Types of Sheet Metal Laser Cutting You Need to Know

Businesses dealing in laser cutting machines are blooming nowadays. The trend of sheet metal laser cutting is engulfing the market with their working methodologies. You get several options for new types of machinery available in the market to enhance the final results of cutting.

Specifying the laser cutting method types, these are the available choices varied by the industry requirements:

1. CO2 Sheet Metal Laser Cutting Machines
2. Fiber Laser Cutters
3. Direct Diode Laser or DDL

Let’s have an in-depth tour of all these methods to find out which one suits your standards and requirements.

1) CO2 Sheet Metal Laser Cutting Machines

This method is known as a traditional method. Many fabricators prefer to use this method, particularly for the +4mm sheet metal market. This type of method utilizes CO2 laser gas and electricity to create a laser beam. The fabricators then apply that onto the sheet metal. This method includes high-temperature operations which is one of the reasons behind the need for a higher capacity chiller unit.

However, due to the new introduction of new technologies in the sheet metal laser cutting and people are moving towards them. That brings me to the second type of laser cutting that is Fiber Laser Cutters.

Benefits:

Co2 Sheet metal laser cutting machines are widely used around the world and most of the fabricators are proficient using the same. Moreover, Co2 laser cutting machines are reliable and safe as they don’t come in direct contact with the materials causing next to no mechanical compression or stress.

2) Fiber Laser Cutters

Fiber laser cutters use optical fibers pumped with diodes to craft a solid-state laser cutting machines with no gas consumables. If you are working in this industry, then this type of cutters can produce precise results for you. When any fabricator is looking for a laser cutting machine, the main thing he is concerned about is efficiency. Fiber Precitec Laser Consumables provide speed, accuracy, and cost-saving results. One of the major things is that they contain a better focus capacity. Because of that, they can evaporate a material at pinpoint to make a smaller spot diameter, compared to CO2. This way you can make sure that the cut you produce is accurate and stable. This works well while you work with thin materials as well.

For instance, some of the Precitec laser consumables users use this technology to channel increased beam density and laser energy into the cut. With a shorter beam wavelength, you can produce a 90 percent shorter cut than a CO2 laser beam. It results in faster penetration of the material and the capacity to increase the operation by more than 30 percent.

They can also cut highly reflective machines such as brass, aluminum, copper. With a CO2 machine, there are chances of damage. Additionally, the fiber lasers are also well suited for other materials such as Hastelloy, Titanium, and Inconel.

Benefits:

According to a study, laser parts like LVD Strippit laser consumables provide manifold benefits. In terms of spending costs, fiber users can benefit from an 80 percent reduction in consumption of oscillator electrical power. And 100 percent reduction in laser gas consumption with a wall plug efficiency of 30 to 40 percent. They also reduce chiller unit electrical consumption to 80 percent.

In the fiber laser cutting, your maintenance costs would also gradually reduce because of lesser movements in its parts, lower consumption of heat, and longer diode life. It also reduces the sheet metal cutting machine maintenance because they do not contain bellows. Plus, there is no requirement for mirror alignment or replacement.

3) Direct Diode

The final method available for cutting sheet metal is a DDL technology. It is also known by the acronym DDL. In this method, the diodes are the key thing they use. Therefore, they eliminate the pumped fire system, used in fiber laser technology. Due to the elimination of the middle process, it makes it more efficient.

DDL is a reliable source method with enhanced beam quality. Machines such as Precitec laser consumables offer premium cutting performance which makes them ideal for users who need ultra-fast cutting and high-quality cutting results.

Benefits:

It enhances productivity by cutting thin material at a 20 percent faster rate. It is faster than fiber ones and it also works on thick materials with unsurpassed surface quality. The DDLs are capable of a wall plug efficiency level. That is of  40 to 50 percent more compared to 10% for a CO2 resonator. Also 15 to 20% for a disc resonator and 30-40% with a fiber resonator.

What is Your Choice?

The right choice of metal laser cutting is important to produce cutting-edge results which meet the requirements. Therefore, research, summarize your requirements, finalize the material and other aspects to choose the LVD Strippit laser consumables which are capable enough to produce fruitful results for your industry.

5 Tips to Safeguard Your Press Brake Without Sacrificing Productivity

Press brake is a machine tool for bending sheet material. These heavy machines can be risky to operators if used without appropriate safety. According to a study by the US Department of Labor report, every year more than 350 amputations were reported among press brake operators.

A major reason behind such injuries is the upgraded access of point of operation at front the of the machine. Plus, an operator’s ability to reach safely around the device to get to the operation point at a side of the machine. Moreover, the back-gauge system creates pinch points which creates a risk with the motion. If by any chance operator’s hand gets trapped between the material and frame, it might cause impalement or amputation.

Press brake operators can avoid such risky situations in just a few steps. Before digging brief into that part let’s have a closer look at some of the safety standards that every operator needs to know.

The Safety Standards

The industry follows the ANSI standard for press brakes. ANSI B11.2 is to safeguard method guidance. ANSI B11.19 for design criteria.  Looking at the history of these standards, the original B11.3 came as an approved standard in 1973. There was a revision in the policy in 2002. The current standard is B11.2 which was last updated in 2012. Amada machine replacement parts provide the highest possible safety standards for any press brake operator.

To make sure that you are well-equipped with all the safeguards, consider the below-given tips to practice safe sheet bending in your factory.

Use Awareness Barriers

It is human behavior to perceive red color as a warning sign/barrier. You can use signs like ‘danger’ or ‘warning’ at the back of press brakes in wide red letters. Because the backside of the press brakes cannot be wide open. There are possible risks lurking there. Reaching the die part from the back and a multi-axis back gauge moving with pinch points. If you wish to decide what can be put at the back of the equipment, it will depend on the local OSHA interpretation.

Barrier Guards to Rescue

Barrier guards can help you with the risk management of press brake. While looking for Amada machine replacement parts online, you must have come across the fact that barrier guard can be the most versatile part to provide a safety layer. You can use them at the ends of most press brakes. They are effective in mounting light curtains with added values as well. With barriers, you can have the openings for material to be fed into the die area. Although they do not allow hand-to-hand processing into that area.

Mount Light Curtains

Light curtains have been in the business since the mid-1950s. They contain a vertically mounted transmitter and receiver with spaced beams of the laser. It creates a flat sensing field. The key advantage is when human fingers, hands or a whole arm reach through that sensing field, the whole press system stops to avoid possible injuries. If you search the term ‘Amada machine replacement parts’ on the web, you will find many available options for light curtains.

One of the reasons that light curtains are a good fit for press brakes is that press breaks can be stopped during the mid-cycle quickly. With hydraulic press brakes, it is possible. On the other side, mechanical press brakes may not be able to deliver the same experience that swiftly. Mechanical friction clutch machines are also known for stopping slowly. Light curtain contains ‘function-tested’ operations. Before operating the press brakes enable these function tested curtains to ensure that they continue to provide enhanced protection.

Utilize Laser AOPD

This method is one of the newest entry into the safety category. It is included in the B11.2-2012 safety standards that now provides safety guidelines to manufacturers, dealers, and users to implement and practice these standards. This is an acceptable method of safeguarding hydraulic press brakes only per ANSI B11.3 with the collected manufacturers’ specifications. One of the most unique features of AOPD is that it can be mounted with zero safety distance, unlike curtains that should be mounted at a calculated safety distance. It is applicable only to hydraulic press brakes. You can find the same online. They are best suited for box bending, bending with flanges or where light curtains effectiveness is diminished due to excessive muting.

Are You Prepared?

If you are also a press brake operator, you might have an idea about how dangerous it can be while working with Press Brake machines. When your machine is safeguarded, installed and operated in a correct way, the safety of all the workers remains intact which eventually reduce your operation and insurance costs.

How to Maintain Laser Cutting Machines?

With the laser cutters, you can produce the most accurate and high-quality cuts for fabrication. In order to maintain the efficiency and consistency of these machines throughout, fabricators need to perform preventive maintenance on a regular base. After all the laser cutter is an expensive piece of equipment. The first tip is to avoid procrastination. Because the lack of maintenance leads to a lower quality cut without any perfection. To understand how laser parts can work more optimally, read the below steps to keep your laser machines up to date.

Never Leave the Laser Machine Unattended
One of the Laser Materials like acrylic is prone to catch fire when it goes unattended during the cutting process. There have been instances when people had to replace the whole laser cutting machine in cases of fire. To eliminate such cases, we need to make sure that someone is within 3 feet area all the time.

Keep the Lens Clean
Every fabricator has a different type of laser cutting schedule. Daily maintenance is one of the major things we need to make sure for the laser parts involved in the process. If you wish to replace any of them consider Mazak laser parts. They come with good quality features and provide an ample amount of cutting. One more thing to make sure that after the cutting schedule, check the lens and clean if necessary. As the top lens and mirror are right above the laser beam and exposed to a lot of dirt, smokes, debris, and fumes. With the dirty lens you might get:

• A need of lower speeds or higher power to cut.
• Uneven and blurry images.
• Damaged lenses

The simple way of cleaning the lens and mirror is removing it gently and cleaning both the sides with a q-tip or lens paper.

Clean out the Filters
With regular maintenance tasks, you need to maintain the filter as well. Based on its usage and the type of materials, you need to change the inner ‘pad’ pre-filer and clean the foam dust collector.

Here are the hints that indicate that you need to replace the filter:

• Smoke is collecting in the laser bay.
• Fire/flares in the bay.
• Odor emanating from the machine.
• The filter is dirty on both sides.

Here are the steps to follow to replace the filter:

1. Open up the machine.
2. You will see the inner filtration assembly inside. There would be a foam dust collector inside the metal mess. Since it catches the big dust particles, rinse this out in the sink and dry it out.
3. There would be a wrapped pad pre-filter on the outside.
4. You can buy new pre-filters and wrap them around.

Consider Warranties
Warranties are a key part of the buying process. If you are a fabricator and pursuing a maintenance contract or extended warranty, it is important for the purchasing department to have a complete understanding of points covered in it. Do the contract cover maintenance and parts? If yes then does it cover quality laser parts Trumpf laser parts? Is there any discount provided on any needed replacement part? How much more an emergency service call would cost without a contract? What are the possible limits of the contract?

Replace Charcoals
With the cutting, plastics, there are chances of developing odors. However, the pre-filer works the best to get rid of particle matter. But the Electrocorp also has 20 lbs of carbon particles. And they absorb the nasty smell. Eventually, the charcoal gets 'full' and doesn’t absorb fumes.

Some indications that you need to replace the charcoal:

• The smell of burning plastic is strong.
• Smoke sucked away.
• The filter is clean but the problem doesn't go away.
• The charcoal smells of fumes.

To replace the charcoal, pour out and throw out the old charcoal. Pour in cup-full of fresh charcoal while tamping down with a rubber matter or a wooden dowel to pack the charcoal.

Final Thoughts
Maintenance of laser parts is varied by its usage and type. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to properly maintain the laser fabrication process. And while you replace the laser parts, you can find several options from the web if you write queries like ‘Trumpf laser parts’ and ‘Mazak laser parts. The maintenance lessons result in a more consistent, reliable, and cost-effective laser operations.

How to Get Rid of Shearing Defects?

Shearing is a fabricating process used to cut metal sheets. The Shear blade machine consists of a shear table, blank holders, upper and lower blades. A back gauge is used to make sure that the cutting process is streamlined. When it comes to a perfect cut of the metal you need a high-quality shear blade like Amada shear blade which reduces the effects of variable sheet metal characteristics, internal stress, geometry to reduce the possible defects in the shear blades.

In this case, you need to take care of these natural effects. As they can make your shear blades defected and may reduce the final cutting quality of the product. If you work at the metal forming factory you must know that it is important to maintain your shear blades time-to-time. In this article, we have a list of variables used in this process along the solutions to get rid of possible shearing defects.

Cutting Angle
It is the cutting-edge angle of the blade. With two square edge blades, it requires higher cutting force than the upper blade. It is at an angle of 87°. And the lower blade is always at 90°. These are the ‘four-edge’ blades. Angled blades are called ‘two-edge’ blades.

Shearing Angle
This angle has a great effect on the shearing force. When you shear thin strips, this angle has an important effect on twisting. The shearing angle is less than 3°.

Blade Clearance
It’s the perpendicular distance between the shearing blades. The quality of results depends on plate thickness and material strength. If the cutting clearance is too small, the costs will be higher. If it’s too large, the result will be precise and large plastic deformation.

Clearing Angle
The clearing angle is fixed and set to 1.5°. The Blade ram is not perfectly vertical but is tilted pointing towards the backside to facilitate the piece separation.

The Shearing Defects and Solutions:

Twisting
In shear blades, this defect twists the plate with its axis. When shear narrow down the strips, it results in twisting. Other responsible shearing conditions are related to metal geometry. For example, high thickness and short length reduce the width, material characteristics like the soft material, uneven stress distribution and cutting parameters like high rake angle, high cutting speed etc.

To get rid of this defect it is recommended to lower the rank angle. This way, it would become useful to add an anti-twist device. Also, this option consists of a series of cylinders that push the plate against the top blade. This force applies when it corresponds to the plate thickness.

Poor Edge Quality
During the shearing process, the material initially deforms in a very small area, with a residual deformation. Then the upper blade penetrates the material where cutting is neat and clear. At the end of the shearing process, the material would give up. Because of that, the material cracks with a rough and irregular surface known as the fractured zone. This is often not perpendicular to the plate but a variable angle. You can improve edge quality by adjusting blade clearance, and keeping blade wear under control.

Crooking
In this defect, the surface stays flat, and a plate is curved along its plane. The responsible conditions include strip width, thickness, material strength, and previous cold rolling direction. The best way to reduce crooking is to use a smaller shearing angle and performed-cuts along rolling direction. Guillotine shear is another condition where blade ram supports its ends instead of the entire length.

Even during the shearing process the blade will become crooked because of the cutting force and will tend to open in the center. The best solution is to choose a shear with adjustable blade pads to keep it perfectly liner. You can opt for ‘Amada shear blades’ as they come with these specifications.

Bowing
In such a situation, the metal is no longer flat as this effect results in bowed sheet metal. Generally, it is related to cutting angle and plate strength. The best way to reduce this is by using a smaller shearing angle and hold the sheet metal with back support.

Does your shearing blades have experienced such defects? Amada Replacement Parts help you to avoid such types of defects for a period of time with their high tech functionalities. Although the regular maintenance and above-mentioned steps would help you to eliminate the shearing deficiencies.

Laser Cutting: 5 Important Things New Adopters Need to Know

Laser cutting is a method of cutting a design from given material. It is one of the coolest ways of bringing an imaginary design to life with accurate results. While it might be easy to cut out a small design by hand, laser cutter can do much more. You can successfully cut multi-layered lettering and design that even a skilled person would struggle to execute. With quality products like LVD Strippit laser parts, you can perform an effective laser cutting.

If you are just starting off with laser cutting, you must wonder that how does an average person get involved in this with all the accuracy? In that case, you will just need to set up your parameters in the program. Laser cutters have enough power to create a design from any metal, wood, paper or plastic that you need. Here is all you need to know about laser cutters to get started.

The Working of Laser Cutters

There are different methods of laser cutting process. One of the basic methods is when the machine creates one hole using the laser beam into a work piece. After that, the laser cuts through, with a smooth finish and a clean cut. The other way is using it with a pulse laser beam. This way, the cut is delivered in the pulses of the laser. With the continuous wave, the beam is focused on the material until it cuts the pre-decided shape.

Types of Materials Used

You can’t just pick any material and start burning it with a laser. Laser cutters can cut through a wide variety of ceramics, metals, plastics and other materials. Precitec laser consumables can be a great choice for following materials:

• Stainless Steel
• Steel
• Aluminium
• Nickel
• Brass
• Copper

There is a big no to some of the materials that doesn’t fit with laser cutters. Polycarbonate sheets can produce a thick smoke when comes in contact with laser. Other materials include, card boards that catch fire, an electric equipment becomes complicated to handle.

The Results

As the investment is bigger, often manufacturers get questions regarding the quality. But the truth is that the laser cutters contains a focused, narrow beam that ensures to produce precise cuts. Laser parts like LVD Strippit laser parts in laser cutters are connected with a computer program to generate accurate design cuts. During the cutting process, the laser beam smoothens the cut and creates a clear-cut design.

The Maintenance

Generally, maintenance cycle is mentioned in the product manuals. Here, you to be careful during the routine maintenance process. The laser cutting machine contains high-precision components. You need to ensure strict accordance with operating procedures and take care of laser parts. If you want to replace any specific parts from your laser cutter, internet is your friend. You can search for ‘Precitec laser consumables’ to find the most suitable products according to your needs.

Why Laser Cutting?

Laser cutters ensure a fast cutting process with high quality results. If we look at the bright side, they produce the most efficient cuts in a short span of time. Companies looking for a mass manufacturing can create consistent, fast and identical products and build their brand. Plus, these machines are energy efficient which help manufacturers save money on their energy bills.

Concluding

These versatile machines can cut through a wide variety of materials to form different intricate designs. The biggest advantage is that you will have a lesser need of finishing on the final piece compared to any other cutting machines. From where are you planning to buy a laser cutting machine for your business? Do let us know in the comment bar below.

Originally Published here : https://www.sooperarticles.com/automotive-articles/laser-cutting-5-important-things-new-adopters-need-know-1705456.html

Why Do Press Brake Demands a Knowledgeable Machine Operator?

Machines cannot replace the human expertise. While machine tools deliver results with precise specifications, the human factor is still an essential part for every operation. Let’s take an example of CNC press brakes. For CNC systems, manual efforts are a compulsory thing to get accurate results. When a press brake executes a specific angle on a bend, it requires human inputs to determine how deep a bend should be.

In the metal bending, it is important for a CNC press brake operator to be aware about the complete work-flow. Because, not every metal piece responds to a bending method with an identical manner. Therefore, a press brake operator requires a lot of details to generate the fruitful bending results. Described below are the reasons that explain why a press brake operator with sufficient knowledge matters the most in metal bending?

To Calculate the Inside Radius of a Bend

Metal bending comes with some limits. It entails two of the major factors which are:

1)    How tightly a piece of metal can be bent before it breaks.

2)    Springback: How far a piece of metal bends back once set for bending.

Now that there is a limit to how deeply the metal bends, it makes the operator’s job difficult. The operator has to account for springback in a metal form, making the initial bend deeper to compensate. The CNC press brake operator has to calculate the inside radius of each bend so the metal doesn’t break and springback doesn’t ruin the efficiency of a work piece. However, the metals have different kinds of tendency towards hardness and strength. A CNC operator needs to consider all these factors and make the formula which works with all types of metals.

To Calculate Press Brake Tonnage Limits

If you are lacking the knowledge about bending machinery, especially for Amada machine replacement parts, you can easily end up overloading and damaging the press brake. One of the articles from thefabricator.com highlights the issue that, one unit applied a massive amount of 600- ton press brake to an 8-in. part in the center. This caused a severe damage in center of the workpiece. In such cases, it is important to multiply the distance between the side frames by 60 percent, and divide the result by the machine tonnage. And operations like this demands an experienced on-duty operator. They need to count the calculations of the correct tonnage limits that do not damage the machine parts.

To Maintain the Machines

Maintenance is a vital part of any process. if you want to replace the old machines, you can easily find several options by searching ‘Amada press brake for sale online‘. But when It comes to maintaining the parts, press brakes needs to be managed carefully. The maintenance process includes oiling parts, filter changes, cleaning the debris, checking the machine level to produce perfect bends.

The operator also needs to know the various operations, that their press brake is capable of. If required, Amada machine replacement parts are a suitable option for components which need a replacement in your press brake. Thus, it is critical for any machine operator to maintain the overall working of press brake time-to-time.

Concluding

Press brakes automate the metal bending process with ease. But along with that it requires a press brake operator who is capable of managing bending tasks in a smart way. The operators surely need to master the complete working of press brakes. Along with the maintenance process to execute metal bending with minimal wastage and produce the best results.

Originally Posted Here : https://www.sooperarticles.com/automotive-articles/why-do-press-brake-demands-knowledgeable-machine-operator-1703108.html

What Products Can a Laser Cutting Machine Produce?

Laser metal cutters are a life of any material production company as they can provide accurate and finest cuts. If you want metal outputs without excessive distortions irrespective of the thickness of metal, they are a ‘to go’ equipment. Even if these machines get old, the manufacturers often buy Bystronic laser parts and replace them with new ones so that they can start working like before.

Manufacturers also choose laser metal cutting over CNC punches because CNC machines use physical force for shear metal cutting due to which, there’s often some mechanical deformation in the final product. Today, we will try to know about the types of metal products that laser cutting machine can produce. So, here we go:

Cut-Out Parts

When you want to make small cut outs from large metal sheets, laser cutting works the best. Several industries make use of these cut-out parts for different purposes. It is possible to make mini fan blades, computer drive mounts and other flat aviation parts using CNC press brake or other metal cutting machine. The companies that sell Mitsubishi laser parts often sell CNC press brakes. So, it is easy to find it online.

Engraved Sheet Metals

If the laser cutting machine works at lower settings, you can use it for cutting a piece of sheet metal and give it a smooth finish with a groove on its surface. Through laser engraving, manufacturers can leave a distinguished and fine mark on the sheet metal. For example, if your customers want to create customized cake molds to place in the ovens of a particular size, the operators can make use of this functionality and engrave the metal of molds accordingly.

Sheet Metal Baskets

Some restaurant industries require wire mesh baskets for washing and frying food materials successfully. In some cases, they also need a strong sheet metal with holes inside it and several steel wires arranged horizontally and vertically. For cutting such intricate shapes and creating sturdy baskets, nothing but laser machines can come of use. However, the makers of these baskets need several years of experience to build them according to the defined standards.

Sheet Metal Tags

So, how do manufacturers recognize similar products/baskets from others? This is where metal tags come of use. Using metal tags, it becomes easy for basket users to identify one basket from other especially when they look similar to each other.

Why Should You Make Use of Laser Cut Parts?

The first and the biggest reason as to why you should use laser cut parts is that the parts get a professional finish. They don’t look like the operators have made them using mechanical stress. Not just that, the heat zone of the cut metal also looks quite small and cut metal piece looks as good as a new one. Also, when you do not expose the workpiece to heat, it keeps the property of the metal intact and minimizes the waste.

Some modern manufacturing shops need CNC punches when it comes to producing metal parts. At times, it is possible to create products like bent sheet metal perfectly by using CNC punch machines. It also helps with producing metal sheets rapidly.

Do you want to know more about laser metal cutting and Mitsubishi laser parts? Feel free to ask us. You can also read about sheet metal fabrication in detail and find out more about it.