Now that you’ve seen the models and know what they’re used for, it’s time to decide which CO2 laser cutter to buy. This machine comes almost fully assembled so you can use it virtually straight out of the box, and has a number of built-in safety features for maximum safety. It’s designed to be used with Lightburn, although you have to buy the program separately. Alternatively, an RDWorks software license comes included. AC-pumped RF- metal laser tubes generate faster laser pulses resulting in a higher-speed operation. But these tubes are not very common. This laser equipment accessory features excellent beam quality, small spot, and fast response speed, making it widely used in laser marking machines and engraving machines. When it comes to buying a CO2 laser machine for your business, glass tubes tend to be cheaper than metal tubes. However, the metal tubes last longer. But which is actually cheaper? Epilog and many other RF lasers claim to last 10,000 working hours or more. This is fairly accurate and equates to running the laser 40 hours per week for five years. There are also glass tube manufacturers that claim 8,000 – 10,000 hours but this is not very accurate. Most glass tubes will last in the 2,000 – 4,500 hours range which is 1-3 years of use at 40 hours per week. However, considering the cost to recharge or replace a metal tube is often 3x – 5x higher, there are no real cost savings with a metal tube vs glass. An RF tube is usually not needed for most users, unless they require very high precision engraving. Simple logos, monograms, letters, etc will not be any different with glass vs metal tubes. Even photo engravings can be quite good with a glass tube, especially if you add our hi-resolution laser head. One Note About Cleaning Your Tubes

One of the main ones is its working area, which is around 100mm smaller than the xTool P2’s. That being said, its working area is still pretty decent for the price, and it does also have a passthrough slot for feeding through longer materials. However, its 5MP camera is also lower quality than the 16MP one used in the xTool P2, and the P2 also has depth sensors for engraving curved surfaces which really is incredible!! DC laser sources are typically contained within a glass laser tube. In the glass tube of the DC laser, there is a mixture of different gases: Nitrogen (by far the highest proportion of the gas mixture), carbon dioxide (as the laser-active medium), helium (to effectively dissipate the heat loss), and oftentimes hydrogen and xenon. By applying a high voltage to the electrodes in the tube, current begins to flow. The electrodes must be designed as feedthroughs through the glass body. These feedthroughs are weak points in the laser, and as temperatures fluctuate, the impermeability of the laser tube is difficult to ensure. This is because metals expand more than glass when the temperature rises. Glass and metal thus exert increasing pressure at higher temperatures due to thermal expansion. The sealing is therefore subject to higher forces and may show a leak during cooling (after many thermal load cycles).

Our company manufactures industrial-grade laser tubes with stable laser beam quality, offering innovative application solutions for global users. Note: bear in mind that CO2 lasers aren’t suitable for engraving non-coated metals, whether they be non-ferrous metals or ferrous metals like gold and silver. This is because the wavelength of CO2 lasers is mostly reflected by metal surfaces. For metal engraving, you’re best off using either an infrared or fiber laser engraver. How to choose the right CO2 laser machine for you

I’m personally a big fan of lasers that let you use any software you want. Whereas Glowforge really limits you here, companies like Gweike and xTool let you use Lightburn – and Gweike also lets you use their own cloud software, Cloud Control, and Lightburn. This means you can run the Basic 2 while offline or online, depending on your preference. Some CO2 lasers also allow you to extend the cutting height with upgrade components like a riser base. For example, you can boost the P2’s cutting height to 8.5”, whereas most other lasers max out at around 2”. This is ideal for working on taller projects, and is also essential for fitting a rotary engraver in your build area. Small Business Processing WE WILL NOT BE A PARTY TO OR IN ANY WAY BE RESPONSIBLE FOR MONITORING ANY TRANSACTION BETWEEN YOU AND THIRD-PARTY PROVIDERS OF PRODUCTS OR SERVICES. Adhesive tapes and sponges should be used to fix the laser tubes and prevent sliding during transport. A 70mm sponge should be use at the end of the window, and a 50mm sponge should be at the end of the fully reflecting mirror. It is equipped with a dust cover design for the laser light outlet, which is suitable for a variety of industrial environments. EFR X Series Laser TubeIn most cases, average output powers are between some tens of watts and many kilowatts. The power conversion efficiency can be around 10% to 20%, i.e., it is higher than for most gas lasers (due to a particularly favorable excitation pathway), also higher than for lamp-pumped solid-state lasers, but lower than for many diode-pumped lasers. Oh, BTW, helium passes through the walls of those latex balloons really well. The helium content is changing fast after you fill it. It is probably half gone in 12 hours.

Running the tube at too high a % power output can result in overdriving the tube. This is basically the process by which the gases in the laser tube break down, reducing the maximum power output of the tube. Yellowing of the cathode can be an indicator of a tube that has been overdriven. and/or xenon (Xe), with the remainder being helium (He). [ citation needed] A different mixture is used in a flow-through laser, where CO

Every budget is different, and understanding which laser cutting tube is better depends on the project. There are a few fundamental questions you need answers to before deciding which to use. What Are the Cooling Differences? The life-time of laser tubes for laser engravers declared by manufacturers holds true for practically ideal conditions: the current under 25mA or no more than 40-50% from the maximum power, water cooling 10 l/min, water temperature 10°С. A CO2 laser cutter directs a focused beam of infrared laser light produced by exciting carbon dioxide gas to precisely cut or engrave materials like wood, plastic, acrylics, glass, and leather. In the golden autumn of September, with the increasingly cooler weather, SPT Laser sincerely invites you to visit the four major domestic exhibitions to learn and communicate together and discuss laser application technology. The most basic form of a CO 2 laser consists of a gas discharge (with a mix close to that specified above) with a total reflector at one end, and an output coupler (a partially reflecting mirror) at the output end. [4]

A CO2 laser’s size and working area can vary a lot, and also has a big impact on price. The Flux Beamo is one of the smallest and cheapest machines, with a working area of just 300x210mm designed for small projects. Overall, though, I think this laser is right up there with the best CO2 lasers for hobbyists and small businesses. It particularly stands out for its value for money, offering the same speed and dpi as some more expensive machines. A. Robinson and D. Johnson, “A carbon dioxide laser bibliography, 1964–1969”, IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 6 (10), 590 (1970); https://doi.org/10.1109/JQE.1970.1076334 However, I do still prefer the xTool P2 overall due to its higher quality camera, more powerful laser, and greater upgrade options. Whether you’re etching or engraving, precision is paramount. Precision and pulse rate are directly related. The higher the pulse rate, the more precise the beam. To get a higher pulse rate, the laser gathers the heat and then rapidly releases it, meaning it’s not heated continuously. When it comes to direct current, there is no room for that rapid gather-release process, because direct current is continuous. This means pulses from glass tubes are less frequent. Therefore, a glass CO2 laser engraver is more limited in pulse rate and tends to execute lower-quality engravings than its metal counterpart. How Do They Cut?We put the Polar 350 above the Glowforge Pro due to its great value and on par with the Gweike Cloud 50W – there’s almost nothing to separate the Gweike and OMTech. They’re basically the same. It’s also one of the fastest budget CO2 lasers out there, with a really impressive 600mm/s cutting speed, which is equal to premium machines like the xTool P2. The population inversion in the laser is achieved by the following sequence: electron impact excites the {v1(1)} quantum vibrational modes of nitrogen. Because nitrogen is a homonuclear molecule, it cannot lose this energy by photon emission, and its excited vibrational modes are therefore metastable and relatively long-lived. N If you are buying a new laser cutting and engraving machine, make sure you ask for the make, model number and physical dimensions of the tube supplied with the machine. It is not unusual for machine suppliers to exaggerate the laser power output of a laser tube, promising 50 watts and supplying a 40-watt tube (50 watts is the Max power and 40 Watts is the rated power) for example. I have also heard of instances where a machine was sold as a 100-watt system but actually contained a 60-watt laser tube. Regular air is about 80% nitrogen, 20% oxygen, and a small amount of water vapor, which is highly dependent on ambient temperature and humidity. The properties of how a tire performs when heating up changes with the water content, which can change on a day-to-day basis. It doesn’t change much, but at the extremes of racing it doesn’t need to change much.