Laser cut aluminum 8mm

[cornelis1]

Who have experience please advise,

Have idea to cut aluminum 6061 max thickness 12mm, CNC in mind lowest cost but very slow
My idea to use co2 laser or fiber

other idea to use plasma cut but don't understand it will good or not at the edge of material?


Thank you

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[davek0974]

In order of edge quality you have...

worst - plasma
better - laser
best - water jet
absolute - cnc milled

AFIK Co2 will not touch it.

[epilotdk]

Even a 4kW fiber laser would struggle with 12mm alu and the edge quality would not be great. For the the price of a 4kW fiber you could buy 10 CNC routers so speed would be less of an issue. An added benefit would be that you would be able to do 2.5D milling.

[KH0UJ]

A 40 amp. CNC plasma cut 12mm aluminum material just like a piece of cake I worked all day today on our CNC 40 amp. plasma, aluminum is like a joke on it, got a lesson learned today, I spent 1 hour and 12 minutes a pair cutting stainless steel on a CNC router, when I got very bored on the router I decided to use the CNC plasma instead to do just the outlining of the stainless steel, to cut the time spent on the product production, I do think that the CNC plasma just got paid for itself with just a single project, the buyer bought the product @ 1K/ pair (in our currency), he ordered 300 pairs, I can finish his product @ 2 days of cutting straight on plasma, the CNC plasma cost around 150K now that`s instant ROI but I got beaten up making his product on a CNC router for a whole week though....

[cornelis1]

Thank you very much for all advises..CNC router look like best choice than other.
Do you think 3kw aircool spindle strong enough for AL 12-15mm?

Also interesting to plasma,
KH0UJ by 40amp to 12mm AL edge finishing by manual or fine cut?

[davek0974]

Thank you very much for all advises..CNC router look like best choice than other.
Do you think 3kw aircool spindle strong enough for AL 12-15mm?

Also interesting to plasma,
KH0UJ by 40amp to 12mm AL edge finishing by manual or fine cut?

Personally speaking no.

I have a 3kw water cooled and it would not be fun doing thick cuts like this - many small passes.

You need a stable(heavy) machine and more Hp for production - a decent VMC etc.

I have a 45A Hypertherm plasma cutter and it would not be happy doing 12mm AL - poor edge quality also, plasma does not like cutting AL.

[KH0UJ]

Yup the edges are a bit rough but it only takes seconds to fine finish on a bench grinder, still better than 1 hour 12 minutes on a CNC router sir it`s a bit smoother when I cranked the speed to 1200 with 70 PSI of air flushing it. aluminum is like a cake in plasma maybe monday im gonna take some pictures of the products I cut with aluminum and post it here, this morning I cut 2mm stainless steel supposed to be I only finish only 8 pairs a day, but this morning i`ved finished 50 pairs on just half day until I consumed all the materials then stop.

Sorry to inform you that our plasma machine is a partly manual machine, I just hooked it up on the CNC bed that came with 380VAC plasma, I took out the 100 amp. plasma machine that came with the unit because there`s no way we can apply for a 380V three phase here in our place, sure we can apply for a 220VAC three phase service drop then step it up to 380VAC 3 phase but it`s too costly not to mention risky, it`s better to buy a $400 manual plasma machine then hook it up on the CNC bed, I did not use the plasma mode, I used the oxy/acy mode, made a switching circuit for the trigger then voila a CNC plasma with a manual Z control as you can see in this picture the plasma cutter has a handle (90 degree) we just made an adapter to fit on the arm. we ordered a specified plasma machine but they send us this (380VAC 3PH) we ordered 220VAC single phase, it`s very clear in the email but still they send us this, well at least it`s all functional now and paid off with just one project, the next project on this we`ll be counting profits the return of investment already acquired.

[gweikelaser]

cut 6mm aluminum with Nlight laser source big power can cut more thickness

Who have experience please advise,

Have idea to cut aluminum 6061 max thickness 12mm, CNC in mind lowest cost but very slow
My idea to use co2 laser or fiber

other idea to use plasma cut but don't understand it will good or not at the edge of material?


Thank you

[cornelis1]

cut 6mm aluminum with Nlight laser source big power can cut more thickness

what type this machine at your web? let me learn

[gweikelaser]

our LF3015C can install this laser , we will suggest at least 2kw one
http://www.wklaser.com/index.php?m=c...124&l=2&id=491

what type this machine at your web? let me learn

[TheREV]

Waterjet. without a doubt.