Question on using polarized beamsplitter/combiner

im not at all set on using CO2 either, it just seamed at the time the most reasonable way to go. I fully expect to pay 1,000's just to build the laser portion of this machine.

mikedixon243 said:

well sls uses liquid polymers that solidify when exposed to the laser. in this machine it just uses the laser to weld/fuse the powdered metals. so i figured a laser that is strong enough to weld, could be fitted using mirrors to an existing CNC, and then threw the magic of code we could "print"

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No, SLS is functionally the same whether you're using metals or polymers.

There's a little more to it than firing a laser at some metal powder...

Not to mention with 10-25 stacked beams, at 10.6µm, your spot diameter is going to be relatively large compared to any commercial product, resulting in lower tolerances and less details.

Start with plastic SLS, move up from there. You can't just jump in to this sort of thing. Just the learning curve going from a 5W visible laser to a 400W-1kW invisible laser is huge. Never mind the leaps in technology and understanding you need...

Perhaps talk to VDX here - he has some experience in this field: https://www.photonlexicon.com/forum...aser-ablating-and-marking?p=337037#post337037

Also, of note, you can't use glass PBS cubing because it is opaque to CO2 lasers.

well crap. looks like that dream is shot down until i get a bit more knowledgable on the correct laser that is needed. thanks for all the good info though!

paul1598419 said:

Also, of note, you can't use glass PBS cubing because it is opaque to CO2 lasers.

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Yup, already mentioned, you can get ZnSe PBS plates but they're not particularly cheap... IIRC NaCl is also transparent at 10.6µm...

That is true, diachi. However, I don't believe they make a PBS out of NaCl.

paul1598419 said:

That is true, diachi. However, I don't believe they make a PBS out of NaCl.

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No, not as far as I'm aware, but you could DIY some of your own NaCl optics! Not necessarily PBS plates, but other more simple optics.

I know. I've seen it done. It is pretty fascinating that salt is so transparent to far IR.