Furniture By Johanne Saxner

For a clear understanding of laser cutting machine fundamentals one must learn that there are three different styles of laser cutting machine: Moving material, Flying Optics and Hybrid systems. These can be defined by the way in which a laser is moved over the construction material. The axes of motion are named the X axis and Y axis. If the cutting head can be adjusted (ie. raised and lowered) it is often designated the Z-axis. The most distinctive characteristic of flying optic lasers is the fixed table on which materials are placed. This provides a number of advantages. The laser will move over the work piece along both the X and Y axes. This means that flying optic cutters can hold the target material still during the cutting process, and often don’t require the material to be fixed. The moving mass is constant, so cutting is not affected by varying size and thickness of the material, unlike with moving material lasers. These types of laser cutting machine are the fastest of all 3 and have higher accelerations and top speeds than hybrid or moving material laser cutting machines. Moving material lasers have a fixed laser and mobile table beneath it for moving the material beneath it. This creates a constant distance between the laser and the work piece is maintained at all times and a single point from which cutting slag or ejecta can be removed. The benefit with these machines is that they requires fewer optics. The disadvantage is that the weight of the workpiece is determined by the what the table can handle. As a result of the machine having to be continually loaded and unloaded one piece at a time and because they are limited by weight machines are typically the slowest of the three. Hybrid laser cutting machines are a combination between flying head and stationary head laser cutters. The table runs in one axis and the head moves along another. The advantage hybrid cutting machines have over flying optics laser cutters is that they deliver an uninterupted beam delivery path and also a less complicated beam delivery method. This also makes hybrid laser cutters more energy efficientthan flying optics lasers. Pulsed lasers are great for piercing jobs and for cutting holes. They have an advantage when it comes to dealing with thinner or more fragile material also since they do not provide a constant beam which might overheat and possibly melt the work piece. Many industrial lasers have the ability to both pulse or cut using a sustained beam – ordinarily called CW cutting. For better quality when cutting holes, double pulse lasers can also be used. These are a series of pulse pairs that can be used to increase material removal rate. This strategy is pretty straight forward; the first pulse removes material from the surface and the second keeps the ejecta or “slag” from bonding to the area of the hole or cut. Yet again, the benefit is a cleaner material surface. The outstanding quality of laser cut materials far exceeds those cut by conventional methods. This is because the beam provides a clean cut surface. The use of any of these machines facilitates more accurately cut parts in a shorter amount of time than with orthodox cutting methods. Marc Anderes is the Vice President of Operations of Maloya Laser which specializes in Metal Manufacturing and Laser Cutting with advanced laser technologies, servicing aerospace, scientific, transportation, medical and machinery needs.