Copper cutting

[Ron Sleeman]

I have a friend that is looking for a laser cutter that will cut copper tubing 2 3/8 OD & .014- .016. thickness

[Dave Sheldrake]

0.5mm copper

1,000 watt CO2 or 600 watt Fiber

cheers

Dave

[Dan Hintz]

0.5mm copper

1,000 watt CO2 or 600 watt Fiber

To expand on Dave's answer... that's a 1um fiber power. If he goes with 532nm, he can get away with less power (but Watt for Watt, he'll pay a LOT less with the 1um).

Either way, this isn't lunch money we're talking about here...

[David Somers]

Any chance a hack saw would work? <grin> Not nearly as much fun, but perhaps more cost effective?

Dave

[Bruce Boone]

I haven't tried cutting copper with my 4500 watt fiber, but I've been warned by the manufacturer to go full power or go home. It will seriously damage the fiber if it reflects. Always start off with way too much power then back off. It's not worth the risk for such an expensive machine for me. I have done silver which CO2 laser has a hard time with and that was pretty difficult to get a good cut from.

Thinking about it, I do use a 1/4" copper welding tip to stop the laser beam from going through both sides of a ring when cutting it on a rotary axis. The beam is a bit out of focus by then, so it generally doesn't eat the copper much by then. It will get the copper glowing red hot though. It's an extremely hard thing to cut since it reflects infrared well and pulls heat away so fast.

[ray hampton]

I want to know how you can cut a round tube or pipe on a laser , do the laser turn the tube as it are cutting it ?

[Bruce Boone]

Yes, it takes a rotary axis, You can either grip the tube at one end and have a tailstock if the part is pretty long, or use a rotary axis that allows the tube to go through the rotary axis side and stick out only enough to do your cut.

[ray hampton]

Yes, it takes a rotary axis, You can either grip the tube at one end and have a tailstock if the part is pretty long, or use a rotary axis that allows the tube to go through the rotary axis side and stick out only enough to do your cut.

thank you ,Boone