Potential DIY-ish Fiber Laser Cutter

[absolom7691]

Probably looking for a response from VDX more than anyone due to his extensive high power DYI projects but I will gladly take advice from anyone. I have been looking to procure or build a 1kw fiber CNC cutter for a while now. I love my 80W co2 cutter but the obvious limitation is the ability to cut metal. I find that the fiber laser cutters on AliExpress are pretty decently priced and I would grab one in a heartbeat but I run into the problem of physical size. For my home projects and small stuff I do at home, I don't need a huge honking industrial sized machine. Those 1kw+ machines are massive. I have been looking at the Wazer waterjet but, the work area is too small, there is no passthrough option, and I don't want to clean up garnet slurry. I have also been looking at the Langmuir CNC plasma system because it's the right size but the kerf of a plasma torch is pretty damn big and cleaning up excessive dross looks like a pain in the ass.

Keeping the Langmuir system in mind, the size is just right, it will fit in my garage and has a large enough work area to meet all my needs. Seeing as that the Crossfire Pro model has a Z axis which can be set in-software, I was wondering about the feasibility of modifying it to use a fiber laser head instead of a plasma torch. The Langmuir system basically triggers the plasma torch with a simple relay across the trigger switch in the torch handle. I figure with a fiber laser, I could set the power of the fiber laser as needed for the material I am cutting and trigger the laser as the machine would a torch. The cut speed and everything else would obviously be trial and error but I had to learn that with my co2 cutter as well.

The advice I am looking for is, the feasibility of using a fiber laser head in place of a plasma torch, where to procure a decent(enough) fiber laser head (though I have a feeling I will be back to AliExpress for that), and what kind of cost I am looking at for a fiber laser system along with shield gas. Also, I would opt to go with the pre designed CNC table because I don't really have any experience with home brew CNC and wouldn't even know where to begin with designing and building my own CNC table. I'm not really looking for cost effective per se, I am just looking for a fiber laser cutter that won't fill my entire garage!

[swamidog]

this is a good starting point:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-eVTnO0tFM

Probably looking for a response from VDX more than anyone due to his extensive high power DYI projects but I will gladly take advice from anyone. I have been looking to procure or build a 1kw fiber CNC cutter for a while now. I love my 80W co2 cutter but the obvious limitation is the ability to cut metal. I find that the fiber laser cutters on AliExpress are pretty decently priced and I would grab one in a heartbeat but I run into the problem of physical size. For my home projects and small stuff I do at home, I don't need a huge honking industrial sized machine. Those 1kw+ machines are massive. I have been looking at the Wazer waterjet but, the work area is too small, there is no passthrough option, and I don't want to clean up garnet slurry. I have also been looking at the Langmuir CNC plasma system because it's the right size but the kerf of a plasma torch is pretty damn big and cleaning up excessive dross looks like a pain in the ass.

Keeping the Langmuir system in mind, the size is just right, it will fit in my garage and has a large enough work area to meet all my needs. Seeing as that the Crossfire Pro model has a Z axis which can be set in-software, I was wondering about the feasibility of modifying it to use a fiber laser head instead of a plasma torch. The Langmuir system basically triggers the plasma torch with a simple relay across the trigger switch in the torch handle. I figure with a fiber laser, I could set the power of the fiber laser as needed for the material I am cutting and trigger the laser as the machine would a torch. The cut speed and everything else would obviously be trial and error but I had to learn that with my co2 cutter as well.

The advice I am looking for is, the feasibility of using a fiber laser head in place of a plasma torch, where to procure a decent(enough) fiber laser head (though I have a feeling I will be back to AliExpress for that), and what kind of cost I am looking at for a fiber laser system along with shield gas. Also, I would opt to go with the pre designed CNC table because I don't really have any experience with home brew CNC and wouldn't even know where to begin with designing and building my own CNC table. I'm not really looking for cost effective per se, I am just looking for a fiber laser cutter that won't fill my entire garage!

[absolom7691]

this is a good starting point:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-eVTnO0tFM

Bang on. Thanks, Chris. Checking it out now.

[swamidog]

Bang on. Thanks, Chris. Checking it out now.

it's on my to-do list!

[VDX]

... 1 to 2 mm metal sheets can be cut with the more powerful IR-pumping-diodes (salvaged of this type of wrecked fiber-lasers) too - here a video from a friend, who combined two of the 200W-diodes on a spot with around 0,3mm:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu0Pr4DXBkY

- here cutting 2mm steel sheet - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJvblAwxuEo


When I've started with this 200W-diodes, they were sold at ebay for 400€ to 300€ ... I've found some nearly identical built 135W-diodes much cheaper ... and there are similar too types with 270W and recently 310W.

I'm simply remove the fiber dock and internal focussing lens and place an external 50mm-FL-lens to get them usable in the same manor, as the smaller diode modules with blue diodes.

They need voltages of 12V to 15V an, depending on type, currents of up to 30A to 43A max.

Controlling/driving is as simple as applying PWM or pulses to a constant current driver as input, which then will power the diodes with the CC.


If you want to see the diodes innards -- here one of my German threads about them - https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?414,849307

Viktor

[absolom7691]

... 1 to 2 mm metal sheets can be cut with the more powerful IR-pumping-diodes (salvaged of this type of wrecked fiber-lasers) too - here a video from a friend, who combined two of the 200W-diodes on a spot with around 0,3mm:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu0Pr4DXBkY

- here cutting 2mm steel sheet - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJvblAwxuEo


When I've started with this 200W-diodes, they were sold at ebay for 400€ to 300€ ... I've found some nearly identical built 135W-diodes much cheaper ... and there are similar too types with 270W and recently 310W.

I'm simply remove the fiber dock and internal focussing lens and place an external 50mm-FL-lens to get them usable in the same manor, as the smaller diode modules with blue diodes.

They need voltages of 12V to 15V an, depending on type, currents of up to 30A to 43A max.

Controlling/driving is as simple as applying PWM or pulses to a constant current driver as input, which then will power the diodes with the CC.


If you want to see the diodes innards -- here one of my German threads about them - https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?414,849307

Viktor

Awesome info! Thanks, Victor. I will absolutely check this out! This might be a bit easier as I am sure a laser head can be built much smaller than the fiber lasers. In your setup, do you use a shield gas as well? I'm sure that leads to cleaner cuts with minimal or no dross.

[VDX]

... for testing with laser welding I've used Argon ... when engraving, I'm aiming for oxidizing to get good contrast, so without. This was mainly for a project then, which was cancelled due Corona.

Actually preparing some gear and components for a "multi-purpose" setup with different lasers from diodes to fiber-lasers and CO2-galvos ... or several, to get tem straight

Viktor

[sean1990]

Probably looking for a response from VDX more than anyone due to his extensive high power DYI projects but I will gladly take advice from anyone. I have been looking to procure or build a 1kw fiber CNC cutter for a while now. I love my 80W co2 cutter but the obvious limitation is the ability to cut metal. I find that the fiber laser cutters on AliExpress are pretty decently priced and I would grab one in a heartbeat but I run into the problem of physical size. For my home projects and small stuff I do at home, I don't need a huge honking industrial sized machine. Those 1kw+ machines are massive. I have been looking at the Wazer waterjet but, the work area is too small, there is no passthrough option, and I don't want to clean up garnet slurry. I have also been looking at the Langmuir CNC plasma system because it's the right size but the kerf of a plasma torch is pretty damn big and cleaning up excessive dross looks like a pain in the ass.

Keeping the Langmuir system in mind, the size is just right, it will fit in my garage and has a large enough work area to meet all my needs. Seeing as that the Crossfire Pro model has a Z axis which can be set in-software, I was wondering about the feasibility of modifying it to use a fiber laser head instead of a plasma torch. The Langmuir system basically triggers the plasma torch with a simple relay across the trigger switch in the torch handle. I figure with a fiber laser, I could set the power of the fiber laser as needed for the material I am cutting and trigger the laser as the machine would a torch. The cut speed and everything else would obviously be trial and error but I had to learn that with my co2 cutter as well.

The advice I am looking for is, the feasibility of using a fiber laser head in place of a plasma torch, where to procure a decent(enough) fiber laser head (though I have a feeling I will be back to AliExpress for that), and what kind of cost I am looking at for a fiber laser system along with shield gas. Also, I would opt to go with the pre designed CNC table because I don't really have any experience with home brew CNC and wouldn't even know where to begin with designing and building my own CNC table. I'm not really looking for cost effective per se, I am just looking for a fiber laser cutter that won't fill my entire garage!

Considering your need for a compact yet powerful laser cutter, I'd highly recommend exploring the Monport laser. Its reputation for being user-friendly, high-quality, and affordable makes it an excellent choice for DIY projects like yours. Plus, its compact size ensures it won't take up too much space in your garage. You can check out the Monport laser product on their website (https://monportlaser.com/?sca_ref=5031521.ka374VZjm3) to see if it meets your requirements.