Re: CO2 Lasers

Bertho,

About a year ago we saw a very impressive demonstration of just such a system
when visiting the engineering department at Northwestern University in
Evanston.
A cnc laser machine was making 3d models out of successive layers of paper
glued
together. Each sheet of paper ~10 x 12 inches, was picked up in a frame,
shuttled
to a gluing station were a layer of glue was sprayed on the bottom of the
paper.
The paper was then shuttled to the cutting station where a platen which held
a base and previously cut layers of paper for the model was raised until
the base/model touched the glue side of the paper. The xy gantry
laser then moved into position and cut through the single thickness of paper.
The platen then lowered and the waste paper shuttled out
the end of the machine and the cycle started over. The model was built-up
in .003" to .004" layers - each sheet slightly different in contour to create
the third dimension. The whole machine was about the size of a office desk
and was about 4 feet tall. They had finished models of the space shuttle,
a human hand, and 4" sphere with cutouts and internal shapes. The model being
made at the time was a F15 fighter jet. The edges of the models resembled the
grain in wood with a brownish singe caused by the laser. Fun to watch.

Bob

At 10:44 AM 8/7/99 -0400, you wrote:

>From: Bertho Boman <boman@...>
>
>One interesting and sometimes practical application could be to cut out

layers of thin material, plastic or steel and them braze

>or glue them together for prototype 3-D models or even final product

samples. Spackle and paint will do wonders to smooth it

>out.
>
>Bertho Boman