> Laser cutting wood ? Does't that give burned edges ? > > eric Yes, it does. But as john said, you can sand it off later, or keep it on, for "effect", if you like.
On that note, lasers for cutting steel can also burn. It depends on the 'purge gas' used. For Stainless Steel and aluminum, the gas is usually nitrogen shot thru the cut line at a relatively high pressure to just push (purge) the molten metal out of the way. For mild steel, however, oxygen is used at a much lower flow rate. That way the laser cutter acts more like an old fashion cutting torch, which burns the metal at the cut line, turning the metal into rust. For special materials like titanium, argon is sometimes used, because the hot titanium reacts with nitrogen, if it is used. The lasers for wood and plastic are different than those used for metal, and the price tag reflects it too. The plastic/wood types cost anywhere from $1500, for the cheap chinese units, up. From more quality companies the units go from ~$8K for a small unit to ~$20K for more comonly used units. Power is usually in the 25 to 50W range. Lasers for cutting metal start ~$250K, and typically can run ~1/2 million dollars. Power is in the 2000W to 5000W range. You can plug a wood/plastic cutting laser in a common household outlet. The metal cutters need the services of an electrician, to hook them up to 440V three phase, and a 200A circuit, for each phase. The 3ph breaker, alone, will set you back over $1K. I don't even want to know what 000 gauge copper wire is going for nowadays. Hey and its still kinda on topic, because its ionized gas. For both classes, above, its CO2, with a little He & N2 added. On the cheap chinese units, they ionize the gas by shooting electricity thru it, just like a neon bulb. But for the better wood/plastic engraver/ cutters, and the big metal cutting monsters, the gas in the laser cavity, is usually excited by a high power RF field. It keeps the cavity clean, and you get a lot more life out your laser tubes. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "neonixie-l" group. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/neonixie-l?hl=en-GB.
