Plywood laser engraving templates. Laser cut plywood

All photos from the article

Is it difficult to assemble a plywood laser cutting machine with your own hands? What problems can be expected at different stages of the project? What equipment will you have to buy? In this article we will try to find answers to these questions.

Pros and cons of laser cutting

When implementing any large-scale project, the question of its expediency always arises. We will try to help the reader give an independent answer to it.

Benefits

The device for laser cutting plywood in practice is able to work not only with it. The list of processed materials includes leather, fabrics, plexiglass, plastics, in a word, all materials that have low thermal conductivity and a relatively low combustion temperature;
Thanks to the CNC, the machine will allow you to cut with the highest precision by creating detailed paths;
Its possibilities are not limited to sharpness. Plywood laser cutting machines are quite capable of performing the functions of an engraver. By varying the speed of the carriage and the power of the beam, they can create complex images with tone transitions;
By focusing the beam, the width of the cut can be kept to a minimum- from 1/100 mm, which again has a positive effect on the accuracy of manufacturing parts or the detailing of the image applied to the workpiece.

Problems

Of course, you can't do without them either:

The price of the purchased equipment will not be cheap. The most popular solution for inexpensive home-made engravers - a laser diode removed from a DVD burner - is not absolutely suitable for cutting plywood due to its low power. The minimum laser power for cutting plywood is 20 watts; with any significant thickness of the material, it is better to increase it to 40 - 80;

Reference: a carbon dioxide laser tube of this power, when ordered directly from Chinese manufacturers, will cost the customer 15-20 thousand rubles at the current exchange rate. Added to the cost of the laser is the cost of a complex and expensive focusing system, DSP controller, stepper motor driver and carriage.

The life cycle of the tube is from 3 to 8 thousand hours, after which she needs a replacement;
The laser requires liquid cooling. In industrial conditions, for this purpose, a refrigeration unit is used that operates on the principle of a heat pump - chiller. The minimum cost of such a unit is 35 - 45 thousand rubles;

However: with a short operating time, you can get by with a tank with a capacity of 80 - 100 liters and a water pump that will pump its contents through the tube jacket.

CNC implies the presence of not only special software, but also sketches of the contour of the manufactured product. It is not so easy to find drawings for laser cutting of plywood; their independent construction will take a very long time;
Finally, the material is cut by rapid heating and evaporation. In this case, the edges of the cut are inevitably charred, and the room is filled with smoke. If so, you will have to design a closed case with a transparent lid and an intensive forced ventilation system.

Constructive execution

So how does a homemade plywood cutting laser work?

The base of the bed is an aluminum professional pipe with a size of 40x60, fastened with a furniture corner and metal screws. The body is assembled from inexpensive chipboard - it does not experience significant loads during operation.

Please note: there is a 12-volt LED strip running around the perimeter of the case. The backlight will allow you to visually control the cutting process.

Directly on the pipes of the frame, guides are fixed, which ensure the movement of the carriages along the transverse axis.

A longitudinal tube with one more guide is screwed to the carriages - already under the carriage, which directly ensures the movement of the head.

And here is the laser head itself for cutting plywood. Foil is used to seal the connection between the tube and the fitting.

Laser cutting of plywood "Wood"

Wood cutting with a laser machine

Wood is considered the most beautiful of all materials known to mankind. In addition, wood belongs to an environmentally friendly, safe and higher quality material that has been used for a long time. It is used in various fields of production, in particular in construction. Today, a wide variety of products are produced from wood, which we use both in everyday life and as decorative elements.

Not so long ago, every manipulation: cutting, engraving, burning, was carried out in the old fashioned way - with our own hands. The process was, of course, time consuming, but very interesting and exciting. Today, any actions with wood can be performed using laser machines and improvised tools.

The laser has a thermal effect on wood. When cutting, the machine fuses the edge, thereby protecting the wood from germs and bacteria, ensuring a longer product life. Unlike locksmith tools, when working with equipment, there is no waste, chips, sawdust, the workpiece or model is not deformed, and the drawing is fully consistent with the original.

However, each type of wood is handled differently. It all depends on the breed, thickness, moisture, hardness, as well as the season of delivery.

Types of plywood laser cutting machines

Numerically controlled machines
Modern CNC laser machines will be able to cope perfectly with workpieces from any wood. However, despite its versatility, each model has its own characteristics and characteristics.

Floor machines
The working table of the machine can vary from 0.5 meters to 2 meters. Such machines are designed for installation in a specialized room and are used, as a rule, in heavy industries. The machines have a monolithic body, which provides them with the stability of the entire structure, and also effectively reduces the vibration background that occurs during operation. The main purpose of such equipment is considered to be cutting, engraving, cutting wood.
Desktop machines
Small size layout that does not require installation in the production area. Ideal for processing at home or within the walls of a small office. Excellent optical system allows you to cope with high quality cutting and decorating workpieces.
Compact machines
With your own hands, using a marker, you can apply decorative elements to various volumetric products (pens, key rings, jewelry, any layout, etc.), while each detail will be clearly visible, and the drawing will be distinguished by its durability. This feature is achieved due to the special design of the marker with a high-tech optical system.

Principle of operation

Layout, the workpiece is processed using a beam, which on the surface of the material looks like a spot, the diameter of which is several microns. The beam is formed thanks to the lens, which is installed at a small distance from the base part of the part.
The beam moves thanks to the drive, which is preprogrammed for the technical parameters of the processed element.
Most often, when processing wood, the following are used:

Gas, with a beam diameter of 10 microns, formed by a gas tube.
Solid state laser. A 1 micron beam diameter is created using neodymium glass.

Advantages and disadvantages

Modern machines have many advantages:

High accuracy
Engraving or cutting with a machine tool is considered a high-precision process. The thickness of the cut is no more than 2 mm. To cut or engrave with your own hands, you no longer need to exert physical effort and use the tool at hand.
High efficiency
The speed of work allows you to minimize the time when performing various volumes of work, which saves energy resources.
Profitability
Such an indicator refers to the consumption of materials, as well as to the indicators of energy consumption. Due to the high precision of work, laser cutting machines economically save wood, reducing waste to a minimum.
Versatility
In addition to cutting, the machines are capable of engraving work.

The main disadvantage can be attributed to only one factor - this is its cost and inaccessibility. Not every amateur can afford to buy such an expensive laser machine for wood processing, but everyone can try to do it with their own hands.

The approximate cost of laser cutting services. Prices are indicated in rubles for 1 running meter of the cut. The engraving price is indicated in rubles per 1 square centimeter.

DIY laser machine

As mentioned above, not everyone can buy laser-based equipment for wood, but it is quite possible to make it yourself from scrap materials.

Tool and material for assembly

laser diode;
pencil, mechanical is best;
radiator as a cooler;
optical fiber;
thermal lubrication;
batteries type D or 2 AA;
eye protection.

The most important point in work is eye protection. Do not under any circumstances look into the beam to avoid damaging your eyesight.

Regarding the diode ... High power IR diode with 1W output, capable of burning out any material except metal. The diode must operate at 2V with a constant current of 1.7A. Pay attention to the fact that the diodes have different polarity (plus and minus). In the event of an incorrect connection, the diode will simply burn out.

Layout and assembly

We connect the diode to the radiator. For better thermal conductivity, treat with thermal grease. Next, we move on to a mechanical pencil. A pencil with a metal body is best suited to avoid melting when overheated. We disassemble the pencil, insert an optical fiber into the tip and fix it with epoxy resin or glue.

For a DIY laser, it is better to take a thin pencil to match the size of the optical fiber. Putting it all together: insert the fiber optic with the tip back into the pencil and tighten it tightly. Thanks to such a simple, but quick design, everyone will be able to burn out various patterns with their own hands and make engraving on wooden products.

If you haven't changed your mind and decided that a laser machine is simply necessary for you, then the choice of this or that model should be approached with special responsibility. Study the complete information about each model, compare the parameters you need, and only then proceed to the purchase. You can also find information on how to make laser-based equipment with your own hands from an ordinary pencil or an old DVD or CD drive.

Souvenir products made using laser technologies appeared on the market relatively recently and in a short time created a separate direction in the souvenir industry.

The market offers the consumer goods made of different materials and for various purposes: promotional souvenirs, toys, kitchen utensils, interior items, items with an individual design. New laser technologies: engraving on metal, wood, glass make it possible to create products for a wide variety of applications. In this article, we will look at the use of lasers when working with plywood.

What are the advantages of laser engraving and cutting plywood?

Laser cutting of plywood ensures maximum precision of transfer of a given image to the surface of the material. The use of a laser differs from milling with a better cut edge that does not require further processing. A focused laser beam cuts out millimeter elements of the pattern while maintaining the dimension of the specified element, which is inaccessible to the cutter. The use of a laser saves material, since there is no waste in the form of sawdust.

The scope of this technology:

2. Manufacture of furniture and decorative elements of the interior. The use of laser cutting allows you to make products with high detail that is inaccessible when using a metal cutter or milling cutter.

To understand the technological process of laser cutting of plywood, Endurance Laser Lab specialists will step by step illustrate all the stages of making a souvenir product from plywood. Today we are going to carve a teahouse.

Laser-cut teahouse blanks are often sold at art and craft stores. Let's see how they are made on equipment from Endurance!

To create a finished product, we will go through the following steps:

Let's create a drawing of the teahouse.
Let's connect a laser engraver.
Load the drawing into the laser engraving software and set the program settings for material cutting.
Set the material (plywood sheet) in the working area of the Endurance Laser Lab engraver.
Make sure the printable area does not extend beyond the plywood sheet.
Let's start the plywood cutting program.
Separate the resulting parts from the base and glue them.

Creating a drawing for laser cutting plywood

To create complex drawings, Endurance laser laboratory specialists recommend using the graphics editor CorelDRAW. In the case of the teahouse, we will take the finished drawing in the form of a jpg image.

Initially, we planned to make a teahouse using the Endurance Makeblock XY 2.0 plotter laser engraver with a wide working area of 31 x 39 cm. This would allow loading the drawing in one file and making all the structural elements in one operation.

At the time of this writing, the sales department reported that all the engravers of the Makeblock model are sold out and for an experiment they are ready to give us an Endurance DIY desktop laser engraver. The working area of this model is 20 * 20 cm. This meant that we could not fit all the details of our house in the working area of the cutter.

I had to cut the drawing into separate parts and cut them one by one.

Connecting Endurance DIY Laser Engraver - Step by Step Instruction

There were no problems here. Devices from Endurance Laser Lab usually work without problems. Load the drawing into the laser engraving software and set the program settings for material cutting.

To work with the Endurance DIY laser engraver, we used the popular CNCC Laseraxe software version 2.53. This software has a fairly wide functionality, while it is free. You can download CNCC Laseraxe on our website. The program does not require installation. At first glance, the interface is somewhat confusing, but it won't take long to understand the program.

1) Launch the program and connect to the laser engraver by pressing the Connect button. Then open the picture with the Open button.

2) We carry out the processing of the picture by pressing the PR button and selecting the upper right picture of a hare.

3) We set the values of the burn-through time and laser power to the maximum. Press the Advan button.

4) In the changed window, check the setting of the vertical sliders, which should correspond to the picture: the top one is on Outline, the bottom one is on Path / Speed. Then we create g-code by clicking the Create button.

5) The program offers to go to the page with the code. Click "Yes".

6) Before sending the drawing for burning / cutting, we need to check if the laser is correctly positioned in relation to the material. We put a tick in the WS window. The laser indicates the point at which the engraving / cutting process will begin. Place the material in accordance with the laser point and start the process by pressing the Run button. To cut through the material, you need to start the laser several times manually using the Run button. The harder the material, the more times you need to start the process. We used a soft material - balsa for aircraft models. To cut through 4 millimeters of balsa, it took 5 laser starts.

This is how the made elements of the house looked like.

And such a house turned out after connecting the parts.

Conclusion

We demonstrated laser cutting of plywood and step-by-step production of a plywood souvenir using Endurance lasers. All the important nuances and subtleties of working with plywood and setting up laser technology cannot be described in one article. Therefore, we tried to give information about working with plywood in the most general terms, deliberately without touching on the choice of materials, thickness and type of plywood, laser power, etc. A more detailed analysis of work in this direction will be published in separate articles after studying and conducting practical experiments.

For all questions about working with laser technology, you can contact our office. There you can also get acquainted with our products and purchase laser equipment.

The sponsor of the article is the site old.EnduranceRobots.com - chatbots, robots, lasers and engravers in Moscow.

Modern computer technology, if not completely eliminated the need to use manual labor, then reduced it to a minimum precisely. The use of laser machines is also gaining more and more fans every year.

They call a whole range of devices designed for processing various surfaces. Management is carried out using computer programs.

What materials can be processed?

The device is used for processing, creating patterns on many types of surfaces:

Mirror.
Glass.
Stone.
Acrylic.
Leather.
Paper.
Cardboard.
Wood.
Veneer.
Plywood.

And this is not a complete list of the possibilities of using CNC cutting. The use of non-contact technologies will make it possible to process even materials of small thickness. Recently, the automation of such work was considered impossible in principle. As well as the simple creation of drawings for the CNC laser.

The principle of operation of the device

Currently, any laser equipment has an acceptable price level. Therefore, it is gaining popularity, it is used not only in large, but also in small business. Pictures with templates presented in this section will also be indispensable helpers. At the same time, high-quality work and high productivity are characteristic of even the most budgetary models.

To correctly use drawings using cutting, you need to understand what the machine consists of:

One-piece bed.
Horizontal table.
Mobile portal. It is equipped with a special head that emits a laser beam.

A stepper motor allows equipment to move. The numerical program scheme organizes the adjustment of all parameters. The numerical control device sets the laser at certain positions together with other devices performing work operations.

The Aggregate Optics Assembly also has several components.

Laser tubes.
Head-shaped emitter.
Reflective devices in the form of mirrors.
Focusing mechanism.
Focus lens.

Equipment with capabilities

This equipment has the main working tool - with a laser base. It is distinguished by a high power rating. Thanks to this, the processing of materials endowed with parameters of different types becomes available.
Thanks to such technologies, parts with various characteristics and dimensions can be obtained.

The possibilities of installations on a laser should be considered in more detail in order to correctly use patterns with templates.

Cutting.

This is an affordable technology option, although not the most efficient one. A laser cutter uses less power than a plasma cutter when doing the same job. Even when using heat treatment. The advantage of this type of cutting is the accuracy of the edges, the ability to maintain optical performance.

Cutting is done through or blind. The use of the second option is relevant in the case of the manufacture of souvenir products. Laser treatment facilitates the rapid removal of the top layer from the plastic. This allows you to form a pattern on the surface of the second layer. Such jewelry work can only be done with laser and CNC machines.

Engraving.

This solution has its own principle of work. Thin through cuts are applied carefully, step by step. After that, a line is drawn up, having the required dimensions. It doesn't matter how complex the image is, how thick the material is. The main advantage of laser engraving is maintaining high speed.

In what directions is the equipment used?

This is an important point for those who are just going to purchase machines.

Creation of souvenir products.

In the production of souvenir products, it is the laser machines that have shown high efficiency. It has already been said that non-contact processing makes it possible to create drawings on parts with any parameters. Which makes the whole workflow easier. Even pens and USB sticks are processed using this technology.

Informational, premium products.

It is convenient to use laser machines for making plates with any information. Diplomas made of double-layer plastic, award certificates - and in this area, laser machines are practically unmatched. The main thing is to find the right drawings.

Promotional Products.

The equipment is especially relevant when creating interior and exterior elements. Surfaces made of acrylic and plexiglass look good after using the machines - they have a glossy end, there are no radii left from the cutter. The smaller the element, the easier it will be to cut when plasma cutters are used.

Plywood and veneer cutting.

Laser cutting technology is widely used in interior design. We are talking about the manufacture of overhead elements, furniture decoration, the creation of radiator and ventilation grilles. Usually we are talking about elements with a small thickness, fragile.

It is almost impossible to make such parts on milling cutters, because it is difficult to avoid the appearance of chips and cracks, and other similar defects. Children's toys, constructors and individual interior elements can also be made using this cutting technology.

This area is also characterized by the active use of laser cutting of veneer. Especially when it comes to the production of marquetry, inlay. In the Hermitage, many items were created using this technology.

Packing works, changing the structure of foam rubber and plastic products.

Few people will be surprised by packaging made with the use of precisely laser machines. The equipment is convenient in that it can be easily and quickly programmed at any time. There is no need to be tied to a certain circulation, to set up complex lines for the presentation of materials. The surface is free from creases during non-contact processing. The surface of the pattern looks beautiful.

The width of the processing zone is usually indicated in the first article of the designation of a particular model. When choosing this or that device, one must always remember about the possibility of being faced with the need to solve non-standard problems. The larger the size of the working area, the larger the range of tasks that are posed to the workers.

The following factors must be considered during operation.

can be used without creating printing plates, clichés and matrices. Accordingly, there is no need to purchase additional equipment, to involve more people in processing.

Most of the operations are easy to do at home. As well as the preparation of the drawings itself. Cutting them is not difficult.

This also saves time spent on prepress. The production process is accelerated and the productivity of any plant is improved.

Laser technology is known for not requiring a large amount of materials.

Without the laser itself, the engraving is not done. And the installation is powered by conventional electricity. One laser should be enough for about 20 thousand hours of continuous operation. Intensive use of one device can last up to 7 years. Even if the cutting is carried out continuously.

One operator copes well with the maintenance of the installation. The main requirement is the ability to work with graphic programs.
Products can be made in both small and single batches. For the design of drawings and their direct production, working files are created in a special program.
The result of any work is obtaining durable images that are resistant to any external factors. The drawing can be saved for future reference.

Laser engraving: more about the technology

When using this technology, it is assumed that by sublimation the material is removed from the surface of the workpieces. The result is achieved due to the action of a focused laser beam on the surface of the material. The power during cutting is maintained for him at its maximum.
The main thing is to correctly manage the installation parameters in order to achieve the desired result. Laser engraving works in much the same way as a printer. The equipment is as convenient as possible due to the fact that practically no stage is carried out manually. This is only required when preparing drawings. And in the finished form, the image will last as long as possible, without any damage.

Drawings for CNC laser: materials for work, drawings, models

Modern computer technology, if not completely eliminated the need to use manual labor, then reduced it to a minimum precisely. The use of laser machines is also gaining more and more fans every year.

A whole range of devices designed for processing various surfaces is called CNC laser machines. Management is carried out using computer programs.

Dear machine tool builders, for you we have selected a large number of models in dxf format, you can download it for free HERE.

What materials can be processed?

The device is used for processing, creating patterns on many types of surfaces:

Mirror.
Glass.
Stone.
Acrylic.
Leather.
Paper.
Cardboard.
Wood.
Veneer.
Plywood.

The principle of operation of the device

To correctly use drawings using cutting, you need to understand what the machine consists of:

One-piece bed.
Horizontal table.
Mobile portal. It is equipped with a special head that emits a laser beam.

The Aggregate Optics Assembly also has several components.

Laser tubes.
Head-shaped emitter.
Reflective devices in the form of mirrors.
Focusing mechanism.
Focus lens.

Equipment with capabilities

This equipment has the main working tool - with a laser base. It is distinguished by a high power rating. Thanks to this, the processing of materials endowed with parameters of different types becomes available. Thanks to such technologies, parts with various characteristics and dimensions can be obtained.

The possibilities of installations on a laser should be considered in more detail in order to correctly use patterns with templates.

In what directions is the equipment used?

This is an important point for those who are just going to purchase machines.

Creation of souvenir products.

In the production of souvenir products, it is the laser machines that have shown high efficiency. It has already been said that non-contact processing makes it possible to create drawings on parts with any parameters. Which makes the whole workflow easier. Even pens and USB sticks are processed using this technology.

Informational, premium products.

Packing works, changing the structure of foam rubber and plastic products.

The following factors must be considered during operation.

Laser engraving can be used without creating printing plates, clichés and matrices. Accordingly, there is no need to purchase additional equipment, to involve more people in processing.

Most of the operations are easy to do at home. As well as the preparation of the drawings itself. Cutting them is not difficult.

This also saves time spent on prepress. The production process is accelerated and the productivity of any plant is improved.

Laser technology is known for not requiring a large amount of materials.

One operator copes well with the maintenance of the installation. The main requirement is the ability to work with graphic programs.
Products can be made in both small and single batches. For the design of drawings and their direct production, working files are created in a special program.
The result of any work is obtaining durable images that are resistant to any external factors. The drawing can be saved for future reference.

Laser engraving: more about the technology

When using this technology, it is assumed that by sublimation the material is removed from the surface of the workpieces. The result is achieved due to the action of a focused laser beam on the surface of the material. The power during cutting is maintained for him at its maximum. The main thing is to correctly manage the installation parameters in order to achieve the desired result. Laser engraving works in much the same way as a printer. The equipment is as convenient as possible due to the fact that practically no stage is carried out manually. This is only required when preparing drawings. And in the finished form, the image will last as long as possible, without any damage.

vseochpu.ru

Free drawings for laser cutting in dxf format. For laser, plasma and waterjet cutting of metal.

drawings for laser cutting This page contains graphic files for laser, plasma and waterjet cutting in CAD format. I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the files do not require additional processing. All contours are closed and drawn with arcs and segments.

Here, we place only a small, introductory part of our library. Files for 2D cutting are presented in the most popular and readable DXF format, which is accepted by almost all CNC sheet metal working machines (TRUMPF, Amada, Bystronic).

These drawings are perfect for creating art objects made of metal, lattices with a unique design, as well as gates, fences, stairs, elements of landscape and interior design.

Silhouettes of animals, birds or plants in dxf or dwg are perfect for decorating a bedroom, living room and walls in any room, as well as for landscape design.

Examples of work performed using laser cutting technology can be viewed on this site.

Please note that all images presented on this page can be cut on our laser cutting equipment, at the lowest prices and with the highest quality.

Buy a complete archive of files of drawings for laser, plasma and waterjet cutting.

In addition to ready-made files in dxf, we offer such a service as:

Translation of any graphic files (bmp, jpeg, gif) into dxf format, for a nominal fee.

Library of free files for laser cutting.

An expanded selection of silhouettes, you can see in our VKONTAKTE group

www.blesk-m.ru

Plasma CNC program creating drawings: features of work

The work is greatly facilitated when programs for CNC plasma are used, the creation of drawings in this case is faster. The main thing is to set the parameters correctly and understand how the technology works.

About special programs and working with drawings

Thanks to modern laser machines, as well as programs for CNC plasma and the creation of drawings, it is possible to process workpieces from any material without any problems, ensuring high process intensity along with quality. But modern technologies have by no means contributed to the fact that a person is completely excluded from the technological chain. Operators are only freed from participation in the process of making blanks.

To obtain the required result for CNC, it is required to comply with the main conditions, consisting in the proper level of preparation for production, the development of machine control programs.

The essence of any software used in control is the creation of a set of codes that undergo transformation inside the CNC microcontroller, and then become pulses when they arrive at the execution mechanisms. The function of the latter is transferred to stepper motors or servo motors. But the latter option is used only on some machine models. It is important to choose the right program for creating the drawing.

Electric motors are used in the course of converting impulses, after which the latter become mechanical movements for the instrumental part. The carrier spindle with a cutter is involved in the same process. A kind of route is laid inside the program, which is then realized by the machine. How the cutter moves relative to the future workpiece depends on this. Thanks to modern technologies, it becomes easy to provide the required speed and cutting force. Flame treatment also makes the process easier.

Inside the control program, a separate file is created, which must be processed in the future. Which implies the choice of modern software. But it is necessary to create a preliminary sketch of the future product, because the route cannot appear from scratch.

Processing program

Products are created on the basis of sketches, the role of which is transferred to three-dimensional models of a mathematical type. The participation of the plasma cutter is organized at later stages. This name was given to an exact copy of the structure, which is recreated in virtual space.

In a way, 3D models are like assembly drawings. These models are created based on “flat” 2D models. For example, which are part drawings. It is their construction that becomes the main function for special CAD programs. The AutoCad suite of functions is a typical example of such solutions, which involves processing using plasma cutting.

Such solutions can be described as computer-aided design systems. In industry and design bureaus, this tool has long become an indispensable assistant. The entire cycle that makes up the process of developing documents for designers is facilitated and simplified thanks to packages of similar software solutions. This also applies to the creation of sketches for parts using plasma cutting, modeling technology in a three-dimensional plane, the development of parts for assembly. The so-called CAD packages are the basis for creating control programs, sending the results to the machines themselves, which allows you to start production. Further, plasma takes part in the processing.

Features of working with equipment

The typical strategy used by CNC milling machines when creating products can be described as follows:

The stage devoted to the creation of a sketch or drawing.
Previous work becomes the basis for the development of 3D models.
Setting the route when using the software. The three-dimensional model now becomes the basis on which this very route is created.
Then they proceed to export the control program using a special format. The main thing is that the format is understandable for the model of the laser machine itself.
Loading the control program inside the device memory. Then the processing program starts.

First step

At the first stage, you cannot do without a thorough study of the design content documentation. It is assumed the use of drawings for small components and assembly units, a large amount of materials in the development of detailed drawings. On the drawings, specialists will indicate the types, cuts, sections, and put down the required dimensions. Plasma cutting makes it easier to get the desired result.

A few years ago, production conditions involved the creation of flow charts for the construction of future products. They were intended to effectively organize the work of specialists with manual milling machines. But when automatic equipment appeared, it was no longer necessary to create such maps.

Detailed drawings in most cases support the electronic format from the very beginning, and are created with its active use. 2D sketches are easy to do, among other things, by digitizing a paper drawing. Created in the program, such a picture will speed up the processing.

Second phase

The second stage creates parts in a 3D plane. This task is also carried out using a CAD environment. This makes it possible to visualize the skeleton of parts, assemblies for assembly, the whole product. An additional possibility is to carry out calculations based on stiffness versus strength.

The three-dimensional model that has become the basis is a mathematical copy of the product, as it should be in the finished form. To bring the project to life, all that remains is to release a part with the required characteristics. Plasma cutting results in faster results.

Third stage

It is to obtain the desired result that the third stage is applied. It involves the development of a route for future processing using plasma equipment. This work belongs to the technological part of the process. It affects several parameters as a result:

The quality with which the products are manufactured.
Cost level.
Processing speed.

If we talk about CNC milling machines, on which cutting is carried out, then in this case the three-dimensional sketch is transformed. This means that the following actions are performed:

The processing area is limited.
Definition of transitions, finishing and roughing.
Selection of cutters with specific dimensions.
Programming modes in which cutting is carried out.

There is special software - post-compressors. They allow you to export the data described above in a convenient format, which is easily accepted in the controller for a CNC machine representing a particular model.

Fourth stage

The fourth stage ends with the design of a working control file that allows you to create the required part. After that, everything is done by the plasma cutters themselves.

Fifth stage

The work is being completed at the fifth stage. It assumes that the program file is loaded into the memory of the CNC machine. The processing itself is performed. It is imperative to check the first sample of the released part. If errors are found, then corrections are made in the electronic documentation.

Conclusion. Some features of plasma cutting

Plasma cutting is one of the most efficient methods for processing metal. But such power is difficult to manage, only masters of sufficiently high qualifications can cope with this. Only they can be allowed to control the plasma cutter.

Some details may show minor defects, there is absolutely nothing to worry about. You just need to take into account the peculiarity of each of the bases used in production. The minimum hole size when using this technology also has its own characteristics. For example, if the diameter of the metal is 20 millimeters, then the maximum value for the hole itself is 15 millimeters. This must be taken into account when working with a program for CNC plasma, the creation of a drawing only in this case will be accurate.

Depending on the thickness of the sheet, a current with different characteristics must be used. For example, sheet metal 40 millimeters or more is cut with a current of 260 amperes. But 30 amperes will be enough if the thickness is only 2 millimeters. The strength of the current affects the thickness of the sheet. It is also necessary to take into account what shape the part retains in each area. The result also depends on this.

Modern equipment is characterized by a high level of accuracy. But small deviations are perfectly acceptable if they do not exceed existing standards.