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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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Most industrial laser processes involve cutting, marking, drilling, or welding various steel or plastic materials. However, products manufactured from wood are also ideal candidates for CO2 laser processing. These processes include creating complex hardwood puzzle pieces, precisely grooving birch or maple dieboard for die cutting operations, and cutting out the intricate balsa wood components used in model kits. Because laser cutting wood is a chemical degradation process (where the wood fiber is burned away and removed from the cut area by pressurized assist gas), cut edges are usually charred at the surface, but little to no discoloration is seen on adjoining faces. The largest problem when cutting wood by any method is moisture content and density—dry, lightweight woods cut easily while dense or moisture-laden woods cut more slowly. For laser cutting operations, consistent storage conditions and moisture control procedures are crucial to obtaining repeatable results. |
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Using 400 watts of power, we cut out the pattern shown at a rate of 2.16 meters per minute (85 in/min) in a cycle time of 29 seconds. Although the laser-cut tooth faces exhibit some surface charring, both top and bottom surfaces are clean and free of discoloration.
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Many opportunities exist for marking contrasting text and graphics on plastic materials with CO2 lasers. Common industrial and commercial uses include equipment identification or process description tags as well as award and trophy engraving applications. In response to this demand, several plastic manufacturers offer laser-engravable plastics—typically a thin cap sheet bonded to a thicker white or black substrate. The CO2 beam ablates, or removes, the cap sheet producing a clean, contrasting image. For this demonstration, we marked a 1.27 mm (0.05") thick white substrate covered by a black cap sheet measuring 0.051 mm (0.002") thick. This combination provides a nice white mark against a black background. Our marking setup includes a Synrad laser, FH Series marking head (equipped with a 125 mm focusing lens), and our WinMark Pro laser marking software. We began mark file creation by first importing a vector image of a mariner's sextant, which was created in an .HGL (HP Graphics Language) format. Next, we drew a circle, added TrueType® text, and adjusted the text radius to match the circle curvature. Text and circle objects were set to mark using 10 watts of Power with a Velocity of 635 millimeters per second (25 in/sec) at a Resolution of 300. The sextant image was also marked using 10 watts, however Velocity was increased to 813 mm/second (32 in/sec) and Resolution was doubled to 600. |
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Polymethyl methacrylate, more commonly called PMMA or acrylic, is highly resistant to abrasion, weathering, and discoloration. PMMA is crystal clear and actually transmits more light than does glass. As a film, PMMA is often used as a laminated protective covering for other plastic materials and products. In this laser cutting application, we were asked to trim oversized PMMA-based templates to exacting final dimensions. The templates were produced by screen-printing the image of three complete parts on sheets of 312-micron (0.0125”) thick acrylic film covered with a protective backing. Our cutting setup consisted of a Synrad CO2 laser and an FH Series marking head equipped with a 125 mm lens, which provides a 180-micron (0.007”) spot with a 3 mm (0.118”) depth of focus. We imported the full-size CAD template into our WinMark Pro laser marking software using a Vector Import Scale property setting of “One-to-One” (under the Tools menu, go to General Settings…, and then click the Object Defaults tab). On the Marking tab, we set a Power value corresponding to 50 watts, a Velocity of 216 millimeters per second (8.5 inches/second), and a Resolution of 150. To further reduce cycle times, we increased Off Vector Velocity (non-marking scan speed) to 3810 mm/sec (150 in/sec). The cycle time required to cut the outer shape and the inner keypad area is 1.84 seconds per part, which is over three times faster than the customer’s current mechanical cutting method. |
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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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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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