Re: (was cutting fabric ? now LASERs

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, "turbulatordude"
<dave_mucha@...> wrote:

>
> I think one of the things that has kept me from looking too hard
> (besides price) is that as I understand, they have a finite life and
> there is no way to tell if there is an hour left or 10,000 hours.

The power decreases with the age for a sealed laser, my 50W still
kicks out about 80W so I am assuming it has not seen much action.
Something like a synrad is a good bet because they are rated for
45,000 hours anyway. That's about 5 years 24 hours a day.

> as for cutting, speed is not an issue. can I expect that a 10watt
> will cut pretty much any fabric up to heavy denim, but that more >
>watts just means a faster cut ?

Too slow and things do burn, best to check with a laser manufacturer,
they tend to leave the 10W ones for marking use my guess is that
fabrics will be OK, leather perhaps not.

Another cool use for a laser on fabric is marking, you can defluff
fleeces, creating logos or even put photographic images in denim.

If you can find a 20/25W synrad you are laughing, air cooled and last
a long time. If you have a moving bed then you only need one mirror
and a lens although a beam expander is a good idea.

Graham