technology...but yea in the wrong hands there's going to be big problems!

 

[daedalusminos]

I'll find out when my turns up in a month or two

 

[fizzy]

I'll find out when my turns up in a month or two

Which one have you ordered? What power? Eventually I think most welding will be done with laser.

 

[daedalusminos]

Which one have you ordered? What power? Eventually I think most welding will be done with laser.

X1 Pro 700W

 

[fizzy]

X1 Pro 700W

Ahh same make. Did you get it at the kick-starter price? You will have to give us a full review when you get it.

 

[Farside]

Apropos of the OP...

 

[brightspark]

it will be simlar sort of krap that advertises a 50 quid heater 750 watts plug in that can heat a full room in 10 minutes a lemon

 

[daedalusminos]

Ahh same make. Did you get it at the kick-starter price? You will have to give us a full review when you get it.

Yes XPhotonics Kickstarter... I'll definitely post feedback.

 

[fizzy]

Yes XPhotonics Kickstarter... I'll definitely post feedback.

Look how much they are now

 

[tom2207]

Once upon a time TIG was called HeliArc and the machines cost a years wages ,,, today they nearly give them away ,,,, laser will be middle isle , but thats a long way off as yet.