Trumpf 3530 Laser Cutting System

[Steve Clarkson]

Just happened across a company's website showing that they bought a Trumpf 3530 Laser Cutting System (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/store.asp?pid=15114)

They are able to cut carbon steel up to thicknesses of 3/4", stainless steel up to 1/2", aluminum to 1/4", galvanized metals, wood, acrylic, formica, and rubber.

It's a 4,000 watt CO2 laser!!!!!

Mr. Savage mught want to comparison shop that one!

[Brian Robison]

Yeah, a guitar amp made from 3/4 Stainless would be perfect for heavy metal. (sorry 'bout that chief):rolleyes:

[Dan Hintz]

Steve,

I read an article about a company that recently installed a 7kW :D They were going to go for a 6kW, but then decided why not claim one of the most powerful. The bed is over 80' long and they had to modify the building it was in to fit it.

EDIT: Found it... I believe this is the company, though the machine isn't listed on their site.
http://www.spacesonic.com/

[Scott Shepherd]

I was given the task of doing a cost analysis on one of those several years back. We were using a CNC punch press, and the rest was manual work. We had about 12 guys working in the sheet metal and welding department.

We also made a lot of machine frames out of 2" square stainless. They were complex and took a lot of time to layout and weld up. I decided to look into the aspect of putting puzzle like ends on the pieces, with slots on them as well, so the entire frames could be put together like a puzzle, then just welded up. It would all be done on a rotary axis on the laser.

I went to IMTS, which is the largest machine tool convention on the planet, I believe. If you've never been, do yourself a favor and go. It takes days to go all the way through it. After seeing what I saw at the show, and coming back with the info, I recommended we not purchase one.

The company couldn't figure out why I suggested that. I suggested it because it would do a current week's work in 4 hours. If we pulled every single sheet metal job in house for the entire company, I couldn't get more than 2 days worth of work for it. Those machines are so productive, it takes an incredible amount of volume of work to keep them running.

We were also looking at the lights out operation. It had pallet systems on it that would automatically change the material. So the theory was you load it up and night and come in the next morning and gather up all your finished parts. I don't believe you should ever leave a machine unattended, but that's another story. It was a very interesting experiment from my part.

Those machines are incredible, as well as expensive. I think we were in the $600,000-$750,000 range for the one we were looking at with all the toys on it.