laser cutting in Greece
Laser cutting is a widely used method of cutting a design from a certain material by employing CNC or G-Code via a CAD file to direct the laser beam generated. There are three main types of lasers used in the industry: CO2 lasers Nd and Nd-YAG. At decode we use a CO2 Glass Laser machine. This involves firing a laser which cuts by melting, burning or vaporizing the material. You can achieve a really fine level of cutting detail on with a wide variety of materials. Bare in mind that CO2 lasers can’t cut metals and hard materials, they can however engrave them.
Laser Head and tolerance
A Glass ‘laser tube’ is used, along with CO2, N2, and Refigrerator Liquid, to generate the laser beam which when emitted is reflected by several mirrors up into the ‘laser head’. Within the head is a lens that focuses the beam onto the material surface for cutting or engraving.
The kerf refers to how much of the material the laser takes away when cutting through. (the width of the groove made while cutting.) This varies from material to material and is also dependent on the laser beam tolerance i.e. the width of the beam. Our machines have a very fine tolerance.
1. Prepare your pattern
You send us your pattern or drawing in order to check it and see if it’s appropriate according to our laser cutter and the material you intend to use. The laser cutter reads vector lines that need to be set on ‘hairline thickness’ and in red color.
2. We configure the laser settings
According to the material of your choice we configure the laser cutter to the appropriate cutting power, speed and frequency settings. The maximum sheet size in bed we can cut is 960x609mm , while for bigger material sizes out laser cutting machine has pass-through mode which can accommodate 960 x infinite length.
3. We process your job
Depending on the material, we might need to use a protective membrane that can be removed once the cutting is over, in order to protect the material surface from any burn marks.
4. Collect your design
You collect your design laser-cut on your material of choice, or we deliver it to your location of choice.
