2012/6/20 Jeshua Lacock <jes...@3dtopo.com>: > > My thought was to change the focal point as material is cut. I understand > that these lasers have a very narrow depth of field when focused sharp enough > to cut metal (or even wood). So, lets say my focal length is 0.05 inch, each > pass I could move the focal length 0.05 down. Seems like it would allow me to > cut essentially as thick material as practically needed, provided I did > enough passes. >
It depends on the focus angle. Make the angle smaller and You shall increase the focal length. That is why lasers are pretty limited about the material thickness they can cut. Anyway, I think that You certainly can forget about cutting metal that way - if the material is not pierced through, then there is no way for melted metal to escape the cutting zone, so only way to remove it would be evaporate it, which would make the process very slow, and You most certainly _do not_ want to do that, unless You have very high-tech ventilation&filtration system for the table, because metal vapors are very unhealthy. I do not know if this several passes approach would work for wood. This certainly is the first time I hear about this way, regarding laser cutting. > > True. Seems like Smoldering Dog (sorry I don't see any other name posted) is > having some good success (website is linked from the wiki): > > http://nilno.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi How do You intend to deliver the laser beam from laser diode to cutting head? Mirrors? Fiber optics? I did not see it mentioned in the page You provided. -- Viesturs If you can't fix it, you don't own it. http://www.ifixit.com/Manifesto ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Live Security Virtual Conference Exclusive live event will cover all the ways today's security and threat landscape has changed and how IT managers can respond. Discussions will include endpoint security, mobile security and the latest in malware threats. http://www.accelacomm.com/jaw/sfrnl04242012/114/50122263/ _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
