The Laser Cutter
The word LASER is an acronym for “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation” (Collins, 2014). To define this in simpler terms, it is a source of high-intensity radiation produced as a result of stimulated emissions contained within a gaseous medium, the gas being Carbon Dioxide (CO2). The light emitted by a Laser is said to be monochromatic, coherent and in a single wavelength, contradictory to ordinary ‘white’ light. It is this characteristic that makes Laser light an accurate communication device, i.e. Laser pointers for presentations. See Figure 1: Difference between Laser and White light.
The best way of describing what exactly a Laser Cutter does is to compare it to a conventional paper printer. Instead of printing ink the Laser shoots a beam of CO2 that engraves and cuts a wide variety of materials. Laser Cutters were more predominately used in industry for cutting sheet material but have now become redesigned for use within the educational environment and can even be used in office spaces with the correct ventilation installed. The Laser Cutters main selling point is its superiority in accuracy and the fact that a Laser will never become blunt like other cutting materials; essentially it is wear-free. It is described as a “universal and wear-free tool as the Laser beam will never become blunt” (TrotecLaser, 2014).
How does the Laser Cutter work?
“Lasers amplify light by absorbing and radiating energy” (TrotecLaser, 2014). The laser light is focused by means of a lens, similar to that of a flash light. Within the focus of the Laser beam, a high energy density is created which in turn is used for melting the material in use. It is highly comparable to using the ink printer for paper except you ‘print’ on the material of your choice.
The mechanics of the Laser Cutter
The computer is fairly self-explanatory in the nature of what it is/does in layman’s terms but with regards to the Laser Cutter it is the device used to draw up the designs and select the type of Laser Cutting and individual settings the user decides to apply. The control panel is a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screen which is a user interface which links what you have set up (the ‘job’) on the computer to the Laser Cutter.
The table/surface is the part of the machine that supports the work piece. Tables are usually adjustable to accommodate different depths of material and also it acts as an aid to the manual focusing of the Laser beam. In some machines a honeycomb steel bed will be found. This honeycomb grid-like feature allows for a really strong vacuum to be created as a means of holding the work piece. The movement of the table up and down would be referred to as changing its ‘Z’ axis co-ordinates.
The ‘x’ and ’y’ carriages are what move the Laser from left to right (X-axis) and front to back (Y-axis). These carriages are operated by means of pulleys and a motor. It consists simply of bearings which are driven by a motor running on tracks.
Raster & Vector Cutting
There are two methods through which a Laser Cutter cuts/engraves the given material, namely Raster and Vector cutting. It is generally assumed that raster cutting is employed when engraving on a material and vector cutting is employed to cut through a material. Raster is comparable to an ink jet printer. It starts at the top and moves down over the piece while traversing left to right shooting the Laser on the pre-determined areas thus creating an engraved piece.
Vector contrasts to Raster with reference to the length of time the Laser is on. The Laser will start on an area of the job to be cut and remain on, tracing an image around the work piece before switching the Laser off. If the user desires pieces to slot together it is advised that a tolerance of .025mm is accounted for in order to leave a clean line for the Laser to trace. As the Laser beam is rastering it varies the intensity of the beam to produce varying levels of ‘colour/burn’ to the workpiece. This is especially so when rastering images etc…
Extract from Thesis.
The word LASER is an acronym for “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation” (Collins, 2014). To define this in simpler terms, it is a source of high-intensity radiation produced as a result of stimulated emissions contained within a gaseous medium, the gas being Carbon Dioxide (CO2). The light emitted by a Laser is said to be monochromatic, coherent and in a single wavelength, contradictory to ordinary ‘white’ light. It is this characteristic that makes Laser light an accurate communication device, i.e. Laser pointers for presentations. See Figure 1: Difference between Laser and White light.
The best way of describing what exactly a Laser Cutter does is to compare it to a conventional paper printer. Instead of printing ink the Laser shoots a beam of CO2 that engraves and cuts a wide variety of materials. Laser Cutters were more predominately used in industry for cutting sheet material but have now become redesigned for use within the educational environment and can even be used in office spaces with the correct ventilation installed. The Laser Cutters main selling point is its superiority in accuracy and the fact that a Laser will never become blunt like other cutting materials; essentially it is wear-free. It is described as a “universal and wear-free tool as the Laser beam will never become blunt” (TrotecLaser, 2014).
How does the Laser Cutter work?
“Lasers amplify light by absorbing and radiating energy” (TrotecLaser, 2014). The laser light is focused by means of a lens, similar to that of a flash light. Within the focus of the Laser beam, a high energy density is created which in turn is used for melting the material in use. It is highly comparable to using the ink printer for paper except you ‘print’ on the material of your choice.
The mechanics of the Laser Cutter
The computer is fairly self-explanatory in the nature of what it is/does in layman’s terms but with regards to the Laser Cutter it is the device used to draw up the designs and select the type of Laser Cutting and individual settings the user decides to apply. The control panel is a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screen which is a user interface which links what you have set up (the ‘job’) on the computer to the Laser Cutter.
The table/surface is the part of the machine that supports the work piece. Tables are usually adjustable to accommodate different depths of material and also it acts as an aid to the manual focusing of the Laser beam. In some machines a honeycomb steel bed will be found. This honeycomb grid-like feature allows for a really strong vacuum to be created as a means of holding the work piece. The movement of the table up and down would be referred to as changing its ‘Z’ axis co-ordinates.
The ‘x’ and ’y’ carriages are what move the Laser from left to right (X-axis) and front to back (Y-axis). These carriages are operated by means of pulleys and a motor. It consists simply of bearings which are driven by a motor running on tracks.
Raster & Vector Cutting
There are two methods through which a Laser Cutter cuts/engraves the given material, namely Raster and Vector cutting. It is generally assumed that raster cutting is employed when engraving on a material and vector cutting is employed to cut through a material. Raster is comparable to an ink jet printer. It starts at the top and moves down over the piece while traversing left to right shooting the Laser on the pre-determined areas thus creating an engraved piece.
Vector contrasts to Raster with reference to the length of time the Laser is on. The Laser will start on an area of the job to be cut and remain on, tracing an image around the work piece before switching the Laser off. If the user desires pieces to slot together it is advised that a tolerance of .025mm is accounted for in order to leave a clean line for the Laser to trace. As the Laser beam is rastering it varies the intensity of the beam to produce varying levels of ‘colour/burn’ to the workpiece. This is especially so when rastering images etc…
Extract from Thesis.