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Fiber laser project questions

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Cornbindercole

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Please forgive me if im posting in the wrong area im new here. I am attempting to fit an ipg photonics PLD-30-974 diode to my cnc gasket cutter. I'm curently using a small 15w blue/violet laser and its not powerful enough to cut through the material we need to cut. I have a few quick questions, 1: what are some economical driver recomendations, preferably something operareted by a PWM input like my curent configuration. 2: how can i go about replacing the fiberoptic filament that is glued into this diode i would idealy like to have a screw type conection like an SMA conector. Is there a company that will fit this diode with a conector or will i have to do it myself. I have a decent plan for cooling and power supplies but im open to any and all sugestions there as well. Thank you in advance!
Best,
Cole
 





There are no 15 watt blue/violet laser diodes available anywhere. It is likely a Chinese laser that uses Chinese watts, which are always overly optimistic of their power levels. You need to get the power density higher. That can be done by focusing the beam profile into a smaller spot. You can use any driver that allows a TTL input as that can be used with PWM to vary the power from one moment to the next.
 
Yes, that will work. However, the cost of everything you will need to do it is over $300. It is a bit pricey.
 
You're not going to get power beyond a few watts from a diode... not with a usable beam, anyway. You're going to need to switch to CO2 laser or solid state.
 
Cyparagon said:
You're not going to get power beyond a few watts from a diode... not with a usable beam, anyway. You're going to need to switch to CO2 laser or solid state.
Click to expand...

He will with the PLD-30-974 that he says he has, seeing as it's a 30W fiber coupled diode. :whistle:
 
I dont doubt that my little china blue/violet laser is not really 15w but that is what it was advertised as. Nonetheless no small diode style laser is going to be powerful enough to cut this material no matter how its focused because i tried it on my k40 co2 machine and it just barely cuts it... I do already own the pld-30-974 and i am trying to get the fiber converted to sma conectors so i can change the fiber out to accomidate my 48" square work area. I was told that the driver needs to output a minimum of 10amps to let the pld-30-974 run at its max wattage. So far the most economic driver i was able to find only outputs something like 5.3 amps... Any way i hope that clears things up a bit... Co2 is not an option environment is to dirty for mirrors and the machine is an open frame design its an MPCNC for those interested. Plus i already bought the fiber coupled diode :)
 
Cornbindercole said:
I dont doubt that my little china blue/violet laser is not really 15w but that is what it was advertised as. Nonetheless no small diode style laser is going to be powerful enough to cut this material no matter how its focused because i tried it on my k40 co2 machine and it just barely cuts it... I do already own the pld-30-974 and i am trying to get the fiber converted to sma conectors so i can change the fiber out to accomidate my 48" square work area. I was told that the driver needs to output a minimum of 10amps to let the pld-30-974 run at its max wattage. So far the most economic driver i was able to find only outputs something like 5.3 amps... Any way i hope that clears things up a bit... Co2 is not an option environment is to dirty for mirrors and the machine is an open frame design its an MPCNC for those interested. Plus i already bought the fiber coupled diode :)
Click to expand...


If you're having trouble with a K40 you'll probably have trouble with this diode, the K40s run at 40W, this diode is 30W. Unless the material you're trying to cut is much more absorbent at 974nm than it is at 10.6um. Further, dirt is still an issue for a fiber coupled laser. Dirt on the end of the fiber whilst powered up will burn the fiber.
 
The material is called garlock it is a very heavy duty gasket material... And yes im aware that this laser is only 30w but im anticipating it will out perform the k40 mostly because this machine will have air asisst. Its not an filth hole of a shop but it will have ambient dust plus i dont think the shop gorillas will be able to keep their hands off finely tuned mirrors that go along with co2 machines... Settup of this fiber laser seemed more compatible with the machine and the area i have avalible as well...
 
Sometimes the solution to cutting a material is not a laser. From the way you describe this "heavy duty gasket" material, the solution to your problem might be something else. I have concerns that the 100 watt CO2 laser RedCowboy referenced wouldn't do what you are trying to accomplish here.
 
Depends paul, on what gasket material he wants to cut, although some of this looks pretty tough.



https://www.garlock.com/en



A high pressure water jet would cut about anything, but they are not cheap.


 
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Haha yeah waterjet is not an option... The k40 will cut it its just not a cake walk i thi k that this fiber laser with air assist will have no problems making it through most of the gasket material we are trying to cut... I was considering a drag knife but the machine is problably not rigid enough... I was also thinking rotary tool but i would kinda like to stay away from that if possible... Plus i already bought the fiber coupled diode
 
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