Factors Contributing to the Rise of Laser Engraving Machines

In early times, laser engraving was the process only useful in industrial companies to either mark parts, tools, trophy shops for customization of awards and recognizing products. Having parts like Amada laser parts and Bystronic laser parts, these machines are known for precise results.

However, today multiple small businesses have started using laser engraving. Today it has grown into a profitable industry and one needs to make an only small investment to be part of it.

According to research by IBIS world, over the past five years, the market of laser engraving has been growing and managing a compound annual growth of 5.5 percent since 2016. The increasing need for customizations and personalization of various products like phone covers, cutlery, wood, metal, or any other materials is driving this industry.

Additionally, businesses are also using these machines for their personal use like customizing promotional materials, in-house signage, employee awards, etc.

With this increase in the use of this industry, its sales are increasing making it easily available and affordable. The continuous growth in this industry is helping small businesses to offer a unique touch to generic products.

Other factors contributing to the rise are a constant increase in personalization, accessibility, maker movement, and branding, new use cases in engraving.

Let's discuss some of the major factors which affect the growth of laser engraving:

1. Interest in adding a personal touch:

Have you ever checked out ecommerce website Etsy? You will see the craze of personalization and the way it plays a vital role in the growth of laser engraving. The focus here is to add a personal touch to an item be it a simple t-shirt or things like a pair of champagne flutes and more.

Just a simple search “laser engrave” on Google will provide you with a plethora of personalized products be it jewelry, wedding, glasses, craft suppliers, bags and purses, pen, tools, and many such things.

This recent trend in laser engraving helps small businesses become the first choice for engraving and a way for selling trinkets and other items as well. These things help you to differentiate them from competition. 

Laser engraving gives mass-produced items like electronics a personal touch. Engraving custom graphics, names, or logos on gadgets is a great way to set things apart from an ever-increasing crowd of products. Creating such drawings is easier with lasers having Amada laser parts and Bystronic laser parts.

2. Easy Access:

Laser engraving machines and cutting systems were heavy and big in old times. Today these engraving machines are not just part of the big factories; in fact, potential buyers can own these machines for far less. If you are looking to own or even rent it then there are multiple ways to do so.

This easy accessibility gave rise to the laser engravers in fabrication labs, maker spaces, school labs, etc. You can even find them will small vendors serving customers looking for customization services.

3. Maker Movement:

There are a number ofmakers and they are growing every day as people continue to explore the satisfaction of doing things themselves. DIY has become a new trend and people are learning new skills, creating new things, while saving costs.

Kickstarter and crowdfunding plays a huge role and gives rise to different products that are now available. Some of these products might have not come on the market if not for crowdfunding.

4. Rise in Industrial Use:

Other than small businesses, laser engraving is also rising in the industrial segment. One of the biggest segments is in the identification of security where it is a perfect solution for credit cards, ID cards, sensitive documents, and many such things.

Laser engraving helps in permanently marking any item, providing a check and balance against counterfeit products, etc. in ID cards, industries use multilayer formats and are useful to alter the color of low layer pigments without affecting the topmost layer.

This also ensures a product is safe from fraud, produces high-quality images, texts, and many such things. These products are tamper proof and are easily customizable.

Lasers can etch/engrave serial numbers, time stamps, part numbers, component labels, date codes, or any other industry-specific codes. Additionally, it has also become an important part of identification, inventory control and tracking, safety and warning prevention, etc.

With the advancement in technology and parts like Amada laser parts and Bystronic laser parts, the future laser engraving provides an additional security layer that we cannot find in robotics, 3-D printing, and the automotive industry.

Final words:

Laser engraving has a huge scope and market even bigger than we can think. Many of these factors play a vital role in growing the laser engraving industry and today making it a large part of our society.

Source: https://altpartsinc.wixsite.com/altpartsinc/single-post/2020/05/26/Factors-Contributing-to-the-Rise-of-Laser-Engraving-Machines

Co2 Laser Vs Diode Laser: Which one is right for you?

For years now, there have been debates over which laser is better: a diode laser or a Co2 laser? Which machine to choose? Which technology is better? Why? And many such questions follow.

These two technologies are worlds apart and have all the differences in the world. The only thing common between them is laser radiation. And maybe the parts they use like Trumpf spare parts and Mitsubishi spare parts.

But before we understand the difference between them, let’s start first understanding these laser machines.

What is a CO2 laser?

It stands for carbon dioxide laser and is a molecular gas laser made of the gaseous mixture as the gain medium.

It contains CO2, helium (He), nitrogen (N2), and some amount of hydrogen (H2), water vapor, and/or xenon (Xe). Such a type of laser electrically pumps via an electrical gas discharge. It operates either using DC current, AC current, or in radio frequency (RF) domain.

Nitrogen molecules excite using electric discharge into a metastable vibrational level and transfer this energy to CO2 molecules when it collides with them.

What is a Diode laser?

To know about diodes, let's go back to old times when Albert Einstein first defined the principle of stimulated emission in 1917. It states that an excited electron or molecule can deliver energy in the form of light. It also shows that an excited electron or molecule can deliver energy in the form of light.

The emission triggers upon supplying energy in the form of light. This stimulated emission triggers by supplying energy to an ideally light amplifying material that delivers energy in the form of light. This form of energy supply is pumping.

When electrons or molecules fall back into their initial state, the energy delivers as a light beam.

Now, let’s understand the difference between both of them:

1. CO2 laser:

The biggest advantage of a CO2 laser is that it is raw laser power. The smallest tube machines have 40 to 80 watts output power. Whereas, professional and industrial units have up to 150 watts.

The benefit of industrial units is that they can reach up to 400 watts. That is a huge amount of power and is suitable for cutting any material except metal. And with the right parts like Trumpf spare parts and Mitsubishi spare parts, you can utilize Co2 laser to highest efficiency.

Hence, if you are looking for a laser machine for industrial production then having a CO2 laser is a perfect choice.

The CO2 laser works on a particular wavelength of 10.6uM. It is longer in comparison to the light spectrum.

Spectrum matters because the far infrared spectrum does not work for all the materials.

For example, Co2 laser might help you to cut glass and transparent Plexiglas well, but with this amount of wavelength, you cannot engrave metals without special paste.

Most of the materials have a high absorption coefficient of this wavelength. This makes it easy for cutting and engraving any material.

Similar, to every technology, Co2 laser has limitations too:

• The key problem with co2 laser machines is the size. These machines are very huge and bulky. Additionally, the Co2 tube requires much space as well. In short, it occupies lots of space. Size matters when you are working in a garage or have a small workshop as most of the small scale businesses or hobbyists do not have enough space.
• Another limitation is that it is not transportable. As the machine is huge and heavy, moving it from one place to another makes it difficult and costly.

Going further, let’s flip the coin and look at the limitations of diode laser machines:

• Diode laser beams are divergent i.e. wedge-shaped, instead of straight and parallel. They have a short and coherent distance that is made of inferior quality optics performance.

They are not well-suited as helium-neon lasers for a high quality of holography. Additionally, semiconductors in electronic devices are prone to static electrical discharges; this means that diode lasers in these gadgets can be damaged by an unstable and fluctuating power supply.

They are also vulnerable to gradual aging over time and increased amounts of power with diminishing efficiency. But if equipped with quality parts like Trumpf spare parts and Mitsubishi spare parts, then you can rely on this laser machine for a good amount of time. There is also a requirement for beam correction that adds to the diode lasers’ fragility.

Final words:

Going beyond the benefits and limitations of Co2 and diode lasers both of them are useful depending upon the needs of your business. These machines make life easy for fabricators and help them to grow their business easily.

Source: https://altpartsinc.wixsite.com/altpartsinc/single-post/2020/05/22/Co2-Laser-Vs-Diode-Laser-Which-one-is-right-for-you

Bending Made Easy with Electric Press Brake Machines

Over the last few decades, the evolution of press brakes has been phenomenal. These transitions have given birth to lots of different types of press brakes, from mechanical to hydraulic and now to electric. The best machines have quality parts like Amada parts and Mazak parts for efficient results.

There are a lot of assumptions about the speed, precision, and convenience of electric machines. These machines don’t have hydraulic oil or associated seals which simplify their maintenance.

They offer high-speed operation where the ram descends quickly to stop at a pre-defined bending speed position and then goes down to bend the work-piece and then comes back up to the top dead center.

In electric brakes, optoelectronic mixes safely and closely with the control, so much so that a light curtain or similar device has no effect whatsoever on the cycle time of bending. And we can quite frankly say that for the electric press brake safety does not necessarily mean sacrificing cycle time.

1. Crowning Alternative:

In the hydraulic systems, the tonnage comes through hydraulic actuators from any one side of the machine. This means that as the ram comes down, gets in touch with the metal workpiece, and encounters resistance, the press brake bed bends. It creates a deflection that gets dealt with a type of crowning system.

In the type of the press brake machine i.e. pulley-driven electric press brake, the AC servomotors drive a double pulley system extending across the length of the press brake ram. The number of pulley blocks varies according to the machine’s size and power requirements.

Belts are thick and are made of 0.12 inches wires which are strengthened using a material coating of polyurethane; the same ones used in elevator systems.

AC servomotors drive the double pulley system on four axles and balance fixed and flexible rolls. These rolls are useful to adjust and distribute the tonnage evenly. Hence, instead of force coming from two hydraulic actuators on either side of the brake, the pulley and belt drive system distributes force evenly across the ram length.

This technology helps with on-the-fly adjustment to ensure even force distribution throughout the bending cycle.

This will not stop the lower beam from a deflection. The lower beam has an identical system of pulleys to distribute force, but this makes press brake very unconventional and costly. And there are the some options when it comes to machines that have quality parts like Mazak parts and Amada parts and would still fit your budget.

Due to this reason, some electric press brakes have low beams and interior subframe. The exterior beam material is stiff which minimizes deflection. But, the interior subframe is tough to absorb deflection. The design of this subframe is such that it is tough and stiff. This ensures the subframe structure is flexible and deflects sufficiently for the proper machine tonnage.

2. Safety:

The goal of any press brake machine is to produce parts perfectly, quickly, and safely. Earlier machine designers were trying to perform a balancing act between these three factors while some times promoting one factor at a time. But, with the current electric press brake machines, these three things are easy to handle and juggle between.

Considering the safety measures, many press brake machines enhance safety measures in the front, side and behind the press brake machines. In some cases, high and low adjustments are safety enhancement types.

With time, introduction to new things takes place and one of these is light curtains. The advantage of using a light curtain is it brings flexibility, laser guarding, and camera-based systems. Laser and camera-based systems travel along with ram and work at the bottom of the tooling.

Optoelectronic safety devices in combination with traditional and mechanical safeguards to side and behind the work envelope. In the long term, it has turned out to be an incredible and effective solution.

But, even today with time, these products require slight efficiency sacrifice. Driving systems on most of the press brakes are either hydraulic or mechanical. In such cases, optoelectronic safety systems tell machines to stop when a beam or vision path is broken or when the ram returns to the top dead center. In such instances, the electronic system interfaces with the hydraulic or hydro-mechanical system.

3. Speed with precision:

Press brakes remain common in metal fabrication. It is a long and tardy task to form a part then cut it. Additionally, nowadays it is even more difficult to find skilled and experienced operators. Working with a press brake can be difficult for many experienced operators too. These days offline programming and real-time adjustments on the brake take up minutes instead of hours of long setups. Also, they are now long-lasting considering their quality parts like Amada parts and Mazak parts.

Final words:

Today with constant revolution and emerging technology, electric press brakes are the latest evolution of bending machine tools. There are many other machines with safeguards placed and are fully functional. This new technology makes the bending process faster, accurate, and safe.

Source: http://altparts.mystrikingly.com/blog/bending-made-easy-with-electric-press-brake-machines

Benefits of Laser Machines in Garment Industry

Laser machines made their mark in the apparel industries since the 19th century, but with the recent trends and public demands, they seem to have gained some popularity.

Majorly, Laser technology is useful for cutting garments patterns, designer neckties, 3D body scanning, engraving leather, and many more.

The major reason behind the wide application of lasers in the garment industry is because of less cost, flexibility, and trade deals.

Basically, The Laser is an energy source and has an intensity and power that is controllable. The laser beam focuses on a specific angle depending on the application. You can cut a variety of objects ranging from flexible fabric to rigid and strong metal.

Laser equipment is very popular in textile, leather and garment industries because of its accuracy, efficiency, simplicity, and automation.

For example, the traditional cutting tools like band blades, discs, and knives may face some limitations. Especially on the delicate materials as the cutting force can displace the material. This can lead to inaccurate cutting of the materials. Whereas, the traditional cutting methods require an operator to have full attention.

There is a tradeoff between the maximum speed of cutting and accuracy. Additionally, there are other limitations like complex cutting, tools, longevity and machine downtime during tool serving. On the other side, these limitations are not present in laser devices; this helps to achieve efficiency and reduces cost.

Laser cutting is useful in most of the industries as it offers perfect speed, high precision, simple operation and many other advantages in various different fields. But, with the clothing industry, laser machines and its parts like Amada laser parts, Mazak laser parts play a different role. They help in quickly cutting the leather graphics and drawing proper clothing models.

One of the major advantages of laser cutting operations involves a highly parallel beam to pass and focus to a perfect dot at the high-density energy and gives precise cutting speed. In the garment business, it is important to pay minute attention to the size of the garment. While processing precision, the main purpose is to achieve high efficiency and excellent tailoring.

There are many applications of laser apparel in manufacturing. Let’s have a brief about it: 

1. Detecting Fabric Fault:

Upon the arrival of the fabrics in the production unit, it becomes easy to detect faults using image processing. Laser optical transform analysis can be useful for fault detection in the fabric as the pattern repeats at regular intervals.

The laser focuses on the fabric and uses a fourier lens to produce the diffraction pattern of the fabric. On the other hand, the second fourier lens with the same focal length magnifies and inverts the test sample image.

The working may seem complex, but its application is simple.

A charged coupled device camera is useful to capture the image. It transfers and stores the data in the computers. Computer programming helps in finding faults by comparing the images and converting them in binary mode.

The computer program which is running helps in detecting the faults when the parameters are deviating from the predefined standards. The severity of the fault depends upon the amount of deviation from the standard.

2.Laser Cutting: 

For synthetic fabrics, laser cutting produces the proper edge as laser melts and fuses the edge. This helps in avoiding the problem of fraying which occurs due to conventional knife cutters.

Leather uses laser cutting heavily because of the precision it brings. It is useful to cut the fabric into desirable shapes. Having this for your garments can be a better and cheaper solution in comparison to a knife.

Here, I am listing some of the major benefits of laser machines:

• Clean and lint-free
• Laser marking, cutting and engraving all happens in one step
• The process is simple as it integrates with computer design
• High working speed
• Does not require much human intervention

3. Customization:

As the term goes, it is useful when the custom fit garment requirement occurs. It is on the basis of the body dimensions and the individual’s choice.

The major factor for mass customization is that there should be the right measurements. Laser scanning technology uses a single or multiple thin and sharp stripe lasers to measure body size. It also uses the camera to acquire the scene and assist the laser scanner.

In short, to use this feature at its best you need to make sure that the sizes are perfect, and your laser machine is running properly with its parts like Amada laser parts, Mazak laser parts.

Wrapping it up:

The Application of laser machines and its parts like Mazak laser parts in the garment industry is growing rapidly. This heavy usage and acceptance of laser machines bring a huge amount of advantages to the entire fashion industry.

Source: https://www.evernote.com/shard/s548/sh/a2b6f3c1-f44f-4543-8a9e-3abd23d1ab33/aeac62eeed207f249c979399b5691e8f

Latest Trends in Laser Cutting Machines

Laser cutting is both -- the present and the future of the technology world. Even educational organizations praise their applications and future opportunities it would bring.

Hence, this article is dedicated to the recent trends laser cutting machines are offering and how you can leverage them:

1. Introduction in the new industries:

The laser cutting machine is useful because of its fast and automated nature. Today it has become an integral part of large-scale manufacturing processes. Laser cutting machines and their parts like Prima optics, Mitsubishi replacement parts assure an increase in productivity, reduces overtime and production cost. Additionally, it even assures human safety. 

Because of these major reasons, different industries like the automotive, shipping and aviation industry are leveraging the technology. It also helps in decreasing manual labor and deliver more in less time. This, in turn, helps companies to let employees focus on other important work.

2. New nozzle designs:

There are various types of nozzle designs available in the market. Mazak uses three nozzle designs that are useful in increasing cut speed and decreasing gas consumption. 

The new designs of nozzle include a single nozzle, double nozzle and low consumption of nozzles.

Let’s see each of them in brief:

1. Single Nozzle: 

It is also known as a traditional nozzle and offers a reliable cutting performance. It is useful for ½’’ thickness of the material or under and offers minimal taper. This type of nozzle choice can be a reliable choice however it has a bit slower cutting speed for thick materials with a high gas consumption rate for these three designs.

2. Double nozzles:

They are similar to single nozzles but offer reliable cutting performance for a different range of materials. These nozzles shine for cutting ¼’’ and under. For a double nozzle, there are different cut speeds for a range of materials and it has a low gas consumption. Depending on the material and the thickness, double nozzles save 20 to 50 percent.

3. Low consumption nozzles:

If your company works for ¼’’ material and is thicker, then having an LC nozzle can be a perfect choice. It provides a faster and reliable cut speed. The LC nozzles have low gas consumption for thick materials. However, LC nozzles require large part spacing due to nozzle width.

In such scenarios, you have to make sure that the parts of your material have a proper space between them.

Each of the above-discussed designs fits perfectly for a specific cutting application. It depends on the thickness of the material and provides an advantage.

4. The rise in a fiber laser:

There are various types of laser cutting machines available and each of them having a positive or negative side. When, the CO2 laser cutting machines are high in demand due to their smooth, quick and high cutting speed, now people are adopting fiber laser cutting machines and their parts like Prima optics, Mitsubishi replacement parts. They have started understanding the advantages of machines like easy maintenance, cheap and fast cutting speed for thin materials.

5. Emerging in the common market place:

The usage of laser cutting machines is increasing at a large scale in the production and automobile industry. Going further, it is even available in various workshops for small and personal businesses. 

Businesses can even use laser cutting machines to do detail designing for home decor. Additionally, it is even helping businesses to save time and increase the production rate.

6. Increased power:

Till 2015, laser cutting machines were having the power of 4kW across North America. But, with the recent updates in the laser cutting machines, we are having 6kW of high power.

These machines and their parts like Mitsubishi replacement parts increase performance and simultaneously offer thick cutting speeds and improving quality.

There are some assumptions that high power laser machines are useful to cut thick materials, that is true. But, it is important to have a large cutting range as it will be an added advantage for high power laser cutting.

Final words:

Laser cutting machines have a wide scope for future opportunities. They are useful in multiple industries and their application is increasing rapidly.  With the latest trends, experts are anticipating even better results with added value for the entire industry. Additionally, they will even bring ease to your organization, employees and will reflect more precision in your work.

Source: http://altparts.mystrikingly.com/blog/latest-trends-in-laser-cutting-machines