A CNC laser machine is a versatile high-tech equipment that works with a very large list of materials and practically independently performs their cutting, engraving and some other operations.
The only tool that a laser engraving machine uses in its work is a laser beam focused by a lens into a tiny point on the surface of the material.
Features of laser cutting machines
As laser technologies improve and ways are found to simplify machines that operate on this principle, their cost decreases, and this does not affect the quality of the equipment. Ten years ago , laser machine manufacturers could only dream of laser cutters, but now it can even be found in a private home workshop, not to mention large industrial enterprises. Such prevalence and popularity is explained by the many advantages of lasers over other machines, for example:
- very high speed of movement of the beam (for cutting the limit is 500 mm / s, for engraving it reaches 700 mm / s) and, accordingly, higher production rates;
- the positioning accuracy of the beam on the plane is so high that deviations cannot be seen with the naked eye. The error does not exceed 0.01 mm, therefore, all serial products cut on a laser machine are completely identical;
- the range of materials that a laser engraving machine can work with includes everything used in the production of goods people need, from paper and fur to metals and wood;
- the laser beam is the thinnest cutting tool available today. With the help of a focusing lens, it can be narrowed down to a diameter of 0.1-0.01 mm. With such parameters, it is not a problem for him to carefully cut out end-to-end blanks, sharp corners on miniature elements of patterns, or reproduce in detail the fur of an animal when engraving;
- the principle of operation of a laser tool is to burn through the material at the point of impact and, as such, there is no physical force in this process, so there is no need to press and hold the workpieces during cutting and engraving. This eliminates the cost of purchasing various fastening clamps and time losses for their installation;
- the surface in the cut zone is not exposed to any influences, including thermal, despite the very high temperature of the beam, therefore, defects in the form of swelling, scratches, cracks, etc. are excluded;
- minimal waste of material due to the fact that all workpieces can be placed close to each other.
Working on a CNC machine
Since all laser equipment functions with the help of electronic components, commands to which are given by a computer program, the work at such machines begins not at the desktop, but at the computer. Regardless of what operation you plan to perform (engraving, cutting, marking, etc.), you must first create a model of the workpiece or product in digital format in any of the graphic editors, for example, CorelDraw. In addition to the actual contours, it also indicates the type of material with which the machine will work, and its thickness. The finished drawing is saved in one of the formats that the machine can read.
A sketch of the future plywood hanger, created in CorelDraw
Before importing a file into the machine system, you should prepare the device for operation: make sure the optics are clean, spread the material on the table surface, turn on the equipment. While the device is warming up, run the included machine control program and load the model saved on the computer into it.
The setup menu may differ from program to program, but the preselection of the unit of measurement, entry point, cutting width, type of operation (“vector” for cutting and “raster” for engraving), beam power and speed of movement will be common for all machines. After that, you need to check the focus and set the height of the laser head to the desired level.
After making sure that the ventilation and water cooling system is working correctly, you can press the start button, and then wait for the end of the program cycle.
