[aussiemate]

Hi all,

As I'm new here, I've been given some fantastic advice, but don't yet understand the terminology used here.
So I thought this would be a handy post (that could possibly become a stick thread?) in order to help all the newbies understand. :withstupi

So, feel free to add what you like, and if this works, we could tidy the thread up so all the details are in the one post. (Sorry if this has been done, I just couldn't find it)

So....

Kerf – a cut or incision made by a saw or the like in a piece of wood.
DOF – ?
PWM setting (frequency) - ?

[aussiemate]

Could someone please also explain how the different types of lasers work/differences between them

I'm referring to the water sealed higher wattage lasers found on the chinese machines, compared to the 'RF' (?) enclosed lasers found on the more expensive machines.

How can the lower wattage on the 'rf' laser cut/engrave more than a higher wattage water cooled laser?

How long are each expected to last for?

Is the life of the laser tube reflected inthe price or is it 'only' the make/design that we are paying for?

Can an RF laser be used to upgrade a chinese machine that uses the water cooled laser?

[zax15uk]

Kerf = Width of cut.
DOF = Depth of Field. The usable distance that is in focus of the laser beam.
PWM = Pulse Width Modulation. The pulse frequency of the laser using digital control compared to an analog method of adjusting power.

Zax.

[aussiemate]

cool thanks, do you/or anyone else know of a link/website that has tutorials on lasers and laser cutting?

I'd like to get a better understanding of the way this works.

[zax15uk]

Sam's Laser FAQ is excellent for technical theory...
http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/laserco2.htm

The larger equipment vendor sites also have a lot of good information from a less technical standpoint, and are excellent resources for acronyms etc.

Zax.

[aussiemate]

Sam's Laser FAQ is excellent for technical theory...
http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/laserco2.htm

The larger equipment vendor sites also have a lot of good information from a less technical standpoint, and are excellent resources for acronyms etc.

Zax.

Perfect!! Thanks Zax, just what I was looking for

[MonoNeuron]

Synrad have movies and also descriptions on what to cut and how to cut it using particular power and speed settings. Just look it up on their web site.

http://www.synrad.com/search_apps/Default.htm

Also

http://www.sintecoptronics.com/

have some really good info on lasers. The web site is a bit cumbersome to find your way around but just keep clicking on all the links and have a real good look and you will find a lot of really interesting info there

Rich.