Adding Oxygen to a Diode Laser
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 มี.ค. 2023
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I have been wanting to add oxygen to my laser for a long time, in this video we take a small tank of compressed oxygen and add it to the air assist line on the Xtool D1 pro 40W I also compare it's results with no air, low, air, and high air pressure. There is still lots of testing to be done please share your thoughts and opinions on what I should try next.
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As someone who had HS shop class & went to school for welding as a Millwright. You use Oxygen with Acetylene or Propane both are flameable gasses to create very high temperature when burning using a torch in order to braze or cut metal. But when welding or even Plasma cutting Oxygen is your ememy due to porocity. I would try CO2 or Argon or 75% CO2 & 25% Argon. CO2 is used for large production MIG welding on steel because it is very cheep but is harder to control porocity, Argon is used for most types of TIG welding as well as Aluminum & Stainless Steel MIG welding, but is much more expensive, 75% CO2 & 25% Argon make a better MIG weld on steel.
This is great information thank you for sharing all of this!
Love the infographic in the top. Nicely done.
Thank you, I am finally starting to stick with an editing software. I am really liking Final Cut Pro.
@@ChadsCustomCreations I love Final Cut Pro too. A cleaner, more professional look on my videos is one of my goals for this year as well.
I agree that you need more psi. You need to stop buying those EXPENSIVE cylinders. I had one of those torches and I trashed it to get a mini style professional cutting/brazing/soldering set. I did mostly brazing and soldering, but it would cut too. I was going through 5-10 bottles per week sometimes. I bought a cheap acetylene torch with small (T sized) bottles. I saved the money back in a few months. If you go to your nearest Linde/Praxair store, you can buy/lease/rent a bottle of oxygen that they will refill. I lease the bottles for a low monthly payment. I'm sure they would rent you one for a week if you asked. Get an amazon grade regulator and off you go. One other suggestion, I use blended Nitrogen and Oxygen in my 2.5KW laser. I blend different levels of O2 in with the nitrogen depending on the job. Pure oxygen will work great on carbon steel, but I use an oxygen nitrogen blend for stainless steel. I have a liquid Nitrogen tank that is about 10 feet tall outside the building for my lasers but use the large (they are either size Q or K, I don't remember) sized bottles in a 16 bottle cradle for my Oxygen needs. You need velocity to make the cut work well. It should scream/whistle when cutting. On my laser the actual gas outlet is about .050 above the sheet I'm cutting and I can adjust the hole size based on the volume required. I would think a .02 or so hole would work. You need to keep the gas jet from diffusing and just "generally" melting the whole area. It blows straight through the cut at high speed, much like the blaster on a cutting torch. I would make an extender to get your nozzle real close to the work and I think the system will probably burn thicker than 20 gauge in carbon steel. You may need to drill a start hole on even thicker stuff, but once you initiate the cut it should maintain it. Hope this helps. Dave Vogel
Wow Dave you are the guy I was hoping would see my video. Thank you for your knowledge and guidance. This right here is priceless information I cannot thank you enough.
@@ChadsCustomCreations Glad to help. I really love these diode lasers. I do a fair amount of small work and having a small/cheap laser to use instead of tying up a 4 x 8 or 10 foot machine to do dinky work would be awesome. I get a lot of people that want prototypes of their parts, 2-10 of them. If you can get this to work, and I don't see why it won't, I'll be buying 4 or 5 of them right away. I'll help all I can, you're doing the R&D. Thank you for what you're doing. Dave
@@davidv.2148 if you guys get to have a bench type version for SMEs, i would be interested to buy one too =)
Highly entertaining. Loved it.
Thank you for watching Matt!
Oh, and try this with a co2 laser. Industrial metal laser cutters use 100w-150w co2 lasers with high pressure air or oxygen assist to cut thick metal. Same concepts apply, get the gas close to the cut area but get the laser focus in the center of the material.
I gotta try it on my 90w co2 and see if I have any luck.
Fun experiment.
Thank you Hatch!
veri nice experiment!
Thank you
Air assist.
And
40W.
Seems like a better Idea.
Yeah according to these test you are right. Seems it has potential but the air pressure is just not there with this set up.
It would be great if you could see if it does anything with a copper sheet if you revisit this. Thanks!
I was actually able to do some brass recently still need to test copper again.
I commend you on your tenacity. Personally, I think you need a much higher psi. That will slow thermal buildup and force oxygen away from the cutting surface. A vacuum under the table may help to 'guide' oxygen in a straight path as well as get it away from the cutting surface. Ideas to throw around anyways. Super interested in your results!
Thank you for your insights I agree it really seems like we need that high psi on the oxygen otherwise it will just melt it in place like it’s doing. Can’t wait to get my own oxygen generator so I can continue the testing.
The air blast is removing the smoke which absorbs laser energy, that is why it cuts better with the airblast. The oxygen is combusting with the metal, which releases a ton of heat. Trimix may insulate the cut and put more energy into the cut, but I am not sure.
Yes that definitely makes sense
Thicker metal will act as a better radiator, preventing the metal from getting hot enough. You may want to read about oxyacetylene cutting to get further insights on the process.
I think you’re right on. In university I took a sculpture class and they taught us to use oxy acetylene torches. We would hold it in one spot until it pierced through then we pull the trigger for high psi of something and you could move the torch and get really impressive cuts.
you need a bigger 02 tank
Like welding, for example, then it will also be cheaper
You’re definitely right!
Chad
do you use the diode laser more now than your rmlaser co2
Hey Steve hope you’re doing well, no I do not. It sure is fun but the RM laser is my money maker for the type of products I sell.
Kinda curious to see what what welding gas(straight argon, co2 or mix gas) would do, it would certainly be cheaper as well as safer and removing oxygen from the equation would also remove charring of the material from the equation, which might make material removal cleaner and more efficient by making the laser do nothing beyond evaporating the metal.....
I would be interested to see that also!
FWIW Buster Beagle did a review of the Roly 10W. Before you engrave stainless you change the pulse frequency of the laser
Ohhh interesting I wonder if I can do the same gcode command to do it also. I believe lowering the Frequency actually provides stronger more powerful pulses less frequently. 🤔 thank you for sharing that.
@@ChadsCustomCreations If you watch his video he shows you the actual steps to change it. I get the impression xTool doesn't let you do that
@@nopriors yeah I saw where he inputed the command. I have tried to change the machine settings before but it does seem that xtool somehow locked out any changes or modifications to the movement speed at least.
Awesome experiment! Could you maybe try softer metals aluminum, brass, copper etc?
Yes definitely need to revisit the other metals
@@ChadsCustomCreations what do you recommend for a beginner co2 or diode
@@DRONefuntoo I would say a beginner should start with a diode laser and I like the 10w d1 pro by xtool for someone starting out.
Out of curiosity, have you tried it on softer metals?
Yes working on Brass extremely well. No luck on copper or aluminum still.
@@ChadsCustomCreations what thickness are you able to cut with brass?
the metal acts as the fire source, and when it gets 600 degree it hot enough for fire ( this is why ovens only go to 550), and the oxygen is just FUELING the heat melts the metal. thats my guess sticking to it
Yes that was my thinking also, the thicker metal never got to the melting point hence the oxygen had no effect. Now how do we clean up that cut and start making this a useful upgrade?
With thicker metal preheat the cutting pattern first without the oxygen with few passes 100% power and then with oxygen on. Before oxygen cut it would be crusial to get that trough burn to the starting point of the cut. And of course everything should be made in quick order to prevent metal cooling too much between preheating and cutting.
Consider combining the best of both worlds. Use high pressure air with added oxygen.
The high pressure air is ‘blowing away’ the burned metal allowing the laser to do more useful work.
The oxygen is causing the metal to burn better, but that burn is creating a much larger ‘kerf’.
If you use both you likely can be sparing with the oxygen because you want to help the burn, but not blow out the kerf like you are now. The high pressure air will help by blowing away what’s burned letting the oxygen work on the next layer of metal.
Also, you get better penetration when you move the laser closer for 2 reasons. Yes, the oxygen is getting closer to the material burning. But when doing thick materials moving the laser closer so the focal point is in the middle of the material instead of at the top uses the laser power more effectively.
You may want to investigate using a longer tip on the air assist. That way you can move the air/oxygen mix closer to the point the burn is happening in the material while keeping the focal length correct. The extended tip of course must be concentric with the laser beam, but ideally is also as small as possible to keep the air/oxygen mix really ‘focused’ where the burn is so you again avoid having a huge kerf.
This is really great information I will definitely include these in my future test!
the difference between 99 and 98% oxygen when oxycutting is a matter of half the cutting rate.
below 95% it doesnt work at all.
that excess... contaminant... is quenching the heat produced by any combustion of steel...
In laser cutting of metal with oxygen, the laser must be capable or causing the metal to reach ignition temperature with the addition of oxygen. For thin metals, oxygen pressures can typically be as high as 300 psi. The higher pressure shears off the molten material cleanly when the pressure and speed are correct . Inert is gas such as Nitrogen can be used to laser cut metal, but will not increase the temp of the metal like oxygen does once ignition temp of the oxy and metal is reached. In other words, the laser is doing all the cutting work, and the nitrogen is merely removing the molten metal.
This is great insights I can tell you are speaking from experience. Thank you!
Can you mix oxygen with the air from compressor?
I would think so, but I have heard from some in the comments that if oxygen is below a certain percent it will render it useless for cutting.
@@ChadsCustomCreations yeah so O2 generators should have an electrolysis setup inside, and pay attention whether the O2 will come out humidified or not (meaning O2+H2O(g) --> related to < 95 % purity considering that 5 % is the humidity for instance...). I bet these units have a reflux unit to condense / trap the humidity.. just to keep in mind cuz water content in the O2 may be counterintuitive for your heating problem ;)
@@dumanaltinda very great point I saw where someone had rigged up a canister of desiccant. To dry out the O2.
I see several ways of potentially improving the result, however none of them involve oxygen. Just doesn't make sense to me. I'm thinking pre heat assist and solid metal bed with good contact for even heat transfer.
I'm also curious if pre cooling might make a difference.
Lastly there's of course the option of painting the surface.
Also have anyone ever attempted to laser cut in a near vacuum? Would it even be possible?
Yes, it is true, I literally have no knowledge of these things, at all.
Very interesting I am curious what effects a vacuum would have also!
Indeed, I do however think it will be very difficult maintaining a vacuum, at least on any reasonable budget. I've been thinking a great deal about it, at the only solution I can think of, and it is probably a bad one, us to achieve a vacuum, or near vacuum as I were, for a very large volume, fx using some big tanks.
If it makes any significant difference at all, cutting in a vacuum, I really cannot say, but it is the one thing I'm most interested is seeing tested.
I do however also think that the other suggestion will yield a far more significant result.
If something get too hot at starts to melt, you need to remove or transfer heat away, and if something doesn't get hot enough, you need to add heat. It us that simple, and is already used, fx when soldering, where sometimes what you try to solder on transfers the heat away too quickly and you have to use a hot plate.
🔥🔥🔥
🧯 💨
With the thicker material, try using smaller pieces so that heat has nowhere to go!
Great idea!
Very entertaining test, but I'd abandon oxy-cutting because it is expensive, imprecise, and a bit dangerous. I'd like to see your 40W air assist take a stab at 26 or 28 gauge steel and 0.2 mm aluminum flashing. If you use galvanized steel, don't inhale the zinc oxide smoke (see metal-fume fever).
One tip, although oxygen isn’t flammable alone remember it makes everything else more flammable in your shop including wood!
Yes you are right I heard about a guy with an oxygen mask and a cigarette that caught his whole beard on fire.
interesting video - but I suppose you realize that you're basically enriching the 'air' that surrounds the laser cut. when cutting with an oxyacetylene cutting torch, the cutting is done with a jet of high pressure oxygen. low pressure won't cut it. Also, the regulator you're using lowers the gas pressure.
Great info
How about trying argon!
I may have to try this. Argon is a inert shielding gas right so would that maybe do something interesting with engraving or color of the metal, but in theory it wouldn’t increase the temperature of the burn like oxygen does right!
@@ChadsCustomCreations Yes! It is used on plasma cutters and medical Argon Plasma Coagulation(APC) units. It may give you a plasma cutting effect. Not sure but worth a try. Not sure about temperature change.
I also wonder what O3 or called modified oxygen or ozone. It is a purer oxygen used for disinfecting water systems for dialysis machines and plumbing. Also used for difinfecting cpap machines. It is a real clean smelling air.
The best inventions have been found by accident!
@@kevinroach9380 great info I did not know this thank you!
FYI - You are setting the metal on fire. Iron is flammable in a high oxygen environment. You could cut like this, but you just aren't going to have clean cuts. I suspect higher pressure O2 is going to result in a larger iron fire and a messier cut.
Definitely a good hypothesis, if I can get my hands on some higher pressure oxygen I’ll share the results, I am thinking a smaller nozzle hole might also be helpful.
There's a fine line between brave and stupid, and I appreciate you're trying to find it!
(Just kidding!)
🤣
Try argon
Great idea!
Isn't oxygen your enemy in these thin metals? You're melting the metal in order to cut through it, and to do that the metals need to be liquid hot, and now you're probably in the danger zone of the fire triangle. You have a fuel (yes, metals can be fuels), you have an oxidizer (pure oxygen) and you have heat (melted metal).
There is a possibility but I am seeing that industrial laser cutters made for metal either see best results with Nitrogen gas, or slower but cheaper oxygen gas for cutting metals. I believe once I get this oxygen pressurized we will see much better results.
oxy cutting is burning through the steel. its a matter of matching fuel to oxidiser... the steel being the fuel.the laser just gets the hot spot to start the combustion. needs to dwell on startup.
only works on steel. no stainless, ali, cast iron, etc. stainless makes a refractory layer, and cast just doesnt melt right. too much carbon. and other metals dont burn like steel.
cutting/welding tips are polished, reamed... and pretty freaking small. you would have to adapt one somehow. not very easy. possible. not easy.
LAMINAR FLOW! its not about the pressure, its about how well that beam of oxygen stays as a beam... the higher you push it, the worse the turbulence...
and the pressure at the regulator is dictated by the NOZZLE size. can crank it wide open, if the nozzle is bigger than the lines say, you aint going to read any pressure except line restriction...
thickest ive cut is 2'... 600mm. and you dont need that much pressure to do it. when everythings tuned right its freaking awesome.
get a real bottle if youre going to persist. can empty an F in a few minutes on big cuts. wait til you gotta manifold a rack of 6...
That is some great information thanks for that.
I could be wrong I trusted chat GPT a little bit more than I should have on this. If you're using an electrolysis unit you'd probably be spending about 50cent per liter of oxygen at STP in electricity. That works out to about $15 for the same oxygen you get out of a bernzomatic tank. That's not counting the compression afterwards. You might want to look into larger cylinders of oxygen if you want to save some money.
I am glad you brought this up, I will be using an oxygen concentrator which I don’t believe uses electrolysis but could still be pricey when running. I’ll be purchasing one of those outlets that can calculate the wattage used. For science! 🤓