Laser technology is a breakthrough that brought about many changes in the way we live. You may not know it, but we actually own several pieces that were made with laser cutters and engraving machines. Take for example the engraved custom champagne glass or the laser cut snowflake ornament you have-these are all products of laser cutters. We may know that laser cutters are used for heavy-duty industrial uses but little do we know that you already have with you a laser engraved leather guitar strap, engraved cotton placemats, engraved leather ipad, felt appliqué gift, engraved mother’s day plaque or wooden Halloween bat and they are all products of laser technology.
Understanding how laser cutters work
From making artistic designs to performing professional tasks, laser cutters can be used to cut though a variety of materials. This laser technology is now highly used for different industries because they do not only guarantee precision but give they also give you the option to finish work earlier compared to traditional methods.
It is very rare that laser cutters are found outside the industrial use. This is because they present to be highly dangerous. Laser cutting is normally done by CO2 lasers and neodymium lasers. With CO2 lasers, the process of cutting is done with the process of energizing mixtures of nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen and helium. The process of producing laser with neodymium laser is similar to that of CO2 lasers. The only difference is that instead of utilizing gas mixture, the operators use a crystal and add small amount of neodymium in it.
Lasers are modified for cutting. You cannot expect to simply just point a shining CO2 or Neodymium laser and expect accuracy in your craft. The lasers are modified with the use of lenses. This amplifies the level of the laser beam, similar to the idea when you burn a paper with the use of the sun’s rays and a magnifying lens. The amplified laser beam can be very powerful and this can cut hard and thick materials like steel and metal. When the laser is focused on the lens and will have created a diameter of 1/8 inch, this will be the ideal condition to cut hard steel. Heating the steel is the first process to cutting away unwanted material with the use of other methods.
The benefits of using laser cutters
There are many benefits for using laser cutters. You get improved parts production and you get reduced part distortion as a result of the small heat affected zones. Since there is no contact with the material that involves cutting, this contributes to the increased ability to process materials. There is also a great difference to manual cutting with laser cutting. Machining damage is kept to a minimum because they are mostly operated by computer software that guarantees precision cutting and reduced mistakes. This also allows the repetition of the process which leads to the same product quality each time. Your work is done fast because of the cutting speed of the laser. Products can be customized easily with the advent of laser engravers. Designs can be more fun and exciting since laser allows you to engrave very intricate designs giving you more freedom to choose.
Other materials that can be used with laser cutters
Aside from steel, there are other materials that can be used with laser. You may not believe but paper is one of them. You may have been in the holiday greeting cards section before or you may have received an invitation for a wedding celebration. Surely the designs on these beautiful pieces were designed by some form of technology. Lasers have the ability to remove the negative space and imprint a clear crisp image behind. Have you seen a piece of card with an image of a silhouette perhaps a lady sitting on a nice landscape or maybe a bird with the moon as the backdrop? Lasers cut the images and paste them on a blank card with a different color which in turn will allow the negative space to be seen as it is. There are a hundred designs you can make with lasers and floral and geometric designs are just some of them.
Lasers are also highly used in the production of different wood craft. These pieces are commonly used for interior design and art. We see them in the form of Christmas ornament, panels for windows, business cards and creative jewelry in the form of earrings and medallions. Lasers are also used to create designs on furniture such as cabinets, chairs, table top designs among others.
Glass can also be designed with the use of lasers. You may have marveled at the chandelier piece of a friend’s home in Portland, Oregon-well they could have been cut with laser. Other glass products include champagne glasses, decorative mirrors and windows.
What are the different methods of laser cutting?
There is more than one way to deal with a laser cutter. In most cases, the operator will need a highly concentrated spray of gas or water to be sprayed right behind the laser. This will blow out the recently cut steel to give you a nice clean cut. Another method involves the heating of the material to be cut to its boiling point before the laser can vaporize the material. This method can only be done with material that do not melt like those made with wood. The last method entails cracking very brittle material with the laser beam then directing the crack with the heat of the laser beam that will make cuts to it.
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