Air assist for cutting woods

[bryan henderson]

Can anyone help me out? What is the pressure that you operate when cutting and/or engraving wood? Do you use the same setting for everything? What make/model etc of compresssor do you use and where did you get it from? I hear that airbrish compressor work the best.

Bryan

[George M. Perzel]

Bryan;
I use a GAST DDL Linair compressor-puts out about 30 psi-cut a lot of wood-same psi for everything-got it online 10 years ago but don't remember where. Most airbrush compressors are fine-put on a line filter if you are in a humid environment.
Best Regards,
George
Laserarts

[Mike Lysov]

30-40 PSI should produce very good results and eliminate residue stuck to material front side. But it will depend on your laser power. 30PSI pressure is what I use for a 100W laser. Recommended pressure for my other 280W laser is 60-70PSI.

I do not think any airbrush compressor can supply even 30PSI for a long time. The one that came with my laser could do 15PSI maximum for a long run. I guess it may vary on the air outlet size and tubing diameter running inside your laser.

I have bought this one instead http://www.gasweld.com.au/594140-toolex.html mostly because it is very quit. It runs at maximum capacity for the 280W laser and it cannot deliver more than 60-65PSI for a long run job. It will probably die at some point as this thing cannot run continuously and needed to be shut down to cool. So far I have had no problems with it running with a very short breaks(less than 1m) for 40-60 minutes.

[john banks]

We use 2 bar (29 PSI) from a 3HP belt driven twin cylinder compressor. We put it in an outbuilding where we and the neighbours can't hear it, but it wouldn't suit in a built up area. We have regulators, water traps, bead and fine filters, solenoid control from the machine along with a delay off relay on the extraction so it is all automatic. We love doing wood and get great results as you cannot really see from this oak cask end which our Prime Minister liked the other week:

www dot foodmanufacture.co.uk/Manufacturing/David-Cameron-praises-Diageo-s-renewable-energy-plan

Better pic here: www dot fifetoday.co.uk/webimage/1.2965094.1371115469!/image/2035715029.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_595/2035715029.jpg

[Khalid Nazim]

Hi John, seems you have a fantastic automated system to start Air Assist and extract fan. Can you share some details on how you did that?

Regards
Khalid

[john banks]

From the manuals that someone linked on here for the RD 320 control board I found the output for air assist solenoid (I think it is marked on the casing anyway) and installed a solenoid of the correct voltage inside the machine just inside where the air line connects. The same electrical output also supplies a delay off relay which has an adjustable off time which I think we have on about 20 seconds. I also had an over-ride switch near the control board in case you want to turn on the air assist and the extractor manually. I can't remember if both the solenoid and the relay were 12 or 24V and whether they were active low or active high. In RDCAM, air assist can be enabled or disabled in the layer control if I recall. I can check further details if any of this needs clarification, I tend to forget and only remember when something breaks ;)

I'm sure if you don't use a compressor with a tank you could control it electrically in the same way I control the extractor fan. Our compessor is tucked away in a building behind, so we have a mains isolate switch that is turned on for a working session and off when we leave the workshop. Our original compressor was a bit leaky, so would cycle when the machine wasn't in use every day or so even if you weren't using it, plus it is just safer to not have equipment drawing that much current turning on in the event of an air leak and then feeding it. If a hose came off properly, it would be on continuously and probably overheat.

[Peter Lowe]

I don't know what you're after, but I have cut a fair amount on Epilog Helix cutters, and actually use no air assist when cutting something really sappy.
I was having issues with the smoke depositing heavily on the area around the cut, and Epilog's advice was to try shutting it off.
No more shadow downwind of my cuts!

Fact engineering makes coaxial air assists for Epilog machines which they claim increase cutting speed and produce cleaner edges, although I haven't used one personally:
Turbo Accelerator

http://www.factengineering.com/turbo.php
needs additional compressor (3-4 cfm, 80 psi), air filter/condensation trap
Negative opinion: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?161137-Turbo-Accelerator-for-Epilog-optics/page2&p=1652523

Positive opinion: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/archive/index.php/t-165006.html?

Epilog makes one for their Legend series machines as well.

Hope that helps,

-Peter