CNC Laser Cutting
ACC-U-RATE Sheet Metal utilizes a flying optics Mitsubishi 3015 2D LV Plus, 3500 watt CO2 Laser which gives us the ability to cut 3/4" mild steel, 3/8" stainless steel and 1/4" aluminum, as well as non-ferrous material such as HSLA, brass, copper, plastics, wood laminate and many other materials. The intermittent pulse feature allows us to accurately cut even the most intricate patterns. In addition, customer supplied DXF or DWG files allows us to take your designs almost directly into our machine, assuring accurate, high quality product with the shortest possible lead time.
Capabilities and Specifications:
Machine Specification:
- Sheet sizes up to 60" x 120"
- Max. workpiece weight (lb):2050
- Repeatable accuracy:+/- 0.005
Material Capabilities up to:
- 0.750" High carbon steel
- 0.380" stainless steel
- 0.250" Aluminum
- 1" wood and plastics
- Tolerance held to 0.005”
Laser cutting is a technology that uses a laser to cut materials, and is typically used for industrial manufacturing applications. Laser cutting works by directing the output of a high power laser, by computer, at the material to be cut. The material then melts, burns, vaporizes away, or is blown away by a jet of gas, leaving an edge with a high quality surface finish. Industrial laser cutters are used to cut flat-sheet material as well as structural and piping materials.
Laser cutters work much like a milling machine would for working with metal in that the laser (equivalent to the mill) enter through the side of the sheet. In order to be able to start cutting from somewhere else other than the edge, a pierce is done before every cut. Piercing usually involves a high power pulsed laser beam which slowly, makes a hole in the material. For example quarter-inch thick stainless steel would take around 5-10 seconds to pierce.
Advantages of laser cutting over mechanical cutting vary according to the situation, but two important factors are the lack of physical contact, since there is no cutting edge which can become contaminated by the material or contaminate the material, and to some extent precision since there is no wear on the laser. There is also a reduced chance of warping the material that is being cut, as laser systems have a small heat-affected zone. Some materials are also very difficult or impossible to cut by more traditional means.
There are generally three different configurations of industrial laser cutting machines: Moving material, Hybrid, and Flying Optics systems. These refer to way that the laser beam is moved over the material.
Flying optics lasers feature a stationary table and a cutting head (laser beam) that moves over the work piece in both of the horizontal(x and y axis) dimensions. Flying-optics style cutters keep the work piece stationary during processing, and often don't require material clamping. The moving mass is constant, so dynamics aren't affected by varying size and thickness of work piece. Flying optics laser cutting machines are the fastest class of machines, with higher accelerations and peak velocities than hybrid or moving material laser cutting systems.