Dear laser experts/noobs/and all who want to help me build a 10 foot by 30 Gantry laz

[Howdoi]

Hi folks. I am in charge of a project! A big one Something I know very little about... I need to install a laser cutter on this 10 foot by 29 30? Gantry. I need some suggestions on how and what. So far we use this machine with a sharpie to draw out patterns for boat enclosures and carpet and a draw knife on some plastic stuff. We are planning to cut fabrics, 1/4 inch vynil mats, some wood for inlaying maybe... Here is a pic of actual gantry set up

Attachment 271668

Please make some suggestions. Also ask as many questions you need. I am interested in price, what wattage I need, types of lasers and basically whatever you guys can throw at me.

Am thingking about attaching a co2 laser tube laser vertically pointing don toward the wood (Aluminum sheet) thinking about solid state. Nor really sure what i am thinking. other than I want to cut on this thing,

Am planning to put 6 5x10 aluminum sheets under laser cutting place

is there certain kind of al i need? If my questions sound ignorant. They probably are. I have done very little research footwork on who what where when how and why this is the beginning of it. And My questions will probably be less dumb over time. I decided to turn to some experts (You guys) first to see if there are any easy answers.

(Like) Dude just buy an 80w RECI tube and power it with a gerbil in a cage.

We can fabricate mounts from, wood, metal, Peruvian bat guano, Whatever i need some help I humbly request every ones assistance to help me spend my boss's money in a responsible/reasonable fashion.

I am working on the exauhst fume removal system independently I am fully awre that this baby will be smoking out cancer smoke when cutting and am planning some serious filtration.exhaustion.

Similar Threads:

• build a five foot sliding platform to hold 500-700 bls on end?
• Looking for someone to build me 12 foot x 12 foot cnc table
• I need to cut a 20 foot sheet on a 10 foot table. How? Indexing???

[buddydog]

CO2 laser tubes are large and I think always "fixed". Moving mirrors (X, Y rails with steppers) deliver the beam to a lens where it's focused on the cut. Your distances would require extreme rigidity to keep the beam on target! The table needs to be extremely "flat" to stay in focus. Aluminum requires large (really large amounts of power!

I believe the kind of machine and size you are specifying would be $100K plus. Maybe twice that?

I think many folks approach these CNC machines with the idea "why don't they just double the size?". Many problems come with increased size.

Now maybe someone else has seen it done? I only have experience with a 500$ laser and it only cuts 1/4" plywood no bigger than a sheet of paper!

[Howdoi]

I am not trying to cut through the aluminum. I will be putting aluminum sheets on top of the tabe so the laser cutter has a surface to cut ON TOP OF that it will not burn through. I would like to know the feisability of mounting the laser like in this picture. I see no reason why I could not mount the laser tube VERTICALLY. like in the pic and just cut wherever the heck I want. Even that $500 laser cutting machine would work if it can cut 1/4 ply or more.

[buddydog]

Fine business on the aluminum. I have not seen the tube mounted like that but maybe it would work at least if you ran it slowly. There would be a lot of bending moment on the fragile tube and much weight on the gantry. You will have 20kv high voltage lines to run, air assist tubing and double water lines for cooling. I don't know how much stuff sluffs off in laser tubes over time but the old vidicon tubes for TV transmission would drop stuff in the tube and if you aimed them directly down at any time the "target" would get specks on it forever. Good luck

[keebler303]

A few comments:

1. The tube should not be mounted vertically. Over time, tiny dust and debris from inside the tube can collect on the output window in the tube. This debris will be burnt by the beam and will obscure the beam. It is possible to run vertically but life will suffer.

2. Get a good quality laser, I'd recommend Coherent or Synrad. They are pricey but you get what you pay for, they are easy to control and reliable. Also can be run with only DC power. If you want cheap, then go with the RECI or similar glass tube.

3. I think 100W would be plenty for what you are doing. Synrad has a power calculator deal on their site that you can use to estimate power required to cut different thicknesses of material.

4. Mount the tube on the gantry so it travels along with the carriage. As long as you aren't running crazy acceleration or feedrates, the tube will be just fine going along for the ride. Mounting the tube horizontal will require only a single mirror. Older Kern lasers did this and it works just fine: http://www.laserresale.com/upload_pi...t1_large_6.jpg

5. Don't use aluminum sheet directly underneath. Aluminum reflects the laser beam back toward the laser which can damage the tube. For cutting metal there are special filters which remove reflected energy to protect the tube. You want to have as little support as possible behind your material, it will adversely effect your cuts and can reflect the laser beam back at your part, scorching the back side. You want a porous bed so the laser can defocus and be harmlessly absorbed. Normally you will have a hard bottom made of steel or aluminum that is well below the cutting plane of the laser. Once the laser beam is defocused it is substantially less dangerous. There are lots of different "porous" beds. Aluminum honeycomb is one option.

6. Lasers make LOTS of smoke and fumes, especially when cutting nasty $h1t like vinyl. You will literally die if you are cutting vinyl without excellent fume extraction.

7. Please take some time to read through the info here and elsewhere so you have an idea of what you are getting yourself into. Lasers are quite dangerous when handled incorrectly, be safe.

[cinematic2]

We are planning to cut fabrics, 1/4 inch vynil mats,

Forget about laser cutting vinyl.
That is forbidden because of chemical reaction making sulfuric acid.
This will destroy machine and operator`s lungs.

[cinematic2]

A few comments:

1. The tube should not be mounted vertically. Over time, tiny dust and debris from inside the tube can collect on the output window in the tube. This debris will be burnt by the beam and will obscure the beam. It is possible to run vertically but life will suffer.

100% wrong. There is no any tiny dust nor debris inside the tube. No matter what kind of laser it is. RF or DC powered.
I know many laser machines with vertical set lasers working well long time.

2. Get a good quality laser, I'd recommend Coherent or Synrad. They are pricey but you get what you pay for, they are easy to control and reliable. Also can be run with only DC power. If you want cheap, then go with the RECI or similar glass tube.

Synrad is better choice than Coherent but all RF lasers stronger than 50-60W also need water cooling and have quite heavy RF cables between RF Power Supply and Laser. Unfortunately RF cables are 2-3m long only so RF PSU need to be set on a gantry together with Laser.

3. I think 100W would be plenty for what you are doing. Synrad has a power calculator deal on their site that you can use to estimate power required to cut different thicknesses of material.

Good choice. But check price and weight.

4. Mount the tube on the gantry so it travels along with the carriage. As long as you aren't running crazy acceleration or feedrates, the tube will be just fine going along for the ride. Mounting the tube horizontal will require only a single mirror. Older Kern lasers did this and it works just fine: http://www.laserresale.com/upload_pi...t1_large_6.jpg

It is better to mount Laser along the gantry. No need to move Laser when working X-axis. First and second mirrors can be set only once.

5. Don't use aluminum sheet directly underneath. Aluminum reflects the laser beam back toward the laser which can damage the tube. For cutting metal there are special filters which remove reflected energy to protect the tube. You want to have as little support as possible behind your material, it will adversely effect your cuts and can reflect the laser beam back at your part, scorching the back side. You want a porous bed so the laser can defocus and be harmlessly absorbed. Normally you will have a hard bottom made of steel or aluminum that is well below the cutting plane of the laser. Once the laser beam is defocused it is substantially less dangerous. There are lots of different "porous" beds. Aluminum honeycomb is one option.

100% wrong.
Aluminium DO NOT reflects the laser beam back toward the laser as long as it is not highly polished.
Laser beam is focused by the lens in a FL point. After the beam passes FL point it is distracted and gets harmless.
Of course you should use a kind of Honeycomb or so but only to avoid dirt on a bottom side of material.

6. Lasers make LOTS of smoke and fumes, especially when cutting nasty $h1t like vinyl. You will literally die if you are cutting vinyl without excellent fume extraction.

Cutting vinyls is completely forbidden because of an acid. Sulfuric acid will eat fume extractor, mirrors, lens, machine steel parts as well as operators eyes and lungs. This is chemistry.

7. Please take some time to read through the info here and elsewhere so you have an idea of what you are getting yourself into. Lasers are quite dangerous when handled incorrectly, be safe.

True.

[keebler303]

Blah Blah Blah

Check your facts boss...

Synrad does not recommend vertical mounting. I didn't say it won't work. "The recommended mounting orientation for Series 48 lasers is horizontal. If this cannot be accomplished, the lasers may be mounted at an angle of >20deg to the vertical. Consult the factory for limitations if the laser is to be mounted in a vertical position."
Page 29, Section 5.2: http://www.synrad.com/Manuals/SeriesJ48v56.pdf

Please call Synrad if you disagree. Ask them why a 20deg angle is ok? Maybe because tiny debris falls safely to the side of the output coupler?

Synrad Firestar ti100 has integrated RF circuitry so no RF cable. Routing DC power cables and a couple coolant hoses is no problem and low cost. The 100 watt CO2 laser, firestar ti100 from Synrad, features excellent beam quality and fast rise and fall times, provides a workhorse engine for metal and glass marking, electronic parts and circuit board coding, cutting and scribing plastics, and nu

The simplest method is to move the laser in X and Y. This requires virtually zero effort to align. I could care less where the tube is.

Aluminum is an almost perfect reflector of 10.6 um radiation. http://www.convertingquarterly.com/P...Figure%202.jpg
A rough surface will scatter the beam but it will be reflected regardless. The feedback isolator here absorbs that reflected power: http://www.synrad.com/beamdelivery/1.25%20Series.pdf
If you reflect the beam at the focal point it will be reflected back to the lens, where it will be turned into a beam again heading back toward the tube. Again I don't really care what the guy does and it may not be a big deal but it's not best practice.

PVC does not contain sulfur! Poly Vinyl Chloride. PVC decomposition produces Hydrogen Chloride, which readily forms hydrochloric acid when exposed to moisture in the air. That is why I said you can literally die.