On our first laser with a 120" bed we cut parts that were 16' long but it had an open bed. If you have an open bed I can tell you what to do it's real easy and it works good.
Our shuttle table is 120" but the bed is open for another 2 or 3 feet. You must have to disable some parameter because if we try and go more than 121" we get an overtravel.
You have to make 2 programs for cutting a part over 120" long. Say it's 140" you can make the first one to cut 20" of it. After you run the first program you have to manually reposition the sheet to cut the second program but you have to do several things first.
@striker123000..try using 3 programs...1 for the first half...then marking few lines for reference and then again another program for cutting the second half. Marking small portions of the lines helps you to position the sheet and laser head properly...I've cut like this in smaller Amada laser machines..
We would cut a strip around 60”x2” to use as a repositioning guide. We cut 2 holes in the guide after it was clamped in and used them for locating the sheet. When you put the sheet on the laser bed you would cut 4 holes, the first 2 would fit over the holes in the guide so you can pin it in place. At this time you would cut the first program of the part. Now move the sheet to the second set of holes and pin it in place and cut the second half of the part. The distance between the two set of holes is the distance you need to reposition.
I like the pinning idea. Will def check into that. The etching method we did with our old laser and was our 1st idea for this one. I know we could do it with the etching method but I'm wondering if the pin method is more accurate. Thanks for the ideas.
I don't know if it would work, But what if you had a G121 to scan the position for the first program and then moved the sheet, then did a G121 for the second program on the portion that's too long. It might get you to within +/- 0.005".
I haven't looked at the programming manual in a while. Popular convention is to scan once in the x, for 1" to the edge, x=0 then two along the y. I think its possible to scan the edge closest to the laser cabinet and then two scans on the y.
I think its possible to cut in the x area greater than 120.8661" but it would burn the tubing on then end of the shuttle table, It would probably burn the little deck area after the shuttle table and before the laser cabinet, and there wouldn't be any dust / smoke collection in that zone either.
Next time I am on a machine like that, I'll look at the parameters and see how tricky it would be.
The problem you have with some tubes is the rounded edges because the edge detect program will follow the edge down and alarm out. You have room past the 60 x 120 corner to let the sheet hang but in the front you are limited because of the safety door.
Ya, the end of the table would be a problem. You can do about 135" if you put the front of the sheet close to the door then slide it back like jjl1210 said. Any longer and you'd have to let it hang in the back of the laser and spin it between programs.
When you pin the piece you're cutting, I assume you place it on top of the jig. Do you put another piece the same thickness as your jig under the top of the piece you're cutting? Otherwise the piece you're cutting would be slanted on the slats.
We used 10 gauge for the jig and for our pin we used a bolt so you can keep it in place while cutting but use it as a pin not a bolt. Just make sure it's a tight fit and shave down the bolt head because you just want to keep it from falling through. You want to use the same program for the fixture and the first set of holes in the sheet don't change a thing. For the second set of holes use the first program but add the distance of the repo to the Y if you move the sheet forward. If you move the sheet back subtract the distance from the Y.
