Laser Cutting Machines

Laser cutting systems

Laser cutting systems from Europe, the US and Japan have been around for several decades. It was only in the new millennium that lasers from China became known when making molds. Today, more than 2,000 punch die manufacturers worldwide have a laser cutting system.

There are 4 different movement systems for laser machines in the punching form construction:

• Moving head (the head moves in the X and Y axis)
• Moving table (the table moves in X and Y - where the laser is fixed)
• Hybrid (one axis - longitudinal axis) moves and the transverse axis moves the laser nozzle
• Flying optics (the laser is guided over mirrors at all positions of the table.

Pros and cons

All variants have advantages and disadvantages, and yet they are all represented in the making of molds.

So-called Co2 lasers have been used since the beginning. Still in the late 90s. For years the technology "seald-off and slab" was created, which could work with a much lower gas consumption and also became low-maintenance. The first brands such as Coherent still exist, the laser sources of Ferranti, Feha, Cutlite-Penta, PRC, Fanuc and Rofin Sinar (today Coherent) became popular, while among others weakly represented in making molds are trumps. Brands, on the other hand, are great for cutting steel and plastic.

Alternatives for laser cutting

As alternatives to laser cutting grooves in wood, there are again CNC saw technology (now from China) and CNC milling (for both flat and rotary molds). These techniques have two important advantages: that of simple maintenance and that of a clean environment.

The die-cutting industry will soon have to deal with the environment and re-filter exhaust gases. There have been attempts in the past, but lack of control made it no longer a problem. Nowadays there is a proven solution for filtering exhaust gases, so that no one will be surprised when it becomes a duty (except that the price will surprise one or the other).

CO2 laser

CO2 lasers are and remain for a while the best and fastest way to make a slit in a multiplex plate. The other processes of automatic processing and bending of the steel belt cuts are also retained, even if there are fully automatic alternatives to make a mold.