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SYNRAD, INC. - http://www.synrad.com |
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SYNRAD's sealed CO2 lasers are used in a variety of industrial processes including cutting, welding, drilling, and marking. This news brief showcases some of the interesting materials and products that are processed daily by Synrad's line of CO2 lasers and marking heads. |
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Cutting Delrin Templates In many manufacturing processes, templates are often used to properly align components during assembly. In this case, an alignment template was required to position three cylindrical components in a housing. Although only several templates were required by the customer, this application points out the value of using a CO2 laser for rapid prototyping or small production runs. The versatility of CO2 lasers allows them to be economically set up for small jobs, or when developing or prototyping a new project. |
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The template was drawn in a CAD program and then exported as a DXF file to drive an XY table. A sheet of 0.062” thick Delrin® (Acetal Polyoxymethylene) was chosen as the template material due to its material characteristics, which resemble those of brass and aluminum. In addition to its impact resistance and structural strength, Delrin cuts well (vaporized by instantaneous absorption of the CO2 energy) and exhibits no meltback on cut edges. Our beam delivery setup consisted of a 2.5” positive meniscus focusing lens, which provides a 0.004” focused spot and a 0.07” depth of focus. We supplied 20 PSI of nitrogen coaxially with the beam, which serves as a gas assist to force the resulting vapor down through the cut kerf. Using 100 watts of power we cut the 0.062” thick Delrin at a speed of 200 inches per minute. Cycle time to cut the entire template was approximately 8.25 seconds. |
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Engraving Hardwood Marking or engraving wood is another great CO2 laser application. Because cutting occurs through a chemical degradation process where the wood is burned away, marking provides a nicely contrasting mark while engraved depth is controlled by power, velocity, and the number of mark passes. Depending on the application, images and/or text can be burned into a variety of wood-based objects ranging from wine barrels to award plaques. Marking vector or |
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grayscale bitmap images is accomplished by using a Synrad laser, FH Series marking head, and WinMark Pro laser marking software or by purchasing a purpose-built system incorporating a Synrad CO2 laser from a laser engraver manufacturer. The image shown in the photo was engraved into a piece of walnut hardwood using an FH Series marking head driven by WinMark Pro. The marking setup consisted of an FH Head equipped with a 125 mm lens, providing a 0.007” (180 micron) spot size with a 0.118” (3 mm) depth of focus. The encapsulated PostScript (EPS) image was imported into WinMark’s Drawing Editor where text and a border were added. The bridge image was marked using 30 watts of power and a Velocity of 25 inches per second (IPS). Resolution was set to 600 and Mark Passes (to provide engraved depth) was set to 2. For the border, we also used 30 watts, but changed Mark Passes to 3 and reduced Velocity to 15 IPS. The descriptive text was created using WinMark Pro’s built-in European stroke font. Text Height was set to 0.1” and we added 0.015” of Extra Character Spacing. Marking parameters for the text object were set to 30 watts of power at a Velocity of 30 IPS using 3 Mark Passes and 300 Resolution. Using the settings described above, this 3.5-inch by 1.6-inch image was marked in a cycle time of 14.6 seconds. |
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Cutting Rubber Discs This application called for cutting two-inch diameter rubber discs from sheet stock. The sheet comprised a layer of 0.022” thick rubber backed with a 0.0015” thick protective film. We set up our XY beam delivery with a 2.5” positive meniscus lens, which provides a 0.004” (100 micron) spot and a 0.07” (1.8 mm) depth of focus. For gas assist, we used 20 PSI of breathing-grade bottled air. Using 100 watts of power, we achieved cut speeds of 350 inches per minute. The combination of rubber and backing material exhibit cleanly cut edges as seen in the photo. To cut each disc, overall cycle time was approximately 1.08 seconds. |
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Search our online library for more applications of Synrad's sealed CO2 laser technology. Sort by material, process, or industry. |
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Synrad, Inc. 4600 Campus Place Mukilteo, WA 98275 Tel: 1-425-349-3500 Fax: 1-425-349-3667 E-mail: synrad@synrad.com
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Copyright (c) 2005 SYNRAD, Inc. All rights reserved.
SYNRAD and Synrad product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of SYNRAD, Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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