Soliciting Fiber Power Suggestions

[Jeff Heinrichs]

I have a question about fiber power. I was talking with a laser rep last week and in discussions about laser power he mention that there isn't really a need for more than 30W (e.g. 50W) of power unless you're looking for speed on fiber marking.

I've done a cursory search on this and I haven't found a lot of specific information with regards to this specific topic. I thought I would throw this out for discussion. I had been preparing to pay the price difference and get a 50W laser (approx. +$10K) over the 30W laser, but the rep made sense when it came to the power. He said it wasn't going to change what I could work on, that it would only change the laser time and he asked if it was really worth the additional $10k. In my case the additional $10k for speed alone doesn't justify the need for the speed, unless it's dramatically different.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks...

[Tim Bateson]

As with most questions of this type... The answer depends greatly on how you are planning to use the Fiber Laser - Marking, Etching, Deep engraving....

[Jeff Heinrichs]

Thanks Tim, but it's really open to that as advice to. Since it's a fiber laser and your not generally speaking, able cut metal I would like to solicit what a 50W laser will do over a 30W laser. If you have an opinion on the ability of 50W laser to markedly deep engrave on metal, please share that. According to the rep it sounds like a 50W really won't do ANYTHING different than mark faster than a 30W.

[Gary Hair]

There are two main things that you can do better with a 50 vs 30:
1. Faster in all types of engraving - surface or deep, even staining will be faster.
2. Larger working area - the larger working area you have means you have less power on the outer limits, with a 50 watt you can extend those limits farther and still have plenty of power to get the job done.

If you really want more throughput and you are not needing to work large areas, then you'd be better off with two 30's vs one 50. I'm not sure how much power you would need to run twice as fast as a 30, but it is certainly more than 60, probably more like 80 or 90. For the price of a 90 you could buy 3 or 4 30's.

If you need a larger working area, 175mmx175mm is pretty comfortable for a 30, then you can either choose a 50 (or higher) or a 30 with an X-Y stage. The X-Y stage is probably more versatile and I'm not sure how it would compare to a 50 price wise.

It all comes down to what you want and need. My two 30's are serving me quite well and I don't regret not getting a 50 instead.

[David Somers]

Gary,

I am asking this out of general interest, not because I am about to order a fiber so please ignore me if you dont have time to answer. No worries.

What do you mean when you say an X-Y Stage? Is that a stage that moves automatically? Presumably to allow you to work on a piece that is larger than your fiber's power would normally do? In other words the stage, with the oversized piece on it, moves under your lens to present the entire piece to the efficient area of the fiber beam?

Dave

[Tim Bateson]

I think Gary's comments refer to a galvo type Fiber only. MY Epilog M2 works differently. I do have a 30 & wish I had bought a 50 as I do more deep engraving which takes way too long with the 30. A galvo "would" had been a better option for my type of work.

[David Somers]

Sorry Tim, I did realize Gary meant a Galvo. I was just curious what the term XY stage referred to. Obviously a 50 and a 30 galvo will have a stage or table that you are working on. And you might expect a 50 to have a larger stage since it has enough power to cover a wider area on a state. But it sounded like his reference of an XY stage was referring to something else?

[Kev Williams]

Yolanda at Triumph also tried talking me out of a 30w in favor of saving money on a 20w. But I know my work, any money saved on a 20w would've soon got overrun by the extra time needed for certain jobs.

Case in point: Friday thru Sunday night my fiber generated close to $3000, 2/3 of it from one job. Due to the nature of this particular job, I'd have been looking at several extra hours with a 20w machine. Likewise, a 50w machine would have shortened the work time. However, a second machine would have been no help at all, because of 14 setup changes happening every 15 to 30 seconds or less. Time spent trying to keep up with 2 machines at this rate would've been time wasted. However, it would be NO problem changing setups every 10 to 20 seconds or less

Lest we forget-- Time IS Money

Truth is I could make very good use of a 50w machine, to the point that if I had to choose between a 30 and a 50, or three 30's, I'd probably take the 30 and 50...

But for a first machine, I would suggest that a 30w machine with a 160 lens (what I have) would be a great choice. It's working well, and it's much more fun to need to upgrade than to downgrade

[Gary Hair]

I think Gary's comments refer to a galvo type Fiber only. MY Epilog M2 works differently. I do have a 30 & wish I had bought a 50 as I do more deep engraving which takes way too long with the 30. A galvo "would" had been a better option for my type of work.

Because of the way a gantry works vs galvo, I don't think that 50 watts would get you much more than 30. Power isn't the real issue, it's how the machine works. I would bet that a 50 watt gantry fiber would still be slower than my 30 watt galvo for deep engraving.

[Tim Bateson]

Because of the way a gantry works vs galvo, I don't think that 50 watts would get you much more than 30. Power isn't the real issue, it's how the machine works. I would bet that a 50 watt gantry fiber would still be slower than my 30 watt galvo for deep engraving.

I agree 100%. I've learned a lot since my M2 purchase. If I had it to do over again, & I will soon, I'd absolutely go with a galvo. There is so much difference between both types of Fibers that I totally missed in my research and of-course the sales people made me believe the Fusion M2 could do anything a galvo could.. NOT.

[David Somers]

Thanks for the info Gary! Appreciated!!!!!

Dave

[Rodne Gold]

Use lenses as power moderators

Lenses are cheap . either a 50mm x 50mm or 70x70 for when you need speed and ultimate power density for depth

110mm x 110m , little less power density great all rounder

210 x 210 .. excellent for cutting and engraving rowmark , plastics .. superfast


Combine these lenses with a 30w fiber ...., more or less all you need to cover most bases

[Bill George]

Use lenses as power moderators

Lenses are cheap . either a 50mm x 50mm or 70x70 for when you need speed and ultimate power density for depth

110mm x 110m , little less power density great all rounder

210 x 210 .. excellent for cutting and engraving rowmark , plastics .. superfast


Combine these lenses with a 30w fiber ...., more or less all you need to cover most bases

Ok Rodne what is your secret for Rowmark with the Fiber? I have not tried compressed air blowing on the material to blow away the color dust over the white to see if that helps yet.

[Rodne Gold]

Not all the enraving plastics work , here are the ones that do , I do remember that stuff with a white substrate wasnt too good
http://www.tokerbros.co.za/Engraving...ser-engraving/

I forget the exact settings .. I passed my fibre on to one of my employees after I experimented so dont have them on hand

If its not in that pic gallery , it probably cant be fibre engraved as I tried every colour combo engraving lam we had on hand .. I got great results cutting some of the engraving plastics with the fiber laser .. also works real well with that thin laserlites type material

[Bill George]

Not all the enraving plastics work , here are the ones that do , I do remember that stuff with a white substrate wasnt too good
http://www.tokerbros.co.za/Engraving...ser-engraving/

I forget the exact settings .. I passed my fibre on to one of my employees after I experimented so dont have them on hand

If its not in that pic gallery , it probably cant be fibre engraved as I tried every colour combo engraving lam we had on hand .. I got great results cutting some of the engraving plastics with the fiber laser .. also works real well with that thin laserlites type material

I had a customer for who I used LaserMag for tags. I got that to work on my Fiber and it took a lot of trial and error. She had not ordered for months and since I sold my ULS CO2 I told her to find someone else. But she insisted so I got it done on the Fiber.
I also use the aluminum anodized tags from Chewbarkas they look great for name tags.