FAQ Page
- Q. What fabrics cut best on a laser?
- A. Athletic twill made out of polyester or cotton, jersey, interlock,
fleece, polyester laminated felt, cottons, polyester performance wear,
denim, and wovens. Fabrics that are smooth (flat surface) and are tightly
woven cut well. Wool felt should be avoided as it can catch on fire.
- Q. Are there any fabrics that you can not cut?
- A. No, but there are fabrics that cut poorly or torch while you are cutting. Fabrics that will result
in blackened, torched edges are wool felt, silks, and natural fibers. You can at least partially overcome this problem
if you use a finer beam and set the machine properly. You should also test cut a fabric that you are considering using
in advance.
- Q. Why do you recommend using a foil barrier with some fabrics?
- A. Fabrics that are not tightly woven, like a knitted sweater or fishnet, have gaps. With loosely
knit fabrics, you need a barrier between the appliqué fabric and the garment to prevent the laser from cutting
the garment. The most commonly used barrier is aluminum foil. The CO2 laser cannot cut through metal so no matter
how high the power, it cannot penetrate the foil. Another example of when you need to use foil is when the material
does not have a consistent thickness. It might be dense in some areas and shallow in others. Leather can have these
properties. You need to use high power to cut a clean edge through the leather and in an area that is less dense
it might cut through to the bottom layer without the barrier.
- Q. Will any type of foil work?
- A. The type of foil we have had the best luck with is a paper-backed foil. It is similar to the type
used to wrap chocolate candy. Household type aluminum foil can be hard to remove from underneath the design once
it's embroidered. The paper-back foil tears away more easily when the shirt is snapped. So it results in a cleaner,
finished look. We sell it if a customer needs it.
- Q. What power levels does the singlehead E Laser come in?
- A. The E Laser comes in 25, 30, and 50 watts. In terms of comparison, the 25-watt is the least expensive
and the 50 watt is the most expensive. If you expect to be cutting a lot of strong, dense materials you would choose
the 50 watt, especially if you want to consider expanding the singlehead to two heads. In this case, you are spreading
the same laser power over two heads. If you have a 25-watt, and you are regularly needing to use more than 50% of the
power setting, I recommend upgrading to a 50-watt. If you upgrade the singlehead laser to a two-head laser, in most cases,
you'll also want to upgrade to 50-watt. If you purchase a lower wattage, you can upgrade it later. Another option is if
you decide to buy a two-head E Laser, but plan on only using one head initially, you may want to consider the 30-watt laser.
This gives you a longer laser tube life, and you have the flexibility to use both laser heads later. Depending on the density
of the fabrics you will be cutting, a 30-watt laser can work on a two head.
- Q.How long will a laser tube last?
- A. They have a life expectancy of roughly 10,000 working hours and then you have to recharge it. The recharging
cost ranges between $2,500 and $3,000.
- Q.Does the 50 watt use more electricity then the 25 watt?
- A. Not necessarily. The laser tube operates on what is called a converting power supply which takes the AC
power and converts it to DC power and then feeds the laser the power it needs. While you do need two converting power
supplies for a 50-watt tube, you may not consume more electricity.
- Q.What kind of electrical outlet do you need for the single head E Laser?
- A. 110 standard outlet.
- Q.What kind of electrical outlet do you need for the LaserBridge?
- A. You need 220 single phase for the laser and 220 three phase for the vacuum system. For the sake of
efficiency, if three phase is not available, it can be adjusted to run on single phase but most laser bridges users have
large embroidery machines that require 220 three phase so they already have that coming into their building.
- Q.Can you explain the difference between a galvanometric and a plotter type of laser?
By how much do these differ in price?
- A.
Plotter
A plotter is considered a conventional laser. The head moves on an x and y axis, so there is a need to position the laser
head to where the cutting area will be. The beam is generally positioned 1 to 2 inches above the surface. A plotter bed
can be as large as 5 feet wide by 5 feet long. This contributes to the slowness of these machines by comparison to the
galvanometric units.
Plotters cannot etch or engrave as well as galvanometric nor can they process raster files.
They range from $8,000 to $100,000 with an average price for a reliable laser being between $25,000 to $65,000.
See A Comparison of Galvanometric and Plotter type LASERS
Galvanometic
Galvanometric lasers are more advanced and work at higher speeds, but they have size limitations. The work area of a
galvanometric machine ranges between 6 x 6 inches and 48 x 48 inches. The beam is usually 12-14 inches above the substrate.
The galvanometric laser has a scanner head that identifies the object(s) to be cut and is significantly faster
(up to 10 times) than a plotter. Its beam comes down in a conical shape like a pyramid. A galvanometric laser can do
more things than a plotter. It has greater sensitivity control, which enables it to do more intricate, sophisticated work.
The cost of a galvanometic laser starts at the $45,000 mark and goes up to $150,000 with an average price of around $60,000
to $70,000 for a comprehensively equipped machine with high power 50 watts and an above-average 12-square-inch to
16-square-inch work field.
The limitation of galvanometric technology is that the larger the field size becomes, the lesser the sharpness of the
cutting beam. So the challenge is finding the right balance between the size of the cutting field and the beam's power.
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