Speed & Power

[trwalters001]

Hi All,

I'm trying to learn how to set up my machine for different materials. All of the reference literature says things like "20% power and 80% speed", etc.
I understand that factory-built machines are going to be different between each manufacturer and machine size/power. However, I can wrap my head around "50% power" if it's a 40W laser. But - how fast is "20% speed"? It would be great if this was specified in inches per minute (or mm/second).

Is it going to be trial and error to learn the cutting specifics of a new material? I know that there will be some, but inches per minute would give a good starting point...

Tim

[hoda0013]

Do you think it might be valuable to start assembling a 40W 'library' of materials. I realize that every machine and laser is going to be a little different, but maybe we should dedicate a thread to posting power / speed for different materials. We could even crate a test pattern so that we're all running the same part each time. Any thoughts?

[trwalters001]

Hi Dillon,

That's a great idea!

It would also be nice to know what the power of each machine is.

A page or thread could be created that allows each member to list the power of their laser. (Maybe on the map page?)

Tim

[artwood_decor]

Can you somehow count hours of laser tube usage?
That will allow you to adjust based on how old laser is.

[Knack]

If you watched your tube current, you can use that to base you "percentage of full power" based on your laser.

Also, I am surprised that more lasers do not have a Hobbs meter to show "power on laser" time.

Just a thought.

[trwalters001]

Hi Chris,

I don't have a problem with the laser power end of things. I've got an ammeter as well as a laser power meter.

I'm interested in % speed. When Epilog or ULS says "set your laser for 50% power and 20% speed" I can set laser power. But what speed do I set it for?

Tim

[trwalters001]

Bump...

Anyone have any comments on this?

Speed in mm or inches per second instead of a percentage?

Thanks!

Tim

[BenJackson]

The research I did suggested that the "percentage" settings in the Epilog driver were not really percentages at all. The scale is not linear.

I haven't gotten around to calibrating my laser personally (which is really not that difficult: You just make a cut/raster file of various settings and apply it to several materials) because I haven't figured out what I should set for "full power" amperage other than "18-22mA" which is a 20% range!

[bdring]

Professional lasers are design to be used by amateurs. I'll bet they just think inches per minute type numbers would confuse people. It is easier just to say 50%. It works for all unit systems as well. I think 6000W per square millimeter would be more confusing than 50% power too.