Since its inception in the early 1960s, laser cutters have evolved into powerful tools and are now indispensable in the modern industry. From producing wing fastener parts in a jetliner to engraving the smallest logos and serial numbers on stainless steel labels – it is hard to imagine today’s tech-driven world without the power of laser cutting machines.
While lasers remind you of sci-fi movies, learning about laser cutting machines is not rocket science. What’s more, understanding everything about laser cutting will help you appreciate its reliability and efficiency.
Following are most commonly asked questions about laser cutting machines:
What is the working principle of laser cutting machines?
As the name suggests, laser cutter uses a high-intensity laser beam causing the unwanted material to melt and vaporize. The result is a workpiece with clean and smooth edges.
Due to its laser beam properties, laser cutters have +/-0.1 mm manufacturing accuracy and can cut widths of less than 0.001 inch.
What are the types of laser cutting machines?
The main types of laser cutters are CO2 laser cutters, crystal laser cutters, and fiber laser cutters.
CO2 laser cutters cut materials using CO2 gas mixture stimulated by electricity. They are inexpensive, efficient in cutting thicker materials and produce a smoother finish. They are widely used in the manufacturing industry to cut glass, acrylic, mild steel, leather, paper, wood, wax, plastics, and fabric.
Crystal laser cutters use lasers from crystals such as nd:YVO (neodymium-doped yttrium ortho-vanadate) and nd: YAG (neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet). These crystals are responsible for powerful cutting performance. However, they function with expensive pump diodes and have a shorter operating lifetime.
Fiber laser cutters use a bank of diodes that emits photons and then amplified using optical fiber. Unlike gas lasers, fiber lasers are more energy-efficient and can cut reflective materials like aluminum. They also cut both metal and non-metal workpieces.
Laser cutting in Pickering offers exceptional high tolerances, accuracy, and speed.
How thick can a laser cutter cut?
Depending on the material, a fiber laser cutter can cut metals with thickness not lesser than 4mm and not greater than 20mm.
Although aluminum is easy to cut using methods that come in contact with the material like milling, it’s not the case when it comes to laser cutting. Specifically, CO2 laser cutters have a wavelength of 10.6 micrometers making aluminum extremely reflective and bright and thus difficult to cut.
What materials can be cut by a laser cutter?
When dealing with metals, laser cutters can cut and etch on materials like mild steel, stainless steel, aluminum, copper, and brass.
What are the applications of laser cutting?
Due to its ability to produce precision machine parts, laser cutting is a great tool to fabricate metal parts in aerospace, automotive, microtechnology, and electronics industry. It is a crucial process that turns workpieces into wing fasteners parts, gaskets, nozzles, circuit boards, and cellphone parts like microchips.
Furthermore, most manufacturers employ the use of laser cutting to produce products where speed and accuracy are critical.
Laser Cutting in Pickering offers a complete range of custom fabrication services.
We offer laser cutting to Pickering, Durham Region, GTA, and southern Ontario. Call us now! We’ll be happy to answer your queries about our laser cutting services.
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