[fixtureman1]

I just got a new laser and it has an air pump I notices that when it is running the air comes out in pulses and not just a smooth stream. I was wondering if I hook up my big compressor and regulate the air down will that give me a better cut.

[Vic Velcro]

I use an industrial compressor with two buffer tanks (130 gallon main, 30 gallon secondary, 15 gallon tertiary) and then a regulator. Tanks are pressurized at 145 PSI, then regulator takes it down to 40 PSI at the final nozzle output. I'm not sure what the CFM consumption is at the nozzle, but it seems high pressure low volume. It gives me smooth and continuous airflow. It also reduces the possibililty of water condensing and hitting my optics. The other big advantage is that I have 40+ minutes of airflow at 40 PSI from the nozzle, if the compressor head were to fail mid-job.

[fdm_guy]

I just got a new laser and it has an air pump I notices that when it is running the air comes out in pulses and not just a smooth stream. I was wondering if I hook up my big compressor and regulate the air down will that give me a better cut.

Hi,

I was in a similar situation 2 weeks ago, got my laser and was a bit underwhelmed by cutting performance. I also had well visible smoke traces around cuts on wood.

First I got a small AS-48A compressor, I had a suspicion it will not be enough but could get it quickly. It was rated at ~2.4cfm and had a 1 gallon tank which can be filled to 58 PSI. It managed to give me constant 1 bar (14 PSI) on air assist, but it had to run all the time and overheat very fast.

Second I got my current compressor: 6cfm rated belt driven unit with 13 gallon tank which is filled to ~100psi. With this unit I can run at constant ~2bar (31psi) without fear of overheating since compressor engine is not on all the time. My ears are fine too since it is a belt driven unit which is not terribly noisy unlike other cheap screamers. I am so far happy with this unit, now I wait for a automated solenoid valve to arrive which would allow controller to turn on and off the airflow and thus lift pressure to ~3.5bar (50psi) on short deep cut jobs.

I would not say that my laser cuts much better now but it leaves considerably less smoke traces on the wood!

I would love to run at constant 50psi but there are more issues then just purchasing the compressor, my power feed is about maxed out (got more toys), so my next upgrade would possibly be a compressor with same flow but 3-4 times larger tank.

Here is the pic of the 3 close to each other...

Attachment 212536