How To Care For A Laser Cutting Machine

By David Jones

When you have a new piece of equipment in the workplace, you will want to do everything you can to ensure you extend its life and keep it a safe working model. With the tumbling price points of today’s most modern technology, though, the quality may not always be there with certain pieces of equipment, requiring you to care for them even more. If you have a laser cutting machine, this article will detail how you can care for your machine.

Below are some tips from the pros to keep your laser cutter in perfect working order. You should note that failing to perform these steps could result in early degradation of performance, plus will likely shorten your device’s lifespan.

Always buy professional-grade laser systems

The best tip to ensure that you can care for your machine is to first invest in a quality machine itself. A better professional-grade laser system can provide high levels of productivity and greater return on investment and mean you have fewer maintenance tasks to carry out with it. Don’t try to cut corners by purchasing a cheap machine and thinking that you can do all of the below steps to save on money. Instead, turn to sites like Trotec, where you can buy professional-grade laser systems. Once you have your system, of course, caring for your machine is still important, but you may find that the task is much easier with a better model.

The basics

All machinery with moving parts and high-tech components will benefit from the following:

  • Regular inspection and maintenance:

The majority of problems don’t just occur overnight, out of the blue. Rather, they tend to be the accumulated effect of deterioration over time. Regularly inspecting machinery will let you spot potential problems early and nip them in the bud before they develop into more serious issues. So make sure you regularly schedule maintenance checks.

  • Keep devices clean:

Dust, dirt and grime can severely impact machine performance and lead to far greater problems further down the line. Always keep machines clean. Make sure to use an extraction system and reverse the laser engraving direction to ensure that the dust does not get under the laser beam.

  • Place it in an ideal location:

You need to ensure your machine lives in a place where the temperature does not exceed 25 degrees Celsius and is not below 15.

  • Specific tips for caring for laser cutting machines

Due to their construction and components, there are also additional checks you need to make to keep a laser cutting machine in the best possible working order:

  • Check the beam regularly:

When you first buy your machine, it’s a good idea to perform a simple cut test and keep the resulting cuts you produce. This will then allow you to compare your machine’s performance at a later date as to how well it cut when it was new. Alternatively, you could ask your supplier or manufacturer to visit and perform a beam analysis test to check for problems.

  • Keep the optics clean:

The process of vaporization with a laser creates clouds of particles and smoke that can hamper the window and even reduce the quality of the beam. You should ensure you keep the optics as clean as possible while also being sure to avoid making scratches or causing similar damage.

  • Make sure the machine is adequately cooled:

Just like any component that generates significant heat, a laser cutter needs artificial cooling to stay working at optimal levels. You should replace the water in the cooling device from time to time and also check that cooling coils are kept clean.

Note: if you’re in doubt about any of the above, you should contact your manufacturer or supplier for advice.

Interesting Related Article: “The Benefits of Buying Your Own Laser Cutting Machine“