Fiber Laser Build

[Nidalap]

Hi,

I'm looking for a low powered fiber laser to attach to my CNC machine. Does anyone know any manufacturers of just the laser unit? I found some JSDU 2-5W units on ebay, but JSDU doesn't exist anymore and I don't want to buy something that I'll need to redesign if it breaks. Having said that, as long as I don't short circuit it with my shoddy electronics, I'm hearing that fiber lasers last 25,000h but then that's probably the top of the line units (but maybe it's not such a bad idea to get one of these obsolete units). Anyway, does anyone have any suggestions as to where I should be looking? I'm looking for lasers that are less than 100w.

 

[MacGyverS2000]

Alibaba... plenty of Chinese shops willing to part with 20-30W fiber sources for a few thousand $s, $4-6k if you want a full stand-alone setup with optics and all.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[IRstuff]

Heat and basic power are the two biggest enemies of any electronic or electro-optical system. Keep the pulse rate and the operating power low.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

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[Nidalap]

Unfortunately, their work areas are too small, so they are of little use to me. The larger work area ones are too expensive, so ideally I'm looking to jerry-rig a laser to my CNC machine. I don't really care how quickly I'm able to engrave as long as it gets done... eventually and to a reasonable level of quality i.e. the laser needs to be somewhat precise. I spent some time on Alibaba, but couldn't find stand alone lasers, digging around google and emailing a few companies has also resulted in no leads. Alibaba apparently no longer has a sort by price option, so it seems it's now necessary to go through hundreds of pages manually... no thanks.

 

[MacGyverS2000]

As I said, expect to spend in the $5k area for a Chinese fiber system. Take out the source and mount the fiber to your gantry. Done.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com

 

[Nidalap]

That's actually a good idea, frankenstein something, why not after all! Thanks.

 

[Nidalap]

Does anyone know what is the optimal wavelength for ?'vaporising'? copper and aluminium? I've found graphs like the one attached, but all the graphs I've seen are cut off where things get interesting.

 

[MacGyverS2000]

That graph shows you all you need to know. A typical 1.06um fiber will work for Al, but it will be quite inefficient. WAY worse for copper. For copper, you really want to be in the green laser zone, but a standard fiber will cut through thin sheets with a slow enough pass.

Dan - Owner

http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com