12 Primary Parts of a Laser Cutter

Laser cutting is basically a technology that uses a laser cutter to vaporize materials and results in precise cutting. It can be used on many things including copper, plastic, composites, textiles, steel, etc. The main components in a laser cutting machine are laser cutters. And in this article, we are going to talk about different components of laser cutters. Let us get started then.

 

The laser cutter primarily consists of the main cutting machine and electricity. The whole laser cutting system is composed of the CNC controller (electrical control), mechanical part, and laser generator + reflector path. The auxiliary equipment list of the laser cutter is:

 

• Filter
• Stabilizer power supply
• Water chiller
• Air cleaner
• Gas cylinder
• Air compressor
• Cooling dryer
• Gas storage tank
• Slag discharging machine

 

Now let us dig deep into each component of the laser cutter. But you need to remember that below are only the main system parts; there are also minor vital parts that need your attention. Also, having spare parts is necessary for any emergency. So, you can invest in Hypertherm hpr260xd parts and Hypertherm hpr130xd spare parts for enhancing the performance of your laser cutter.

 

1. Laser cutter frame

 

It is the mechanical part to record the movement in the X, Y, Z-axis, on the platform where laser cutting is performed. Laser cutter frames vary as per the purpose of the machine. When it comes to fiber laser cutting machines, they have extremely high requirements for machine tool stability. So, the frames are manufactured accordingly.

 

It is important to have high precision with high stability machine tools to improve laser cutting output quality. The mainstream machine tools here are cantilever type, gantry type, and beam type.

 

Also, different machine tools have different functions like beam-type machine tools used for material cutting by large company's manufacturers. There are different models for specific fields like 3D fiber laser cutting used in the automotive industry.

 

2. Laser Generator

 

It is a device that produces a laser light source. These generators are the most potent and expensive source of laser equipment like an engine in the car. These generators are useful to supply electricity and power to the laser cutting machine.

 

3. Lenses

 

Laser lenses are the most useful parts of the entire fiber laser cutter. Many optical devices have laser lenses. Different lenses have various functions like semi-reverse lenses, full-reflex lenses, and focusing lenses. Ensure that you are using good quality lenses as the quality of them will directly affect the output power of the laser. And this will affect the overall performance of the machine. These lenses are available in two types:

 

• Domestic
• Imported

 

The difference is in both price and quality, so if you are investing for the long run, then you must go for imported lenses. 

 

4. Laser Generator

 

A laser generator is useful for converting electrical energy into light energy. For instance, it converts CO2 lasers with a conversion rate of 20%. Here, the remaining energy gets converted into heat.

 

5. Water Chiller

 

The chilling or cooling water keeps the excess heat away. This is important to make the laser generator function properly. It also cools down the focusing mirror and external optical path reflector. This way, you can keep the quality of stable beam transmission neat and prevent the lends from turning too hot. Eventually, with a water chiller, you can prevent cracks and generator damage.

 

6. CNC System

 

The control system is one of the leading operating systems of the fiber laser cutting machine. It controls the machine tool to record the movement of the X, Y, and Z axes. It even controls the output power of the laser.

 

Again, choosing a good quality system is important here; it would affect the stability of the fiber laser cutting machine. One needs to control the software of the system accurately to get the precise results.

 

7. Gas Cylinders

 

The laser cutter includes industrial gas cylinders like auxiliary gas cylinders and medium gas cylinders. These cylinders are usually useful for supplementing laser oscillations and supplying cutting head use.  

 

8. Motor

 

The motor system of the laser cutting machine is a core component of the entire system.

Its performance will directly affect the processing effect of the laser and the production efficiency of the product.

 

9. Stepper Motor

 

This motor has a sensitive response and a fast-starting speed. It is perfectly suitable for cutting and engraving processes. Its quality will directly affect the final output. The price of this motor is usually less even if you go for the excellent quality ones.

 

10. Servo Motor

 

This motor provides you with fast-moving speed, stable performance, smooth movement, smooth edge processing, high load, and fast cutting speed. It is usually high in price but is suitable for almost all industries and purposes. 

 

11. Slag Discharge Machine

 

You need this machine to eliminate the leftover or waste materials during the laser cutting method. It will automatically collect all the waste generated during the process. 

 

12. Dust Extractor

 

This is useful for filtering smoke and dust produced during the fabrication process. This extractor processes the smoke and dust to give environmentally protective surroundings around the machine.

 

Besides the above-mentioned parts, you also need to invest in quality minor essential parts and even spare parts. Hypertherm hpr130xd spare parts and Hypertherm hpr260xd parts are what I am talking about. These parts will ensure the smooth running of your laser machine.

Source: https://altpartsinc.wixsite.com/altpartsinc/single-post/12-primary-parts-of-a-laser-cutter

What You Need to Know About Press Brakes?

Press brakes are one of the most vital pieces of any equipment. Press brakes are fabrication tools used to bend a sheet or plate of metal. These brakes help fabricators to create formed parts like enclosures, brackets, channels, ductwork, structural forms, etc. These brakes are versatile and have various applications in various industries, which we will see in this article.

The only thing you need to ensure is investing in good quality machine parts like Amada parts, so that you can get accurate results. Now, you need to know much more about press breaks to choose the ideal ones, right? So, let us start with knowing its types, uses, and benefits.

Types of Press Brakes

There are different types of press brakes classified depending on the generation of their bending force. The four types of press brakes include:

• Electric Brakes
• Hydraulic Brakes
• Pneumatic Brakes
• Mechanical Brakes

Uses

Aerospace

Did you know that no plane could be built without a press brake? Because without a press brake, workers can never angle the aerospace metal as needed. Press brakes allow operators to bend a metal sheet into almost any desired shape. Thus, aerospace professionals use a press brake to bend and mold the sheet metal, which is used as a protective layering on planes.

Automotive

The automotive industry uses an assembly system to make the process of making cars efficient. The assembly lines can help to make more vehicles a day because it includes the high-quality latest technology. For instance, the workers use press brakes to construct automobiles because they can bend sheet metal to fit as desired. This way, the press brakes help increase the productivity of the automobile manufacturers.

Construction

While construction workers commonly use drywall to fill out a building’s interior and sheet metal for the roofs. These metal roofs are durable to withstand the elements. But they are equally tough to deal with when it comes to cueing them or shaping them according to the fittings. So, it is easy for people to break the metals in one place and then transport it to different places.

Many industries use press brakes to increase their productivity and perform complex tasks easily. Thus, it is advisable that every company that deals with metal manufacturing or metal cutting on a daily basis must invest in a press brake.

Benefits of Press Brakes

Reduced Material Wastage

Machines usually use a good amount of material to curve the desired items. But press brakes cut down the material waste by boosting high-end precision and accuracy while giving the desired shape to the materials.

Punching

If you use an application to punch a systematic row of holes in a part, then a press brake can be fitted easily with individual punch sets or even with a complete die set. This leads to punching holes accurately in one stroke.

Automation

Modern Press brakes can be easily automated to improve accuracy, increase productivity, and reduce overall labor costs. Press brakes have specialized data ports and many innovative accessories to facilitate the process of automation in the metal manufacturing industry. Adding material handling robotics, sheet followers for assisting the operator in lifting heavier parts can help to increase productivity. It also provides the same result with each and every bend. If you are looking to buy a good press brake, you can search for ‘Amada press brake for sale’ online to find some good options that match with your requirements.

Hemming

As you know, hemming is one of the necessary operations in most fabricating methods. It is a process of folding a small portion of the sheet over and closing it back on itself. This creates a rigid, thick, and durable edge with round edges for safe material handling. It is useful for manufacturing all types of boxes, panels, and covers. One can complete the operation with a custom toolset of press brakes or by way of a simple flat hemming die. The goal here is to improve the quality of the output with less wastage, and press brakes can help there.

Complex Forming

Press brakes offer unmatched flexibility. It gets combined with segmented punch sets, acute tooling, and die sets. With this, a press brake can easily form complicated multi-angle parts easily.

Production Bending

Using a CNC control is the ideal way on a press brake for repeating the actions over and over again. Here, the operator can use the product forming process to boost the accuracy with a press brake regardless of the flanges being similar or varying in length and angle.

Conclusion

As you saw, press brakes have many applications that help operators and fabricators to bend sheet metals for creating items of different shapes and forms easily. With press brakes, you can enhance the accuracy of the output and reduce wastage. You can find it in mostly every machine shop or fabrication job shop. Investing in good machine parts and press brakes are important.

So, choose high quality parts like Amada parts to get the best result of press brakes. When we talk about high-quality, it does not always have to be expensive. For example, you can just search ‘Amada press brake for sale’ and you will get all the affordable options.

Source: https://altpartsinc.wixsite.com/altpartsinc/single-post/what-you-need-to-know-about-press-brakes

5 Advantages of Using Laser Cutting Method

If you belong to the manufacturing industry, you probably might have thought about using a laser cutting method for your next project. But the doubt clouding on your head would be, 'how to trust any other process than the traditional one?' To answer that, I have mentioned some of the advantages of using laser cutting methods. This will help you know how this method saves your time, money, decreases your labor work, and gives versatility, productivity, and precise cutting. The accuracy of the laser cutting method also depends on the parts you use for it. So, always opt for quality laser parts like Mazak laser parts. This will improve your output's precision and the shelf life of the machine.

 

1. Provides High Accuracy and Precise Cutting

 

The laser cutting machine includes a small, powerful laser that provides a focused light beam on the material. This way, the machine can cut the material precisely. This laser usually possesses a tolerance of 0.003 mm to 0.006 mm. And a plasma cutter possesses a typical tolerance of about 0.02 mm. Some die-cutting tools may have tolerance power as high as 1-3 millimeters or even more. The powerful laser melts material with impeccable accuracy.

 

2. Versatile at Cutting

 

You can use laser cutting for various tasks like cutting complex shapes and on different types of materials including metals like copper, stainless steel, brass, wood, aluminum, plastic, and on various types of textiles. Laser cutters are also useful for engraving, drilling, and marking. The versatility of laser cutting machines makes it an essential part of modern machining.

 

3. Handles Complex Cuttings

 

You can use a laser cutting method to work on highly narrow sections of any material. For example, if you want various complex geometries on a material, then laser cutting will provide precise outputs rather than traditional methods. The result of cutting with this method is nothing but precision. It causes zero distortion or warping to the cut area.

 

4. Benefits Economically

 

One of the significant benefits of a laser cutting method is that it is economical to use. Traditional cutting methods require dyes, punches, and other things custom-made, particularly for individual orders, but that is not the case with laser cutting. 

 

Whether you use this technique for daily project works or limited-run projects, this technology will prove to be economically friendly in any scale of work. How? Laser cutters do not use any specific type of tooling. For example, you do not have to custom-prepare individual dyes for different shapes or projects.  

You just need to have a material, a laser cutter, and a schematic design to load into the computer. This way, you can save costs for small-batch projects.

 

Plus, laser machine tools have fewer mechanical moving parts. Thus, you do not have to pay high maintenance costs or harbor much effort in operating it. For that, it’s essential that you use quality parts like Mazak laser parts or mazak replacement parts to benefit from all the advantages of laser cutting machines.

 

5. Less Sheet Waste

 

The laser cutting method uses the highest amount of your sheet material. The laser cutter maximizes the number of usable parts and components from the sheet material by a process called nesting. This results in less wastage of materials and more output from a single sheet. Additionally, it saves time by exchanging new sheets more quickly than the traditional method. 

Wrapping it Up

I hope this article helped you to know how laser cutting can be advantageous for your business and why the majority of businesses have already started using it. It provides unparalleled precision accuracy, saves cost, and reduces raw material wastage. You can avail all these benefits only if you invest in quality parts like Mazak laser parts. You can get these parts online and in near by market too.

Source: https://altpartsinc.wixsite.com/altpartsinc/single-post/5-advantages-of-using-laser-cutting-method 

Top 5 Tips for Maintaining Laser Cutting Machines

The productivity and the longevity of any equipment depend on the maintenance and the way of its usage. The same is with laser cutting machines. Equipment maintenance must be done by the operators who regularly use the machine and who are trained to do so, keeping in mind the fragility of certain parts.

 

In case, any part or component needs replacement, it must be replaced immediately. If you have an amada laser cutting machine, then you can easily find amada machine replacement parts online. Below are some general maintenance tips that you can follow to extend the life of your laser machine and prevent production breakdowns. 

Daily Inspection and Cleaning

The simple thing to prolong the life of a laser cutting machine is to clean it regularly. The operators must clean the machine after every job. You should empty slag drawers and bins before starting a new cut. Operators can use lint-free cloths or microfiber towels to clean the parts of the machine. The area around the laser machine should also be kept clean.

 

Ceramic ring and nozzle must be replaced daily to have a precise and sharp cut. If the nozzle is damaged by the laser beam then it must be replaced promptly. You should always consider using parts that are of good quality. Amada machine replacement parts are of premium quality so that your machine works at its best. 

Cleaning Optics

Different methods are used for cleaning different types of lenses. For mirrors with flat surfaces use lens paper and for mirrors with curved surfaces use a cotton swab to clean. Firstly, use a blower to blow the dust on the surface of the lens. Then depending on the type of lens take lens paper or cotton swab, moist it with high purity alcohol or acetone, and rub gently on the lens. Repeat this process several times until the lens is fully cleaned. 

Assist Gas Checks

Laser cutting machines use gas to operate. This gas assists the laser in vaporizing through a material. If the gas is contaminated it can greatly impact the quality of the cut. So for smooth cuts, it is important to have clean gas. Also, check filters to make sure they are doing their job correctly. Leakage in the gas bottles may compromise the safety of operators and the surroundings. So to avoid accidents change the gas bottle as soon as the operators notice any leakage.  

Temperature Maintenance

Laser cutting machines vaporize metal using heat to cut materials. So, keeping the equipment cool is of utmost importance. Operators must check the system's cooler regularly. Coolant levels, filters, and fans need to be cleaned regularly so that they can function properly.

 

If the filters or fans are covered in dust, they won't be able to cool the machine. And it will lead to an increase in the temperature of the machine. Further, it can also damage the machine. So to prevent the machine from getting damaged, operators must check the cooling system regularly. In case of damage in any parts of the machine, it must be replaced with good quality spare parts like amada spare parts.  

Maintenance of Regulated Power Supply

After one month of regulated power supply, cut off the main power supply and tighten all the connections in the terminal and main circuit. Every three months, check the elasticity of the carbon sliding brush. Operators must use dry compressed air to blow the dust gathered on the regulator.  

Conclusion

You must have an effective maintenance policy for planning, controlling, and directing maintenance activities. The maintenance department must have well-trained operators who are well versed with the device. Any replacements required in the machine must be instantly changed for quality production. For spare parts of your amada laser machine, you can google “amada spare parts'' and find it easily online. 

Source: https://altpartsinc.wixsite.com/altpartsinc/single-post/top-5-tips-for-maintaining-laser-cutting-machines