Cutting 1mm sterling silver sheets.

[Brian Lamb]

I think .030" kerf, which amounts to a .015" corner radius is going to be plenty acceptable. I also suspect that with the thin material you want to cut, that might be able to be customized down even smaller. As for the consumption of the garnet, not sure that's going to be a big cost, first, it's usually not that expensive (at least not in blasting media) and from the pictures of the Omax unit, they appear to have an abrasive cup that isn't very large looking. I'm sure they can do a test cut and give you a breakdown of operating costs, garnet, electricity, does it use normal water or de-ionized? All of that should be something the sale man can get you info on.

[Jacob John]

I think .030" kerf, which amounts to a .015" corner radius is going to be plenty acceptable. I also suspect that with the thin material you want to cut, that might be able to be customized down even smaller. As for the consumption of the garnet, not sure that's going to be a big cost, first, it's usually not that expensive (at least not in blasting media) and from the pictures of the Omax unit, they appear to have an abrasive cup that isn't very large looking. I'm sure they can do a test cut and give you a breakdown of operating costs, garnet, electricity, does it use normal water or de-ionized? All of that should be something the sale man can get you info on.

Thanks Man! I'm getting more optimistic about this being a solution. I love my lasers, but for cutting, well, it just isn't cutting it. I wish there was a way to calculate the length of my pieces in EZCad because these waterjets have a speed in inches per minute. I could probably ballpark the cut time if I had that info, though it seems to cut a lot faster than my 50 watt. A small piece of copper on my 50 watt is about 12-18 minutes depending on size. That same piece in sterling is about 8 minutes. I think the same piece would be about a minute on the waterjet, maybe less.

[Kev Williams]

I wish there was a way to calculate the length of my pieces in EZCad because these waterjets have a speed in inches per minute. I could probably ballpark the cut time if I had that info,

Just so happens my cheap Chinese LaserSoft program will do just that, and I'm guessing RDWorks and any other Chinese laser program WITH a cut simulator probably will too...

I typed in 'WHAT'S MY LINEAR CUT DISTANCE?' in 24pt Arial in Corel, imported to LaserSoft and entered it into the simulator; it came up with 754.58mm-
here's a screenshot of the simulator-
cut.jpg
Closeup of the upper left corner so you can actually read the 'work distance'..
cut2.jpg

so the outlines of that lettering at 1/4" tall total almost 29-3/4" total length--

I'd be glad to run some patterns thru my simulator, I use Corelx4- or you might be able to download LaserCut or some other software that will work in demo mode...

[Jacob John]

Just so happens my cheap Chinese LaserSoft program will do just that, and I'm guessing RDWorks and any other Chinese laser program WITH a cut simulator probably will too...

I typed in 'WHAT'S MY LINEAR CUT DISTANCE?' in 24pt Arial in Corel, imported to LaserSoft and entered it into the simulator; it came up with 754.58mm-
here's a screenshot of the simulator-
cut.jpg
Closeup of the upper left corner so you can actually read the 'work distance'..
cut2.jpg

so the outlines of that lettering at 1/4" tall total almost 29-3/4" total length--

I'd be glad to run some patterns thru my simulator, I use Corelx4- or you might be able to download LaserCut or some other software that will work in demo mode...

So Kev, I downloaded Lasercut, and imported the image, ran simulate and I come up with two sets of numbers. Total length and cut length. Pretty big differences in those numbers. I'm guessing I go with total length?

[Kev Williams]

NO, go with cut length, which is pure "laser on" distance-- TOTAL length includes "laser off" moves too! Just from home to work and back home can add LOTS of distance depending on where the actual work starts!

[Jacob John]

NO, go with cut length, which is pure "laser on" distance-- TOTAL length includes "laser off" moves too! Just from home to work and back home can add LOTS of distance depending on where the actual work starts!

Well I'm glad I asked!

So for this one piece, it's 286.3mm (11.27"). But now I can't really find any info on these waterjets inches per minute calculation. Good thing the company that's selling them is going to give me that. I should know soon enough if a waterjet can beat my 13 minutes cut time on the fiber!

[Brian Lamb]

Most CAD software has an "analyze" function or maybe "Properties" that will list perimeter, surface area and if the part is 3D it will tell you volume and can give weights based on the type of material. You should be able to get the perimeter pretty easily that way. If nothing else, dimension all the straight lines and add the numbers up, it should be pretty close.