An excellent engineer's guide to laser cutting

Today, a concentrated, powerful laser beam is used in the fabrication process of laser cutting to slice the material into slabs, plates, or sheets. Non-contact optics are typically used in the process to control the output's form.

It is most frequently used in industrial applications where the quality of the cut is crucial, and milling or drilling would be an unaffordable option. Several materials may be used during the fabrication process, mostly in conjunction with metals, such as plastic, glass, gemstones, or paper.

Using a laser to cut has many applications. According to the circumstances of what you wish to perform with a laser, there are several procedures, including fusion, oxidation, and scribing, each of which has advantages.

Do you discover it challenging to maintain your equipment operational because your provider is unresponsive? Amada lasers consumables can avoid frustration, obstacles, and lost revenue. Here are some lists of an excellent engineer's guide to laser cutting:

What is the process of laser cutting?

Laser cutting is the procedure in which a high-powered laser beam is used to cut or etch goods. Typically, the laser is beamed through high-fidelity optics, where it slices some items. Different cutting systems are used depending on the project's required performance and material type.

A laser beam is produced when electromagnetic radiation pulses are arranged laterally inside a closed container. These pulses are generated using electrical discharges or lamps by the excitation of a material.

When the light's energy exceeds the threshold required to leave the laser in a single, well-focused pulse from one end of the tube, it is amplified as it alternates between two mirrors.

How to create the most of the Machine with Laser Cutting:

The properties of your material and its intended application play a significant role in determining the ideal laser for cutting it.

When selecting the design of your laser for this application from the best Amada replacement parts, there are other elements to take, such as how powerful it needs to be, what kind of wavelength you need, and perhaps its temporal mode and spatial mode capabilities.

These factors can influence whether or not a laser with an experienced focus or one that offers different types of beam outputs will be the better choice.

• Wavelength:

The amount of heating required to melt or cut through an object depends on the wavelength of the laser beam because it affects how the material absorbs light.

• Beam Strength:

The size of the focusing spot a laser beam produces and, consequently, the effectiveness of the cut across a material are governed by its modal distribution. A beam is typically thought to be most effective when it produces Gaussian data.

• Focus Point:

The beam is assisted in focusing to a small, highly concentrated point using a lens or a specialized mirror. The focal spot, also known as the focus, is where the beam's diameter is most minor.

The optimum focus for your laser cutter depends on a number of elements, such as the material's qualities, thickness, beam's shape, mode, etc.

• Power:

Getting stronger laser Amada replacement parts is the best option if you cut many things. On the other hand, you can get away with employing a machine with a weaker laser if your applications don't call for a lot of cutting.

 Remember that greater intensity levels always result in faster burning and more expensive each cut. Again, flexibility is essential since it depends on how much work needs to be done.

Types of laser cutting:

• Fusion cutting provides a cutting edge almost entirely free of oxide because it uses reaction-inhibiting nitrogen or argon as the cutting gas.
• Utilizing oxygen as an aid gas during oxidative cutting raises the temperature and reaction rate at the cutting interface, allowing for the quicker removal of thicker materials with a lower-quality surface finish.
• The electronics industry mainly uses laser scribing to process thin sheets of material.

Many kinds of lasers can be used in these three laser cutting methods, including fiber, solid-state, and gas, like the CO2 emission gas laser.

Benefits of using a laser cutting over other cutting methods:

Laser cutting has many advantages compared to other cutting methods, including mechanical die punching, sawing, plasma cutting, and waterjet. The following list and analysis highlight some of the main benefits:

• Reduced heat impacted zone and reduced material deformation
• Greater cutting accuracy
• High rates of repetition
• Less contamination of the materials
• Improved operational personnel safety conditions
• Better cutting edges and less additional polishing needed after the cut
• Decreased material waste because of improved sheet use

Final Thoughts:

Finally, Innovative businesses can create new and complicated products more rapidly and affordably thanks to Amada laser consumables. Laser cutting provides exceptional precision and reproducibility and can produce parts in days instead of weeks.

Source: https://altpartsinc.wixsite.com/altpartsinc/single-post/an-excellent-engineer-s-guide-to-laser-cutting

Steps For Achieving The Perfect Press Brake Bend - Vehicle Maintenance and Repair

 Achieving a perfect press brake bend is a complicated task. And to accomplish it, you’ll require to follow several critical steps in a sequence. It means that you cannot skip any of these steps in the process. Each step is like a link in a chain. Adding these links step-by-step will form the whole chain. This is the reason why the success of every step depends on the success of its previous step.

To ensure the proper implementation of these critical steps, you require an advanced and robust press brake machine. For this, you can simply search “amada press brake for sale” on any search engine and get the best press brake machine for bending metals. Now, without any further ado, let’s have a look at the eight steps for achieving a perfect press brake bend.

Steps to Achieve the Best Press Brake Bend

Choose Metal Type

The first step is to choose the metal type. Different metal types have different properties which affect the way they react to stress. Metals also stretch when bent at different rates of force. The degree of this stretch depends on the material of metals. That’s why it is essential to know about the metal type material you’re going to use for the press brake bend. Apart from the metal material, the other factor determining the bend is the thickness of the metal, the shape of the die, etc.

Create Drawing

The next step is to create the drawing of your desired bend. You can do this by determining the shape of the bend that you want to produce. You can also use the previous reference drawings to ensure the preciseness and accuracy of the bend.

Choose the Bending Method

Choosing the most suitable bending method is critical in achieving a perfect bend. Most of the bending methods look identical, but they do have minor differences which sets them apart. Predominantly, there three types of bending methods:

• Coining

• Air Bending

• Bottom Bending

The selection of the bending method will largely depend on what you’re going to make. Apart from these you also have to consider the following factors:

• Tools available

• Size of the metal

• Type of metal

Determine Tonnage

The next step is to calculate the tonnage which is required to bend the material. The tonnage will also depend upon the material of the bending method. Tonnage charts are readily available on the equipment. If you don’t have one, then you can use the Press Brake tonnage calculator.

Assess Tooling Position

After determining the tonnage, you’ve to assess the tooling position of the material. If you need more tonnage than the concentrated load limit of the machine, then you’ve to go for the off-center. You can check if the press machine allows the off-center. If you don’t have one, you can simply search “  Amada press brake for sale” on any search engine. And get a press brake that comes with an off-center loading.

Install the Right Tooling

Once you make all the calculations, it’s time to set up the machine. This is the most time-consuming process. So, you must ensure that all your calculations are accurate. The manual setting up of parts will differ from machine to machine. If you’re missing a part of the machine, you can simply order Amada replacement parts to continue setting up the machine. If you’re still unsure how to set up the machine, you can consult the manual or ask any experienced press brake operator.

Enter Calculations

Once you set up the machine, you’ve to enter the calculations into your press brake machine. This step is highly dependent on the type of machine that you’re using. If you’re using an older machine, then it might require manual programming. However, the modern press brake machine comes with many things pre-configured. 

Examine Your Bend

The last step is to examine your bend. You can do this with a test run to ensure that everything is perfect before it goes to mass production. If you find any kind of error or defect, then you should go back to the previous steps to find out the source of the error.

It may happen that the initial parts of the mass production will have some imperfections, and that’s normal. However, you must conduct post-run tests to ensure that all the parts are meeting your standards.

Conclusion

Achieving a perfect bend is a step-by-step process where you must get the previous step right before moving to the next one. While implementing these steps, you might encounter some defective parts of the machine that can slow down the process. You can overcome this challenge by replacing those parts with amada replacement parts.

I hope this guide helped you to understand all the steps involved in the process of getting a press brake bend. If you have any questions or queries, you can post them in the comment section

Original Blog:

https://altpartsinc.wixsite.com/altpartsinc/single-post/steps-for-achieving-the-perfect-press-brake-bend-vehicle-maintenance-and-repair

Should Manufacturers Consider Buying Laser Cutter?

What do you do when you need a promotional logo for an event in under two weeks. You must be paying high rush rates and hefty shipping charges to a promo company. But how about firing up your own laser and make 100 pieces quickly? Isn’t the second option more convenient? Now, you must be thinking about costing.

Back in the day, most small to medium-sized businesses outsourced laser engraving. With the largely spread development in technology in the market, it removed the economic barrier for the in-house capabilities of laser engraving and cutting.

Laser cutting and engraving is making a buzz in the market for many reasons. With the increasing volume of outsourcing, there comes a point when the monthly spend on custom laser services is not cost-effective.

Sometimes it can stretch your production schedule and can lead to delays. If you are a manufacturer then installing laser equipment having Amada replacement parts or Trumpf spare parts in your own factory can be a cost-friendly option. You won’t be having any delivery time pressure. Plus, whenever you have to satisfy unpredictable customer demands, you can minimize the cost by taking control of laser cutting and having those resources on-premise.

When there is a development in the technology, there are many features available in large-scale cutting and engraving machines you can find on smaller desktop models. Today’s laser cutters provide speed, productivity, and efficiency for improved output and reduced scrap rates. Due to constant improvement in design and manufacturing process, there are systems which became more durable and requires less maintenance than the older models.

Major Benefits of having an in-house laser cutter:

• The laser marking process produces a crisp, detailed design which allows you to engrave images up to 1000-1200 dots per inch.
• It also provides an extremely fast way to customize products. You can easily engrave multiple pieces at once.
• This makes it easier for a laser system allowing users to create a quick jig to hold items in place and engrave as many pieces as per the area capacity in the laser’s work area.

While there might be some manufacturers concerned about the availability of in-house expertise to develop a particular laser job configurations and engineering. Bringing an in-house laser system allows manufacturers to brand their own promotional products. They can craft their own clothing, laptops, mobile phones, and so on. They can also design their own internal/external signage and other products as employee recognition products. Engraving custom graphics on MP3 players, iPods, iPads, and cell phones is an incredibly popular application which helps deter theft.

Hence, the next time when you are facing such deadlines to customize your products, having your in-house laser cutting systems having Amada replacement parts or Trumpf spare parts could help you deliver results on time.

Some of the useful tips to help you before you place your first order:

Material: Make sure that the materials you use involve steel tubes. Also, if your materials contain high reflective metals, aluminum, red copper, etc. then choose a laser cutter which is suitable for processing of such metals.

Size: It is key to the fiber laser cutting selection. Be careful while taking a measurement on them and decide the size of the work table.

Thickness: To achieve cutting effect with efficiency, it is important to consider the thickness of materials with the wattage of fiber laser cutting machine. Plus, it will help you choose the most effective solution.

The Finance Factor

While some manufacturers pay cash for a laser, the majority of them would use the finance method. Other than the bank sources you have OEM with their own financing plans. Also, make sure you are not compromising on quality while investing in the laser cutter to save money. Higher quality parts like Amada replacement parts will not only increase the lifecycle of the cutter but will also need lesser maintenance. 

But in order to get full services, you need to get a successful delivery and installation. Decide what type of foundation you will require. After that, it is important for a laser cutting machine to be in the right place with a facility away from harsh environmental areas. Also, make sure that you choose an efficient flow of laser-cut banks to downstream manufacturing process.