Fiber Laser Optics and Its Importance

Fiber laser cutting is used for a wide range of applications to process and produce laser quickly and efficiently with lasers. So the question is, how does fiber laser cutting machine use laser to cut? Talking about laser, how is laser produced and what is its principle?

Optics plays a huge role in the quality of cuts. You can find consumables from Prima Optics, lvd strippit parts, trumpf, etc. We have divided fiber laser cutting machines into two types: inner optics and outer optics.

Inner or Internal Optics

Let us find out what inner optics do in the laser machine.

Cutting

The laser generator releases a super-density laser beam. It is irradiated on the metal plate by a light spot. Then the cutting material is melted or vaporized at high temperature. After that, the high-pressure gas is used to blow off the melted metal and the residue.

Laser Production

Laser is converted from electrical energy to light energy. It is obvious that the conversion between the two energy cannot be 100%. Some part of it gets converted to light energy and the other is converted to heat energy. Currently, the electro-optical conversion rate of fiber lasers is 25%-35%. So better the performance of laser, the higher is the ratio of electro-optical conversion rate. So you will have lower energy consumption.

Outer Optics

Here is what outer optics do in the laser cutting machine.

Light Transmission

When the laser generates light and transmits it through optical fiber, a certain amount of energy is lost. Because the optical fiber is connected to the laser head. Also, when they are released from the fiber-optic head, they take a wavy shape. 

Waveform Light

Waveform light cannot collect or concentrate energy. With a collimator, you can process the wave light close to parallel light. 

Focusing Lens

The main function of this lens is to collect and concentrate the parallel light and form a super density light spot. 

Protective Lenses

While using a laser cutting machine, a certain amount of metal dust and debris will be generated. If they enter the cutting head of the laser machine, then it is important to protect the lens. You can replace this lens whose average shelf life is one piece per month. Needless to say, the loss depends on the intensity of the equipment. You can invest in good-quality mirrors like the reflectors from Prima Optics, Trumpf, lvd strippit parts, etc. A good quality mirror will last long.

Copper Nozzle

After the laser crosses the protective lens, it is released through the copper nozzle. On average, you might need two pieces per month. Again, the amount of loss depends on the intensity of use of the equipment. You can buy good quality spare parts from the Trumpf, Prima, LVD, etc. for your laser machine.

How to Maintain Lens?

As discussed above, we know how the lens gets damaged when you use the laser for a period of time. But to reduce this cleaning is necessary. The correct procedure to clean the lens is to use a cotton swab and dip it in the alcohol. Alcohol evaporates if any access is left on the lens. Then gently wipe the lens with it. These lenses have a layer of coating on the lens, wipe gently so that you don’t scratch. 

Conclusion

The performance of laser cutting machines depends mainly on the condition of optics. So it is important to maintain the mirrors to get the best from them. It is advisable to change the worn-out parts on time because it will directly affect the performance of the laser. Buying good quality consumables and cleaning the spare parts at the regular interval will increase its shelf life.

Source: https://altpartsinc.wixsite.com/altpartsinc/single-post/fiber-laser-optics-and-its-importance

Maintenance of a Laser Cutting Machine

Proper maintenance of laser cutting machine is essential and has many benefits like:

• It enhances the longevity of your laser machine
• It ensures that the laser can perform at an optimum level
• It saves your money with less need for replacements

Maintenance is important to keep the laser machine clean of fumes, debris, smoke, and other dirt. Because that accumulation will cause system failures someday, and maintenance is the key to preventing it. But investing in good quality laser parts like amada laser parts is equally important to prevent damage. So, in this article, we will have a look at some tips you can follow to maintain your laser machine regularly.

How to Maintain Your Laser Machine

General Maintenance

You need to carry out general maintenance tasks on your laser machine regularly. Dust with the debris is inevitably going to form in every laser machine. But you can minimize its effect on the machine's efficiency and final output by cleaning up your machine's cabinet, bed, and everywhere. This intense cleaning can only prevent the effect of debris on the final product. You need to ensure that you let the machine cool down completely before starting any cleaning process. You should also ensure that you have invested in all the necessary spare parts for each laser part. Here, choosing quality spare parts like amada spare parts is important to boost the performance of the machine.

Laser Cutter Cleaning

Some hard materials such as woods, acrylic, and MDF release more residue and flammable oils. This dirt can affect the machine's components and can potentially initiate fire if not taken care of. Cleaning the cutter is as important as the cleaning the whole machine. This dirt gets accumulated most on the cutter and the surface where the cutting is done.

So, ensure that you do regular cleaning of the laser cutter with suitable solutions to prevent the dirt from getting on the products and enhance the laser machine's efficiency. For laser cutter cleaning, you need some supplies like a suitable liquid solution, soft brushes, paint scraper, pipe cleaners, stiff bristle brushes, and napkins.

Air-assist Compressor

You need to check if the air-assist compressor is working correctly. For this, you need to check for any obstruction in elements of filtration that might be present in the delivery hose from the compressor. You need to ensure that there is no obstruction from the starting point to the nozzle. Reduced airflow towards the nozzle often increases the risk of the flame breaking out on materials of the laser cutting machine. So, you must check the airflow of the entire machine.

Maintaining Optics

Dirty optics has the potential to reduce the laser beam's strength. You can visually check if the optics need cleaning or not. You need to check the optics regularly, otherwise, you will notice poor results such as untidy cutting, blurry lines, etc. It is important to clean the optics because dirt can combust or burn into the optic's surface. This will permanently damage the optics. Cleaning them after every 10 hours is ideal, but it also depends on what type of material you are using. You can take an IPA solution or acetone solution on gentle cotton buds for cleaning the optics by yourself.

Winter Maintenance

Did you know that the drop-in temperature during the winter months in your area can change the results of your laser machine? In extra-cold weather or surrounding, your machine will require extra attention and proper regulations. You can ensure that the room where the laser machine is kept is between 0°C-5°C. You can even use a good antifreeze to maintain the temperature of your machine. Here, you will need to avoid using any colored automotive colane as it can rust the coils and damage the seals of your machine's chiller. Here, using quality parts like amada laser parts can prevent damage from weather.

Maintaining Chiller

The heat produced by laser machines needs regulation. You can choose water chillers as they are an effective method of keeping the temperature down. This will ensure that the tube does not overheat. It is important to keep a close eye on the chiller's temperature. You need to locate the filters in the chiller after every few weeks. You also need to check if the water has started contaminating, and if it has, then you need to change it. You can use distilled or deionized water. Avoid using regular water as it can encourage bacterial growth that can clog the piping area.

Sodium hypochlorite (also known as bleach) is corrosive to some metals like copper and stainless steel. Thus, this solution needs to be avoided while maintaining any laser machine accessories. There is a chloride ion present in the bleach, which is an oxidizing agent. It attacks the passive layer on the metal, which causes localized damage. Even the trace amounts of bleach can form rust as stainless steel gets corroded gradually. This disrupts the efficiency of the machine.

Conclusion

I would like to conclude this article by offering you a checklist to maintain your laser machine. This information may vary according to the material you use.

For weekly maintenance, you can:

• Check water level
• Clean lens with Acetone/Alcohol
• Oil runners with light oil
• Clean optics
• Remove debris from the machine base
• Clean machine bed

For monthly maintenance, you can:

• Clean mirrors
• Oil rise and fall of laser bed
• Clean impeller on the fan unit
• Change the water if contaminated
• Clean filter in chiller

You can get your machine to a service store for full machine/s service annually. Also, you must keep quality amada spare parts for each laser parts in case of any last minute requirements. Good quality parts ensure to give your output the same finishing as that of the original.

Source: https://altpartsinc.wixsite.com/altpartsinc/single-post/maintenance-of-a-laser-cutting-machine

How to Manage Spare Parts Efficiently

It is important to manage spare parts efficiently as it acts as a foundation for dependable plant operations. It will make the crises less destructive and more manageable. As a plant manager, you need to know the tips to manage them. So, in the article, we will discuss some of the factors that you must consider to manage your spare parts and make the company more effective. Let us start with a pro tip: Always use quality spare parts like Trumpf parts to get the best quality out of them.

Tips to Manage Spare Parts Efficiently

The below tips will help you to enhance performance, increase productivity, and reduce the cost of the plant.

Strategize the Operation

Many businesses adopt the practice of creating an operational plan based on responsive events. One can strategize the business with either a reactive or predictive approach. In order to perform spare parts management, you will need a predictive approach to strategize your business efficiently. I don't mean that you need to completely abandon a reactive approach here, but the core approach needs to be a preventive one. This includes the ability to prevent any future problems before they occur.

You should always look out for failure patterns because they often reveal problems that are less visible or we forget to notice. The collection and analysis of data need to be relevant in order to improve your business management strategy. You need to use predictive management to use the resources efficiently, reduce costs, and save time.

Effective Parts Inventory Control

You need to store and organize spare parts in a chosen and secure space. This will help you to keep a check on spare inventories, save time in finding the needed part, and also save the parts from being damaged. Proper analysis and review of the storage and check-out system is necessary as it can reveal a lot about the quality control of your inventory. 

For better inventory quality management, you can develop precise standards to categorize and define spares. You can periodically review all the spare parts based on time, replacements, etc. You can also conduct a regular review of the spare parts to check if you are holding any excess stock for particular parts or if you are running out of any.

Adopt Better Security Measures

Limiting access to the inventory parts warehouse is a step you should consider applying. Giving everyone access to the inventory parts warehouse will only cause never-ending entries of inventory inaccuracies. You can adopt policies that can restrict some staff from accessing the inventory. You should also install security camera systems in your inventory warehouse. You can also keep security guards that allow only people who have a certain badge to walk into inventory.  

Stock Parts for New Equipment

The most common mistake every other plant manager does is storing no spare parts for new equipment. It often seems that there is no need to invest in spare parts for new equipment, but there is. Because you should not just assume that the vendor you bought the equipment from sells faultless equipment. 

It may be suitable for some time, but there will be a time when it will need repairing, and you never know how early the problems can arise. In such situations, investing in spare parts for new equipment is a smart thing to do. And while socking the spare parts for the new equipment, ensure that you choose the best quality parts like Trumpf spare parts for gaining its original-like performance.

Calculating Risk for Every Equipment

Any equipment can cause failure at any time and you cannot control it most of the time. Instead, you can calculate the overall downtime risk and possible aids for every spare part. This way you can have a possible time when the spare part may need a replacement or polish. Additionally, you can use good quality spare parts like Trumpf spare parts to increase the lifespan of spare parts. 

Here the question is, how can you calculate risk for each equipment? Let me help you with some activities you can perform daily for this. You can calculate the exposure of a spare part by determining the total cost of one-hour downtime it gets for your firm. You also need to determine the cost and reasons for any part's damage for further precautions. You can create different sections of cost for purchasing such as "new vs. old" parts for replacement.

Final Words

With the above tips, you can make your inventory system efficient and responsive to meet your operational demands. With proper spare part management, you can save time, money and accelerate the overall performance of your equipment. But the first and foremost thing you need to start with is investing in good quality spare parts like Amada and Trumpf parts.

Source: https://altpartsinc.wixsite.com/altpartsinc/single-post/how-to-manage-spare-parts-efficiently

What is Plasma Cutting and What are Plasma Cutter Consumables?

Plasma cutters have the capability to cut the metals in simple and complex shapes like holes, edges, markings, etc. Plasma cutters are cost-effective and practical compared to oxy-fuel, laser, and water jet cutting processes. Let us understand how plasma cutters work and what consumables you will need.

What is Plasma Cutter?

Plasma cutting is a cutting technique that uses an accelerated jet of hot plasma to cut through conductive metals like steel, aluminum, brass, titanium, copper, etc. It is widely used in manufacturing, automotive repair, industrial construction, restoring, scrapping, etc. Plasma cutting can be done using a handheld plasma torch also known as plasma arcs, guns, or cutters. For that, you will need hand held plasma cutter parts.

Due to high speed, precise cuts, and low cost, plasma cutting is widely used by small companies and industries using CNC. 

Why You Need Plasma Cutter Consumables?

Using plasma cutter over time, components start wearing off gradually. Worn consumables can ruin metal while cutting. Your operator can tell which consumables are worn by sound, color, etc. 

The best way to keep a check on the condition of your consumables is to periodically inspect consumables. If you see that the quality of the cut is deteriorating, you have an indication that it needs to be changed. 

It is a good practice to maintain a record of the average life of parts over time and prepare a guideline for consumables based on the thickness of the material, amperage, and material. So operator will know after what time he needs to check the components thoroughly to prevent catastrophic failure.

It is essential that you run all your parts at the correct amperage. High or low amperage can impact the cut quality. However, using incorrect consumables can also lead to shortened life and cut quality. 

List of Consumables With Their Purpose

You can choose from different consumables like Hypertherm powermax 45 consumables, Powermax 45 XP, Powermax 65, etc. Here is the list of the consumables you might need.

Electrode

The electrode provides power to the plasma arc. Electrode conducts high voltage or high-frequency energy while you start the cut. This adds energy to ionize the cuttings gas that creates plasma and allows the arc to start.

Swirl Ring

A swirl ring is made of ceramic or volcanic ash. It controls and swirls the plasma gas around the electrodes and inside nozzles. It basically controls the point where the arc is attached to the emitter and also the plasma flow through the nozzle that affects the edge angularity. It usually swirls in clockwise rotation but their counterclockwise swirls are to assist for mirror cutting.

Nozzle

Nozzle constricts the gas stream flowing through the orifice in the center of the nozzle. A nozzle that is worn out or improper will cause the part to have an improper size or edge. The orifice must be a circle and not oval or egg-shaped. 

Inner Retaining Cap

The purpose of the retaining cap is to hold all the internal stack components in proper alignment. A damaged or improper retainer will cause the rest of the consumables to fit improperly and it can cause a gas error, coolant leaks, or poor cut quality.

Shield Cap

As the name suggests, a shield protects all the consumables from sparks and molten metals. There are mostly made of copper and provide a proper distance between nozzle and workpiece.

Water Tube

It works as a coolant to the tips of the electrodes to prevent overheating. The size of the tube is important otherwise it will cause premature electrode failure due to overheating.

Conclusion

It is important to invest in a good-quality hand held plasma cutter parts. Because poor quality will have less shelf-life. You can find different Hypertherm consumables like Hypertherm powermax 45 consumables, powermax 45XP, powermax 65, etc. easily from certified suppliers.

Source: https://altpartsinc.wixsite.com/altpartsinc/single-post/what-is-plasma-cutting-and-what-are-plasma-cutter-consumables