Fiber Laser gas assist

[oneeye]

Hi all,

i´m almost buing a 700W fiber laser cutting machine, i will cut only brass max. 2mm . I´m seaching about the real operating cost of machine, i have all data but one; how many m³/h of N² it will use?
I found many many charts, and foruns and each one says something totally different from the other... for ex. one laser machine provider say 100 L /H of N² , another say 36000L/H !

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[epilotdk]

I too am interested in the answer to that. I have not been able to obtain any solid information either. I assume you are looking at a 700W nLight source for brass? That's what I plan to use as well.

[wmgeorge]

Hi all,

i´m almost buing a 700W fiber laser cutting machine, i will cut only brass max. 2mm . I´m seaching about the real operating cost of machine, i have all data but one; how many m³/h of N² it will use?
I found many many charts, and foruns and each one says something totally different from the other... for ex. one laser machine provider say 100 L /H of N² , another say 36000L/H !

Its going to be expensive to run with the gas. Have you asked the supplier of the machine to cut you a sample out of your material? I would.

In the long run you might decide a water / abrasive jet cutter will do a better job. I do not know for sure but they come up used once in a while, a smaller water jet.

[epilotdk]

Hourly running cost of a water jet is high as well and you have the issue of contaminated water.

[oneeye]

I too am interested in the answer to that. I have not been able to obtain any solid information either. I assume you are looking at a 700W nLight source for brass? That's what I plan to use as well.

Yes my friend, the fiber laser sorce is just a n LIGHT 700W , i keep seaching and nothing yet... only real information is many operator use liquid N² , is more cheap and 1 L of liquid N² become about 600L gas. Anyway, this is far the most expensive item in all machine consumables....

[underthetire]

The liquid dewer may work if your pressure and flow rate is on the lower side. Our big fiber at work goes through a 12 pack of cylinders every 2-3 days, the dewer couldn't keep up. Expensive is correct.

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[epilotdk]

Some useful information in this document:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=..._d1uAxfwO9PcOw

[oneeye]

Some cutting charts say you can cut brass with air only ( after all the air is composed of 78% N²) and it results in oxided finishing, like dark yellow , if it is real it ll not be a problem to me cause after cutting the pieces go to drum machine to round the corners and polishing.... but i need see with my eyes how is the real finishing after cutting...

[epilotdk]

You need a very powerful compressor to deliver enough air at the pressure required and it needs to be dry and filtered or you will very quickly contaminate the lens. The cost would easily be above $10K.

[Jerrywu]

It depends on your parameter settings

[oneeye]

Finaly i found ! to cut 2.5mm Brass it spend 10m³/h of N² , it is very bad, here a 10m³ bottle refill cost is $38 + all consumables : laser, focal lens, colimating lenses, protect window, nozzle, ceramic ring, energy. .....

[epilotdk]

Sounds about right. Depending on what you need to cut from brass and how fast you need to cut it, a CNC mill might be a more cost effective solution for you.

[oneeye]

Yes my friend, router or stamp|> Here is the video made at Chinese company where i assembling my laser machines, i just send a drawing with 5 shapes and they did a test. nLIGHT 700W fiber , 2.5mm brass - 3mm SS , when u hear shhhhh shhhhsh fron N² pressure , read $hhhh $hhhhh $hh ....

[epilotdk]

You can cut a lot of those shapes in an hour so cost per piece is not that high but of course you have to be able to sell them with a decent profit.