The Different Types of CNC Machines

At present, metal processing and manufacturing are inseparable from cutting, and there are various cutting methods. At present, the most suitable one is laser cutting. There are many kinds of laser cutting, and the most mainstream ones are fiber laser cutting, CO2 laser cutting and YAG laser cutting. They have their own advantages and disadvantages.



1. Fiber laser cutting machine:

Main advantages: low energy consumption, high photoelectric conversion rate, it is the fastest equipment for cutting stainless steel materials at present, the laser beam is stable, the light spot is dense, and it is suitable for cutting precision and tiny parts.

Main disadvantages: The core technology of lasers is only in the hands of a few manufacturers, resulting in generally expensive lasers. The cutting gap is small and the steam consumption is large. It is difficult for fiber laser cutting machines to cut materials with high light transmittance, such as aluminum alloy and copper.

Product positioning: Thick plate cutting, especially high-precision plate processing, is mainly for manufacturers that require high precision and high efficiency. According to statistics, fiber laser cutting machines will replace most of the CO2 laser cutting machine market.

2. CO2 laser cutting machine:

Main advantages: high power, the general power is close to the middle, all stainless steel plates, carbon steel and other basic materials can be cut up to 4mm, as well as aluminum plates, sub-leather plates, wood plates, PVC plates, etc. The cutting speed is very fast in the case of cutting thin plates, in addition, because the CO2 laser generator emits continuous laser light, it has a good cutting section effect among the three laser cutting machines.

Main disadvantages: Since the core technology of CO2 laser generators is in the hands of a few manufacturers, most of the equipment is expensive. In addition, in specific applications, the operation cost is high, the amount of gas required for cutting is also large, and the consumables are also very expensive .

Product positioning: 6~25 mm thick steel plate cutting, mainly for external processing laser cutting companies. However, due to unavoidable reasons such as multiple maintenance damages of its laser generators and high power consumption of servers, its market has been threatened by YAG laser cutting machines and fiber laser cutting machines in recent years, and the market situation is very severe. According to statistics, after the further development trend of laser cutting machines in the future, CO2 laser cutting machines will be replaced by fiber laser cutting machines.



3. YAG solid state laser cutting machine:

Main advantage: It can cut aluminum plate, copper plate and most rare metal materials that other laser cutting machines cannot cut. The purchase price of equipment is low, the application cost is low, and the maintenance is simple. The core technology of equipment manufacturing has been mastered by Chinese companies, the quality and price of accessories and maintenance are high, the equipment is easy to operate, and the maintenance cost is low.

Main disadvantage: only cutting materials below 8mm, the cutting efficiency is relatively low.

Product positioning: cutting below 8mm, mainly for small enterprises and sheet metal manufacturing, household appliance manufacturing, kitchen utensil manufacturing, decoration, advertising and other customer applications that do not have high processing requirements, gradually replacing wire cutting, CNC stamping , Traditional production equipment such as water cutting and low-power plasma cutting.



Fiber metal laser cutting machine (2012-present)

High power impacts the low power processing market, and eventually popularizes major factories

Main advantages: high photoelectric conversion rate, low power consumption, can cut 20-30MM

The stainless steel plate and carbon steel plate within are the fastest cutting speed among these three machines

Laser cutting machine, small kerf, good spot quality, can be used for fine, stable and efficient

cutting. 2012-present Main market positioning: manufacturing, sheet metal industry, agricultural machinery, municipal gardens...etc. It is mainly aimed at manufacturers with extremely high processing accuracy and efficiency requirements. After 2015, with the emergence of 4000W and above lasers, fiber laser cutting machines have replaced large-scale machines such as CO2 high-power laser cutting, YAG laser cutting machines, and disc laser cutting machines. part of the market. The fiber laser cutting machine is developing towards a more refined, industrialized and deeply customized supporting system.



After years of development, laser cutting machines have improved production efficiency for various industries and have been widely used in various industries. Optical fiber cutting machine uses laser technology for processing and production, which belongs to non-contact processing. Compared with the traditional method, not only will it not cause deformation and damage to the material, but also the processing is fine and fast. At present, there are more and more brands of fiber laser cutting machines, resulting in different prices of fiber laser cutting machines on the market.

A laser cutting machine mainly includes six core components: laser cutting head, laser, motor, machine tool, numerical control system, laser lens, etc. The configuration of these core components determines the price of the laser cutting machine, especially the quality and quality of the laser, which largely determines the basic price of the laser cutting machine.

1. Laser

At present, the imported laser brands on the market mainly include IPG, Trumpf, Ennai, SPI and so on. IPG has the largest market share, and Chinese brands include Raycus, Chuangxin, JPT, Feibo, etc. Raycus has the largest market share. Generally speaking, fiber lasers with power below 3000W basically have no difference in cutting the same material, but there are still differences in high power.

Two. Power

Power is an important part of the price of a fiber laser cutting machine. The higher the power, the higher the price, and the higher the working efficiency of the product. Therefore, buyers can choose a cost-effective fiber laser cutting machine after evaluating the output demand according to their personal needs.

The price of fiber laser cutting machine is also closely related to the type and material of the product being cut. Before purchasing a fiber laser cutting machine, it is necessary to clarify the thickness and material of the applicable product, so as to comprehensively consider the cutting process, bed process, sheet metal process, assembly process and other process-related issues of the fiber laser cutting machine of each manufacturer, and finally choose the appropriate one. Laser cutting machine cutting products.

3. Accuracy

The machining accuracy of the machine tool is an important index to measure the performance of the machine tool. There are many factors that affect the machining accuracy of machine tools, including the accuracy of the machine tool itself, the deformation of the machine tool and process system, the vibration generated during the machining process, the wear of the machine tool, and the wear of the tool. Among the above factors, the accuracy of the machine tool itself is an important factor. For example, when turning a cylindrical surface on a lathe, its cylindricity mainly depends on the stability of the workpiece rotation axis, the straightness of the tool tip motion trajectory and the parallelism between the tool tip trajectory and the workpiece rotation axis, that is, it mainly depends on the lathe The motion accuracy of the spindle and the tool holder and the position accuracy of the tool holder's motion track relative to the spindle.

The accuracy of machine tools includes geometric accuracy, transmission accuracy, positioning accuracy and working accuracy. Different types of machine tools have different requirements on these aspects.

Four. software

The software is provided by the fiber laser cutting machine manufacturer. A good laser company will have a professional technical department to develop and update related software systems. A better software system means a higher price, but its advantages are self-evident. It can not only be better compatible with hardware, perfectly match together, but also maximize the function.

In addition to the main core components, accessories such as optical isolators, xenon lamps, mechanical consoles, water-cooling equipment, optical equipment (half-reflecting mirrors, total-reflecting mirrors, refracting mirrors, etc.) are also one of the important factors that affect the overall price of laser cutting machines. So choosing better accessories will often cost more money, but will make the device run smoother and get twice the result with half the effort.



Five. After-sales service

If you choose a laser cutting machine, the prices of different brands vary greatly. If you choose a well-known brand to choose goods for purchase, you may invest more money, but product quality and after-sales can often be better guaranteed. Saving money is important, but don't be greedy for small things and lose big things, which can buy unnecessary trouble in a short period of time.