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Thread: Anyone ever take the shell of a fiber and use it to house a higher wattage fiber?

  1. #1

    Anyone ever take the shell of a fiber and use it to house a higher wattage fiber?

    So let's say you bought a 50 watt fiber, and you wanted to upgrade to a 100 watt, what would you need to do this? On ebay, you can find fiber laser setups (like from Coherent) for pretty inexpensive, but it's just the source itself. Anyone ever done this?
    Trotec Speedy 300 - 80 watt
    Synrad 30 Watt - CO2 Galvo
    LaserStar 3804 - 50 watt fiber - SPI Source
    Tykma Minilase - 20 watt fiber - SPI Source - (MOPA)
    CorelDraw X7

  2. #2
    I have pretty much no knowledge of such stuff, but I don't see a problem, AS LONG AS the lens, scanhead mirrors and pass-thru mirror will tolerate the extra heat. I also don't know if the incident beam of a higher wattage fiber be appreciably larger? If so, that would also play into the size of the scanhead mirrors, or the scanhead itself since, at least with mine, the hole the beam passes thru ain't all that big!

    As to the electronics aspects, I'm even more clueless!
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Kev Williams View Post
    I have pretty much no knowledge of such stuff, but I don't see a problem, AS LONG AS the lens, scanhead mirrors and pass-thru mirror will tolerate the extra heat. I also don't know if the incident beam of a higher wattage fiber be appreciably larger? If so, that would also play into the size of the scanhead mirrors, or the scanhead itself since, at least with mine, the hole the beam passes thru ain't all that big!

    As to the electronics aspects, I'm even more clueless!
    Most of the sources I see for sale include the electronics components to drive the beam. Definitely need to consider the mirrors too (good point).
    Trotec Speedy 300 - 80 watt
    Synrad 30 Watt - CO2 Galvo
    LaserStar 3804 - 50 watt fiber - SPI Source
    Tykma Minilase - 20 watt fiber - SPI Source - (MOPA)
    CorelDraw X7

  4. #4
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    I'm wondering too. I played with searching some yesterday and found nothing to say one way or another. Some heat IS generated at the mirrors, but really how much more? I'd bet not enough to make a difference.

    Oh, searched some more, Scanheads. No mention on several listings as to max power of laser source. So, go for it!
    Woodworking, Old Tools and Shooting
    Ray Fine RF-1390 Laser Ray Fine 20watt Fiber Laser
    SFX 50 Watt Fiber Laser
    PM2000, Delta BS, Delta sander, Powermatic 50 jointer,
    Powermatic 100-12 planer, Rockwell 15-126 radial drill press
    Rockwell 46-450 lathe, and 2 Walker Turner RA1100 radial saws
    Jet JWS18, bandsaw Carbide Create CNC, RIA 22TCM 1911s and others

  5. #5
    FWIW, I've accidentally passed my arm thru my fiber's running beam at least twice that I know of, in either case I didn't feel a thing. Only reason I knew I'd done it was because the sound of the machining stopped. So how much heat there really is at the mirrors, just based on my arm, doesn't seem to be much. --Reflected beam heat (beware engraving cylindrical shapes), different story!
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  6. #6
    I'd like to say that most of the 20 to 50 watt fiber parts are interchangeable. As you get to the 100 watt level, the glavo mirrors and other parts just aren't up to snuff for the wattage load. I'd love to hear your results .. after you blast through those mirrors.

    Sounds like a cool "let's blow up my $tuff" project.
    Ray Scott
    Owner/Engineer at Rabbit Laser USA


    Advice... Never use your tongue as a multimeter.

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