Air Assist Question

[ron z johnson]

I am fairly new to engraving -- Although I already have the blower set up since this is the first time I will use my laser to cut I finally connected the air assist. I noticed that the compressor gets pretty hot and so does the hose that connects to the laser machine. It seems unusual. Is this normal?

I am going to try and cut 1/32" delrin to make quarter sized notch washers. I am leary about running the operation without the air assist.

RJ :confused:

[Tim Baude]

I noticed the heat also...but I also found that as I was cutting magnets, I got no residu when I didn't use the air assist. I found out by accident as the hose popped off. Got flames, but clean cut with no residu. I know a few on here don't ever use the air assist unless cutting thick acrylic. Probably doesn't help, but wanted to give you my experience and say hi to another newbie to the game.
Thanks

[ron z johnson]

Thanks Tim --

Another question... I had a hard time cutting the 1/32" delrin. You think its because the color is natural rather than black? Should I have gotten it with a film on it or would black have been better?

RJ

[Richard Rumancik]

Ron, I have not cut Delrin so can't comment on what to expect. But generally the "natural" color of materials will tend to cut better than anything with fillers (added for color or property enhancement). Flame retardants obviously will make materials harder to cut, but a lot of fillers are mineral based. Glass fiber or spheres will reduce cutting ability. Black color is often achieved with the use of carbon black (which is a high-tech form of soot). I can't tell you that your Delrin will have carbon black in it as a colorant, just that it is often used in industry. Carbon black added to anything will make it harder to cut and maybe even smoke or spark.

Films won't make plastic cut better. The purpose is just to protect the material from handling and vapor/smoke damage.

I don't know what kind of compressor you have but with a shop compressor it is not uncommon to have the tube and fittings from the compressor to get very hot. Air heats up as it is compressed. However I can't say for certain that what you are seeing is normal.

[Joe Pelonio]

I have 4 compressors that I use for various things including air assist, and all of them get hot. Think of it as a piston like in a car engine, lots of friction which generates heat. I know of a sign shop which burned down one time when left on overnight, the regulator broke and it ran continuously and got hot enough to ignite something near it.

While the heat is normal, always turn it off and/or unplug when finished for the day.

[Dan Hintz]

If the job isn't too long and/or the pressure required is low, a tank is a great way to go. You can keep the tank pressurized and draw on it only as needed. Since the compressor isn't running 24/7, the air tends to be much closer to room temps.