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Desktop Laser Cutting/Engraving
bwags writes "I ran across this VersaLaser desktop Laser Cutting and Engraving printer. I really do not know what I want to do with it, but you gotta admit it is cool. Maybe make some balsa wood airplanes. At only $10K, I want the purple one!"
here is that particular page.
As they mention on their site, TechTV did a short story about it (it's the last item on the list).
Teenagers these days don't have as much sex as they want each other to think they do.
The problem with using lazer cutting on metals is that a lot of the light will reflect back up and fry the lazer. You would need to put a non-reflective coating on first. If you've ever bought stainless steel that had a white plastic sheet on it that you had to peel off, it was probably lazer cut, because the white plastic was the above mentioned non-reflective coating.
Those are all professional grade machines, I never saw those before and thank
you for the link.
However have you ever seen the
stuff Roland puts out? They make a desktop CNC mills for under $1500
that can produce small items. Leases start at $100 @ mo. They have
desktop laser 3D scanners (put a real world object in, produces 3d model) too.
Actually I sell used equipment like this, very similar machines made by the same company (www.ulsinc.com). I've burned myself a few times on them and it doesn't leave a permanent scar, but it does hurt like a crazy mofo! www.usedlasers.com is mine, if you're interested. Good Luck, Rob
If you, for instance, use this to cut out parts of model aircraft, you still have to glue the aircraft together. That, to me, sounds a bit harder than cutting it out
You haven't built any model airplanes, have you?
Laser-cut parts have been all the rage in R/C modelling for the last several years. We used to spend a hellaciously long time cutting out small parts from sheets of balsa wood, (and re-cutting when we broke a piece, or cut too far, etc.)
At these prices, it's probably within the reach of a model airplane club to buy one. Fantastic!
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
The URL for their demo video is here -http://www.versalaser.com/english/techtv.wmv
It is kinda slowing down, right now am getting about 20kbps.
For bigger projects there is a company called
Photomachining (http://www.photomachining.com)
that has some pretty serious laser systems that
sell for about $100k. Check it out. .
pretty neat stuff.
They'll also laser machine just about anything for
you in any custom way. Anything from PCBs to
medical devices to laser-etched guitar picks.
The problem with reflection isn't just that it can bounce back into the laser, the problem is that by reflecting the energy, the metal isn't absorbing much.
If the metal doesn't absorb much energy, your ability to cut it will be limited.
It's a CO2 laser. Metal at that wavelength is plainly opaque, as is most of the solids mentioned. That's the whole reason it can cut--if it were "light" in the visible sense, it couldn't cut the glass because it would be passing through it. That's why there are 2 lasers in the product--the one is used as pointer (visible spectrum) to show where the invisible beam is (CO2 laser, which does the cutting).
More likely the wattage is not strong enough to cut metal, but is on the other materials. 500W seems weak, but I don't know what electronics they are messing with.
btw, the protective plastic sheet on the stainless steel was unlikely there because it was laser cut. The plastic sheet is used to protect the metal during processing and shipping; when you ship this stuff, it usually is the same material against the same material (meaning, other pieces can damage neighboring pieces sufficiently). They do this with stainless steel, aluminum, many glass types, acrylic, and polished steel. While stainless steel isn't that easily scratched (and if it is, you can polish/buff it out), many have a certain finish that you don't want to mess with or want returns due to a stray deep scratch.
It's great for actually cutting stuff, for when you're using flat materials; fast, and a very small kerf.
As such it's just a 2D device. Can't do some of the more useful CNC work such as fly-cutting surfaces, pocket cutting, and 3D slopes.
If you want to do the same thing and can live with an 1/8" or 1/16" kerf, you can build a homebuilt CNC machine for an incredibly low price. Depending on what parts you make and where you get them, the price can range from near nothing to $750. Plus you get 3D profiling and a much more flexible machine: put a pen in it and sign lots of certificates, put a woodburning iron in it and make a cool clock face, put a small router in it and engrave your logo into your valve covers.
Just do a Google search for "homebuilt CNC" and you'll find plenty of good links.
...
In several years of working for a large laser marking/engraving system manufacturer, I've never seen reflection from the workpiece damage a laser (not sure how it could, really). If you're getting a lot of reflection, it means that the beam is not coupling well into the workpiece, which usually means you're using the wrong laser for the job. I always get a chuckle when I hear of customers trying to mark on wood with a Nd:YAG rail and complaining of poor performance.
Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
I didn't see anything on the site indicating the actual laser power, but I'll bet money it's under 25 watts. It's quite common to see 100 watt lasers draw 7-8 kW, most of which goes to heat.
Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
Calm down....electrical input and lased light output have NOTHING to do with each other.
Most cutting/welding lasers are usually no more than 100W lased light output(and we're talking BIG units here, for cutting thick, strong metals, and doing so quickly). In fact, if you look at the parent company's website for this "junior" unit, you can see they offer modules from 20W to about 60W. I'm guessing the "junior" unit has a 20W supply.
Still, 20W is a lot; around 5mW you're getting power levels capable of doing damage to the eye(this is calculated based on the time it takes for the brain to think "BRIGHT LIGHT!" and for the eyelid to respond; past a certain power level, damage occurs before the brain+eyelid can react).
I wonder how they get around the licensing restrictions on high-power laser systems(yes, believe it or not, over a certain power level, they're 'controlled' devices, given the trouble they can cause.)
Please help metamoderate.
One of my customers: http://www.laserlizard.com/ does this exact thing.
Rob
www.usedlasers.com