Selection of laser cutting machines for plywood

Foreign and Russian industry produces a lot of all kinds of equipment designed for cutting and processing wood blanks (including plywood). The most innovative solutions involve the use of the latest laser machines for such tasks.

One of these devices is a laser cutter for wood - in addition to its basic function, it can perform many other operations. This makes it possible to rank it among the multifunctional samples of woodworking equipment.

Today's laser machines with numerical software successfully process workpieces from any material (glass, polymer, paper, plastic, stone, wood, steel, rubber, and so on). However, despite the impressive versatility, any modification (or line of models) has its own direction.

• Desktop laser engraving machines. In the majority of small dimensions, they do not need installation in a specialized room (suitable for office and even for home - when there is such a need). The engravers are equipped with a good optical system, only its power is relatively low. And yet the engraver can carry out engraving of good quality (drawing three-dimensional and planar patterns on a plane) and, of course, a through cut of workpieces of insignificant thickness from most materials (except for steel), only slightly yielding in the productivity of cutting and cutting to other modifications of laser machines.

• Laser cutters They are produced both in a desktop version and for installation flush with the floor surface and are represented by a very rich variety of sizes of work tables - from 0.5 to 1.5–2 m. The machines are intended for installation in a specialized room and are intended for intense work in industrial conditions ... All units have a one-piece housing that guarantees the stability of the device and efficiently dampens mechanical vibrations that occur during operation. The main purpose of such samples is cutting and cutting materials (including large-format ones) and high-quality engraving on workpieces. Laser machines have a special design, which increases the productivity and quality of processing. For example, there is a simultaneous installation of 2 laser emitters (or CO2 tubes) for simultaneous processing of 2 parts or placement of a laser emitter on a moving portal in order to eliminate the loss of part of the beam energy when it is scattered "along the way" to the CO2 tube, and so on.

• Small-sized laser coders are intended for high-quality drawing at high speed. Markers can put an image on three-dimensional products (pens, pendants, jewelry items, etc.), at the same time, even small elements of the ornament come out distinct, and the image itself is durable.

This is achieved due to the special structure of the optical system of the coder. Some lenses can move mutually, as a result of which the laser beam formed by the CO2 tube appears in a 2-dimensional plane and is sent to any point on the workpiece at the required angle. At the same time, the head of the tube directs the beam not with a flat lens, but with a specialized lens that maintains the stability of the laser under various operating conditions.

Many companies are engaged in the production of such machines and parts for them. They can all be subdivided into 3 broad categories.

This includes factories located in Japan, America, Taiwan and European countries. The list of especially recognizable brands includes: Farley Laserlab (America), Trotec (Austria), GCC (Taiwan), Schuler (Germany), EuroLaser (Germany), LaserStar Technologies (Iceland-America).

The products of these companies are characterized by ideal parts and assembly quality, good productivity and durability. Tubes with an active gas, as a rule, are made of ceramics or are enclosed in an iron shell, and the period of their operation can reach 100 thousand hours. Not every enterprise can afford this equipment, since the price is quite high.

The reputation of products made in China is not the best, only such views are not completely impartial. Large manufacturers are trying to enter the world market and take a strong place in it, in this regard, they invest all their efforts and resources in the development of laser technologies, their practical application in their own products and strict quality control at every stage of production. Laser machines of such brands as HSG LASER, WATTSAN, Raylogic, KING Rabbit, HGLASER are distinguished by very high performance parameters, a small volume of product returns under warranty and are quite lively competitors to expensive brands. Actually, luxury equipment from China takes first place in the ranking of the most purchased machine tools, since the price and quality have an acceptable ratio.

They are produced by those factories from the Middle Kingdom, because of which the products of this country have become a model of poor quality. Usually, the assembly of such machines is done in a hurry, and the parts a priori may be inoperative. The names of the models are either not given at all, or they are selected as much as possible in tune with the promoted brands, counting on the carelessness of consumers or their poor awareness of this issue. Most of them are highly inexpensive machines with low beam quality and unreliable laser emitters.

In fact, it is almost impossible to choose the best model specifically, since the purposes of using the equipment can be different, as well as the budget allocated for the purchase, the planned volumes of manufactured products or the main materials for the work. But a general classification based on manufacturers, sizes and a number of other characteristics can be put together.

So, There are important factors to consider when choosing your cutting equipment.

According to the declared functionality, there is the following division:

• engraving machines with a relatively weak light radiation, sufficient only for performing shallow operations, when changing the settings, entailing an increase in the wavelength, these mini-machines can be used to cut plywood, veneer;
• equipment with a high resource of laser radiation, suitable not only for cutting wood, but also for milling it, it has an engraving option, which is carried out by changing the power of the CO2 laser tube.

Models of laser cutting machines are divided into:

• manually operated machines, which belong to the category of the simplest, cheapest devices, despite this, they allow you to make original products;
• more expensive CNC machines guaranteeing excellent cutting and engraving quality;
• multifunctional machines - this type of equipment combines the potentials of manual and automatic control.

1. A small-sized desktop laser-engraving machine with an insignificant resource up to 80 W, it can be placed in a small workshop or at home. The machine is suitable for making small souvenirs, it is capable of engraving, sawing and cutting thin plywood.
2. A professional laser engraving unit has a resource of 80-195 watts. It is characterized by increased dimensions and is actively used in furniture production and woodworking for the manufacture of mass products and cutting out precise parts.
3. The industrial wood laser machine can cut, sharpen, engrave and perform other operations. It has a decent size and is installed in large woodworking shops.

Manufacturers equip equipment with various options and auxiliary tools to simplify processing.

• Chiller - a device for cooling the CO2 tubes. It is needed in the case of long-term operation of the machine to equalize the temperature of the working elements of the equipment. It functions as an additional shell with a coolant connected to the pump. When the machine is not equipped with this device, purchase it separately.
• Air blowing system of the machine required to lower the temperature of the cut and engraving area in order to prevent excessive burning of the seam.

The choice of a laser unit is determined by the requirements for its functional parameters and potential. For large-scale production, it makes no sense to purchase a miniature bench-type machine, as well as to install a production unit in an apartment.

There are multifunctional samples that can work with metals, wood, PVC and perform various operations: milling, sawing, cutting, engraving. The price of these devices is high, and it makes sense to buy them only for a large enterprise.

When cutting plywood on a laser machine, in order to avoid yellowish plaque along the cutting edge, it is necessary to use a more powerful compressor with an air supply of 1.5-2 atm to the nozzle.

When a cut is required without "shooting" from the back side, the material must be removed (raised) from the working surface by at least 1 centimeter. In this case, the beam will be scattered when "shooting" from the site, as a result of which there will be no traces on the plywood.

Perfectly flat plywood does not exist, any sheet turns out, leads. To prevent the focus of the laser radiation from shifting when cutting uneven material, either practice a long-focus lens, or press the plywood against the table.

The most straightforward method of leveling plywood on the table with preventing "shots" on the back side involves installing Neo magnets on the table, placing a plywood sheet above them and fixing it on top with additional Neo magnets.

When cutting plywood continuously, clean the ventilation grid often, as there is much more soot and burn from plywood glue than from organic glass. Because of this, ventilation clogs up quickly. For the same reason, mirrors and optics also need to be cleaned more often.

If you want to cut thick plywood, but the power of the emitter is not enough for this, then, according to the recommendations of experts, this can be done in two stages. First, you will need to cut without supplying air, otherwise the laser machine will not finish cutting and will simply start setting fire to the plywood, because oxygen promotes combustion. At the second stage, it is necessary to supply air.

The following video explains how to choose a laser machine.