Need Help!- 3 kw laser settings

[nangad]

Hi everyone, thanks in advance for the help!
I have recently been asked to run our companies 3kw Mitsubishi laser. I have ran other cnc's in the past but I am very unfamiliar with how to make this thing cut cleanly. I can get it cut but with a lot of dross and a lot of deburring as a result. There is no one at work who knows anything about the laser any longer. Any assistance I could get as far as set up for 10 gauge and up stainless and mild steel would be greatly appreciated.

[Purdue Guy]

If you have checked and material cutting parameters are at book settings and you can't tweek it from there without major changes, I would suggest to check the maintenance records on the machine. The output coupler, mirrors, BO optic if you have one (probably not if it is older), lens, and mirror alignment can severely affect your ability to get it to cut. A lot of companies don't do regular PM's and there are the heart and soul of good cutting. We replace our output coupler every 1200-1500 hours, the BO optic at 2000-3000 hours, do beam alignment every 1000-1500 hours, and lens replacement at 300-500 hours. These are the beam on hours and not resonator or power hours. From my experience this solves 90% of all issues. FYI if you aren't familiar with Mitsubishi I would also recommend do a gas change each day. The resonator is not axial flow and therefore the gas isn't replinshed continuously like most of the other major brands! Hope that helps.