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Braden Todd
02-14-2018, 11:02 AM
Never heard of a direct Diode before, but in my research I found a company out of California selling them. Would it be better to buy this over a fiber/galvo? Machine is a 600 watt, not sure how that compares to a fiber watt though. The M2 of the beam was listed as 2 and 2.5, I think pending then set up used?

They say it's faster and less maintenance, and can mark anything since you can adjust the frequency. I also liked the idea that they're fully made in the US.

Any ideas or advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Dave Sheldrake
02-14-2018, 5:33 PM
DDL's used in metal cutting are 970nm rather than the 1,064nm of the fibre. The good ones are great, fast and accurate and work very well on awkward metals like copper and aluminium.

Braden Todd
02-14-2018, 5:43 PM
Thanks for the reply. The one I am looking at has a variable wavelength; 226-355nm, 532-1064nm, 1070nm. Not sure if they're a good one, but hoping they are.

Also, here is a link to it if it helps

http://ztechlasers.com/laser-engraving-cutting-systems/ I am considering the QM Plus Series

matthew knott
02-14-2018, 6:49 PM
That’s just a very misleading data sheet ! They are basically saying it can have a whole range of lasers specced and then giving all the data for all the lasers , you are not going to get all those wavelengths ! It looks like you can have a fibre, frequency doubled yag , uv , and maybe a direct diode , you would need to get better info if we are to be able to give you any help on that

Dave Sheldrake
02-14-2018, 8:53 PM
I'm with Matt, that isn't a "tuneable" laser, it's a machine that can be fitted with a load of different resonators/systems/diodes (in effect so can any carriage system though, Galvo, or Gantry or even water flute)

Amada and Yamazaki do DDL's and they cost considerably more than that will (start thinking $250K ++++ for entry level for a decent DDL)

Gary Hair
02-15-2018, 6:17 AM
Thanks for the reply. The one I am looking at has a variable wavelength; 226-355nm, 532-1064nm, 1070nm. Not sure if they're a good one, but hoping they are.

Also, here is a link to it if it helps

http://ztechlasers.com/laser-engraving-cutting-systems/ I am considering the QM Plus Series

I found this a bit interesting "Limited warranty:18 months or 100K hours, whichever comes first".

Dave Sheldrake
02-15-2018, 8:52 AM
DDL's certainly shook things up when they first came out as it improved beam quality over previous diode units without the loss of efficiency you get in CO2/Fibre etc.

Basically they run a diode stack that emits in multiple wavelengths, through a beam profiler, then a defraction grating and onto the output coupler, so rather than pumping a gain medium they output direct to optics. Cut quality is really high and they work on a lot of problem materials like Inconel etc 40 - 45% plug efficiency means they can be used on lower power supplies as well before having to move to 3 Phase (415 volt).

Downside is cost, both initial purchase price and replacement as the units (at lower power) can't really be serviced to any extent (it's cheaper to replace the entire resonator than it is to start swapping out diode bars)

On paper at least, you can run a 600 watt cutting machine from a UK household supply (240 volt) due to the increased efficiency

Neville Stewart
02-16-2018, 1:11 PM
I found that company to be selectively responsive and while some parts may be US, the cabinets are off the shelf Chinese. I was very serious about buying one but they couldn't answer my questions.