I know all about lasers, that's another hobby of mine. Unfortunately, I don't have the money to get a cutter. I also would like to learn how to use a CNC machine and other milling tech, but I can't afford that kind of stuff either, unfortunately. Finding something pre-made is my only option for now. Thanks for the advice guys, I hadn't thought of using a commercial cutting service like ponoko or something, I might go for that, but I'd still rather find something cool I could just drill in to.
On Jan 30, 5:25 pm, threeneurons <[email protected]> wrote: > > 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.
