Laser Cutting Small Parts and Thin Metal
Are you using an artic truck to go shopping at Tesco’s? - Laser cutting problems that could be avoided with a lower powered machine.
Laser cutting small parts accurately and with repeatability on thinner sheet metals does require a lower power system. Otherwise you are simply using a sledgehammer to crack nuts and losing yourself money for doing so.
Using a high power laser machine on thin metals can create several problems that could be avoided with a lower powered machine. For a start, a high power laser is designed to cut thick metal not thin so by underperforming it can become unstable (that sledgehammer analogy!). The running costs involved also don’t bear comparison with a low powered machine. Set up costs too can be completely out of proportion to the value of the job, In fact, by using a high power laser to cut small parts you could be doubling your production costs.
A Specialised Small Part System
Our product partners, IPG, have developed a small part laser cutting solution. The LaserCube is a flatbed laser cutter optimised for cutting small parts in both prototype and industrial environments. Working on a variety of metals, from steel to titanium, alloys to aluminium, the LaserCube provides superior cutting performance and fiber laser reliability. It is a small footprint machine equipped with high force motors and a low-mass process head for high speed processing.
A Proven Money Saver
As an optional extra, IPG offers the LaserCube Vision Alignment system. Applications that involve cutting out parts from pre-patterned or pre-processed materials can be prone to dimensional deviations in the previous patterned or processed layers. The Vision Alignment system eliminates this type of error through the operator programming the alignment appropriate for the job. The programming involved is easy. Once completed, the system enables the highest laser cut accuracy and increases part yield by performing an alignment to the previous pattern prior to cutting.
LaserCube and Vision Alignment
To prove the point, one of IPG’s customers in the UK undertook a job that involved adding some electrical knock-outs to existing panels. To carry this out, the customer used their LaserCube (the highest billing machine in the shop) in conjunction with the Vison Alignment system. The system aligned the punched part to the laser, the button was hit and the panel was then cut. The process took less than minute a panel including the loading and unloading of the blanks. IPG’s customer charged their customer around £16 a panel and ran 80 panels. The total bill was over £1,200 – for less than 2 hours work. If you’d like to see how IPG’s customer did it and see exactly how quickly and accurately the LaserCube and its Vision Alignment system carried out this job, please go to https://youtu.be/OW9TeXjCljU
If you’d like to find out more about IPG’s LaserCube and other IPG laser products, please contact sales@tlm-laser.com