Laser cutters who has one

[MattH]

My small 1kw fibre laser will cut 10mm mild with oxygen.
On nitrogen it will max out at 5mm stainless and 4mm aluminium.

For 10mm stainless you’d probably need a 3Kw at least, that’s a lot of money.

Most of the big secindhand lasers are C02 resonators and you’ll need higher power to cut the small thickness as a fibre laser.

My lasers have a cutting area if 1300mm x 900mm and weigh about 2 ton each so your not pushing it about on casters.

 

[MattH]

 

[Ged93]

Well you should have a look at these brands : Kimla and Eagle , I think they are both from Poland but machines seems fairly good .
If you want to go with a chinese machine ( well , why not a new gen high definition plasma ? ) you should go through a local importer who can guarantee support and spares .
A lot of chinese brands are out there , but remember most of the times small machines comes without fumes extractor and protections unless you request them .

 

[henry Kadzielski]

Well potentially a 1300 by 900 is what I am after, however already looked a bit and thought a 4kw is what I need and yes 10mm is what I would need. Now can you also mark the plates with the laser. My plasma which does S/S with nitrogen and have cut 20mm is OK, however the edge finish is not the best, edge straightness and holes . Ok for some things but others not so good. I have a pneumatic scriber on my plasma and it is wonderful for setup lines bend lines etc. So anything I get needs to do the same, when you get spoiled, however it is actually very wonderful. I have a nitrogen generator, but from what I have discovered the operational pressure depends upon the thickness and my pressure is too low. So @MattH can you please enlighten me on what is actually required and what and why you got what you got. Thankyou very much

 

[henry Kadzielski]

@Ged93 I am not specifically after a Chinese machine. Ideally what I would like is to retrofit my table with a laser head and that would get me the best outcome. I would have the size that I need and the infrastructure is already in place. This however is not possible from what I have seen so far. I have little space now and anything extra is a problem, hence the thought of a machine on casters. I could drag it out when needed and put it away when not in use. My plasma is 6.6m long and 2.0m wide on the bed so it takes up much space, just saying

 

[Justme]

Sounds like you need to outsource the parts for now & see how lazer cut actually works for you.

 

[ajlelectronics]

When I went to get some parts laser cut, I was directed to a company doing water jet cutting, with the advice that it was more efficient and far cheaper a way of achieving the same quality. I know nothing about the mechanics of it though, so it might be nonsense.

 

[Ged93]

So let's analyze the problem :
- you want to a laser
- max. thickness 10 mm SS
> it means a huge and heavy machine , not movable

- you already have a 6,6*2 machine , so no space available you said
> modify your machine with a laser head , but I don't think it's possible unless you find a crazy engineer
> sell your machine for a used laser
> outsource
> sell your machine for a new high definition plasma
> extra space out of the shop ?
I've seen a guy on youtube who had to build a sort of garage out of his shop for his laser , he had to go with a chinese 1,5*3 only because they are the smallest and more compact , but again zero safety about fumes and laser light .

 

[Kayos]

It’s pleasing to buy British IF there’s an available Brit product,not only that ,once they get to speed making it here they ship production to the Far East,because the bosses and shareholders want more more more,look at Dyson and Triumph,they’re just two I can think of as I’m typing.

Yet I know of many more who are constantly expanding in the UK

 

[Onoff]

When I went to get some parts laser cut, I was directed to a company doing water jet cutting, with the advice that it was more efficient and far cheaper a way of achieving the same quality. I know nothing about the mechanics of it though, so it might be nonsense.

 

[Onoff]

As an aside, is there anyone on here can cut me a small piece of 4mm stainless? DXF is here and ready. Cheers

 

[merryman]

I do remanufacturing of obsolete stuff and needed to make some brackets that were originally pressed out. Asked around, and a local Laser firm was contacted. They said the Laser was out of action but they could water jet them. Over the last 12 years I have got quite a few bits done by them, their Laser never gets mended and I have had some 12mm thick steel water jet cut by them, with fairly precise holes, they still need a drill running through as a rule, but pretty close.

 

[Munkul]

We have 2 IPG 6kws, one is a split beam. Also a 12kw which is currently on our kimla table. They seem like good units.

 

[Onoff]

Water jetting is good if you want to cut say thick nylon, I've had a bit done.

Had the discs and fins for my brother's astronomy pier water jet cut.

If I recall, the process cannot do silly thicknesses like 200mm of stainless!

 

[Ged93]

One of our suppliers got 2 FLOW waterjet machines , brand new , he invested almost 1 MILLION , he said now new machines are faster but never like a laser , also they waste tons of habrasive that cannot be reused , but cuts are not contaminated and you don't need rework , also you can cut any kind of materials you want and there is no distortion expecially with special alloys , anti-wear steel and so on .

Swift Cut makes a waterjet too , but , well , if the reliability is the same of their plasma tables , I would go with another brand .........

 

[sako243]

As for a certain American president wanting to stop US companies outsourcing manufacturing to foreign countries I have to say it was the only policy of his I agreed with and would like it if our government had the same ambition, but we are now struggling to find people who are interested in being engineers to the point that if China throttled back on exports we'd be knee deep in the smelly stuff because they know we can't pick it back up again.

Some old clients of mine had that directive passed down on them - basically for matters pertaining to national security all equipment should be sourced at home. My client went up to his boss - who's boss was, let's just say the top of the pile. The reply was along the lines of yeah, great we can do that, if you're willing to jump back 10-15 years in technology because that's how far ahead of the game this little company in the UK is. It was a proud moment for us

 

[Ged93]

What the hell do you sell ?? Super computers ?? Weapons ?? Laser guns ?? Terminators ?????????

 

[Erie Fred]

What the hell do you sell ?? Super computers ?? Weapons ?? Laser guns ?? Terminators ?????????

Pizza ovens.....

 

[sako243]

What the hell do you sell ?? Super computers ?? Weapons ?? Laser guns ?? Terminators ?????????

matters pertaining to national Security

If I told you...

 

[Ged93]

... then you should kill me .


Maybe MI6 is controlling this chat !!
It's a joke ! it's a joke ! I don't know you guys it's a joke ! I'm leaving and nobody will hear me anymore !! Phone prank ! Phone prank !

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