Laser Table envy

[HoosierBuddy]

So,

My kid works for a custom engineering/fabrication company as a design engineer. These guys actually let their employees use their tools for take-home projects, as long as it's within reason.

So, he brought me home some 16 GA and 7 GA laser cut flat steel he got out of the scrap bin, as I had told him I could use some sheet steel for welding projects. The 16 GA was about 8" X 24" and had some cuts and holes in it. The 7 GA pieces were much smaller. It was great to get some free steel.

Anyway, looking at these pieces just blew my mind, because of the precision of the cuts. Straight, angled, it makes no difference. It's all perfect. They don't even have to drill holes as a secondary operation. The laser cuts all the holes. My kid says the only secondary operation would be a tapped hole.

So...I look at this 7 gauge and try to picture why anyone would tap it...and a light came on...and I asked "Well how thick will this laser machine cut?"

"Oh...it's limited to 1-inch on steel", he says. "And our sheets are only 4-feet by 10-feet, so you have to keep that in mind too."

Holy hell. What a toy!

You can even turn down the laser and use it to engrave if you want to, to put part numbers on the pieces or mark it "This side up" or whatever to help the assemblers.

My first job out of college was in the tool and die shop of an automotive facility. We had some cool tools...but we didn't have sharks with freaking laser beams. Envious!

Phil

 

[paranoid56]

yea the new laser machines are awesome. i get a bunch of parts laser cut and etched.

 

[4 FN 27]

We have 6 of those bad boys running...

2 8000 Watt Fiber Lasers
1 4000 Watt Fiber Laser
2 2500 Watt CO2 Lasers
1 1500 Watt CO2 Laser

The top 3 run in 2 FMS Systems 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Fill the magazine, set-up the programs, hit the start button, turn the lights out and go home.

Come back every 24 hours or so and reload the Magazines.

Tell your son if he would like to move to Minnesota we are hiring!!! We will put him on the career path of his choosing. Clean bright wide open shop with 97 employees right now. Need about 25 more in the next 2 years.

All of the latest high tech Fabrication Equipment...and Air Conditioned.

 

[bdbecker]

I'm the age where I cut my teeth in manufacturing running sheers and iron workers (along with saws and press brakes). The company I work at now doesn't even have a sheer, and there's only one ironworker that sits idle 99.9% of the time. Instead, we've got 17 lasers in our shop, mostly CO2 but we have started replacing some of the older equipment with fiber. It has not only changed how parts are made, but also how they are designed. You see a lot more tab-and-slot being incorporated into products because it takes only seconds to cut, but saves so much time on the back end fitting parts together.

Do a youtube search for "tube laser". Pretty neat stuff...

 

[rsanter]

Laser machines are great
The only thing better I think are the water jets

I just bought a plasma table with 1/2 “ capacity. I’m totally itching to use it

 

[kazlx]

One of these days lasers will be garage level equipment taking the place that plasmas have now...

 

[paranoid56]

One of these days lasers will be garage level equipment taking the place that plasmas have now...

thats what i want. but they do make some smaller 4x2 machines that can cut steel, just not yet in my price range lol

 

[kazlx]

Laser machines are great
The only thing better I think are the water jets

I just bought a plasma table with 1/2 “ capacity. I’m totally itching to use it

They are good for different things. Laser is hard to beat on speed and accuracy for materials that are in its capacity. Plus don’t have to worry about your steel parts rusting. That’s one of the things that always drove me nuts about the water table with the plasma.

 

[Bigblue&Goldie]

We have 6 of those bad boys running...

2 8000 Watt Fiber Lasers
1 4000 Watt Fiber Laser
2 2500 Watt CO2 Lasers
1 1500 Watt CO2 Laser

Pat, can you give us a feel for the capacities of these machines?

 

[4 FN 27]

Pat, can you give us a feel for the capacities of these machines?

2 8000 Watt Fiber Lasers: 1 Inch Mild Steel, 5/8 Stainless, 1/2 Aluminum
1 4000 Watt Fiber Laser: 1 Inch Mild Steel, 1/2 Stainless, 3/8 Aluminum
2 2500 Watt CO2 Lasers: 3/8 Mild Steel, 1/4 Stainless, 3/16 Aluminum
1 1500 Watt CO2 Laser: 3/8 Mild Steel, 3/8 Stainless, 5/32 Aluminum

The CO2's are limited by Clamping thickness. The Clamp only open to 3/8. They are call "Sheet Draggers". Not a very popular machine any more but they are great for the fixture type work we do.

We will take a blank with an emboss in it from the Turret Press or a temp tool putting the emboss in the part first in a Press Brake, then use tool registration holes and mount the part to a fixture in the clamps and laser cut the balance of the part.

In the pics below the first 2 pics shows holes being added to Knives for in store displays. Store policies say the Knifes must be pinned in the block. We do hundreds of thousands of these. We use to do them using a Uni-Punch in Press Brake but because some of the blades are hard some of the knives would shatter and we were going through tooling like crazy. I came up with the idea...the guys in the shop thought I was crazy. I designed it, we tried it and they basically increase throughput by 4 times. Way faster than a Uni-Punch and no broken knives or tooling.

Next pic is a Hinge Fixture and a Tube Fixture. My Laser Operator came up with the Hinge Fixture idea 25+ years ago. He has been running Lasers for us since 1979 at my Dad's old shop. I made the Tubing Fixture back in 2000. Got tire of drilling holes.

We make other fixtures for adding cutouts In preformed parts.

The little "L" Bracket the slot is +/-.001 and it is so close to the bend-line it has to be added after forming. Way faster than Machining.

The Cup is another one we fixture. We have to hold +/-.003 on location and +.001/-.000 on 1 of the holes sizes.

My Laser guru made me a part once that had .017 dia holes on .023 centers perf pattern in it. It will be a sad day when he retires. He is a master of his craft.

The big Laser houses can keep their very competitive, low margin, commoditized flat work. I want the stuff nobody else wants to take on.

 

[4 FN 27]

Laser machines are great
The only thing better I think are the water jets

I just bought a plasma table with 1/2 “ capacity. I’m totally itching to use it

One of these days lasers will be garage level equipment taking the place that plasmas have now...

They are good for different things. Laser is hard to beat on speed and accuracy for materials that are in its capacity. Plus don’t have to worry about your steel parts rusting. That’s one of the things that always drove me nuts about the water table with the plasma.

I not to sure the "home " use will see a Laser anytime soon. The only real maintenance free approach is Fiber. Homeland Security is nosing into the Laser area. We are hearing of it and it is not far fetched. They already regulate our Bulk Oxygen and Nitrogen via a Tier II Audit report yearly. Not to big of deal right now but time will tell how far they will take it.

The other thing is the assist gas. You can get by on shop air assist but that really limits the capability of the machines and you edge quality goes away. Having 250 lbs Liquid Cylinders will work but you need to use them daily or they will bleed off. Leasing or owning 6 Pack of Nitrogen or Oxygen is a space **** and a logistics nightmare unless you have a dock. Nitrogen Generators are expensive and costly to operate.

I looked at taking one of our old 2000 Watt Machines home we traded in 3 years ago. Because of the fore mentioned reason I settle on a Plasma with 1 inch capability. I did not like it at all. For me it was a major step backwards.

About a month ago I installed an OMax 5555 Water Jet in the home shop. I couldn't be happier. I don't care for the mess (actually it splashes just a little bit) but I am an OCD freak. The Machine can sit for weeks without use. There are no optics and the consumables are relatively cheap compared to Lasers but more than Plasma. And I can run off Shop Air.

WD-40 has become my best friend...and a dehumidifier.

If it does become affordable to have a Fiber Laser at home...I will have one...that I promise you.

View media item 86520
Here is a link to my Water Jet goings on...

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=398490