DC vs RF vs Fiber Deep Engrave Resolution On Stone

DC vs RF vs Fiber Deep Engrave Resolution On Stone

THIS DOCUMENT IS IN PROCESS. CHECK BACK OFTEN!


This was my first time using the multi-cam 'live production' workflow with a remote so please excuse my excessive use of 'uh' as well as all of the other hiccups :) 


This test will be done on stone samples on both a Nova 35-80 DC tube machine, as well as an Odin 22-25 RF source machine. We are testing for speed, depth, resolution, etc... from each machine to determine the best machine for these materials.


Part 1 - Initial testing to verify if deep engraving is possible on Nova 35:



Part 2 - substrates react quite differently from one another on Nova 35:



Part 3 - after a second look, the results on the darker sample is not that bad. 




Part 4 - The artwork is often the cause of output anomalies, an can often be optimized, so I wanted to have a look at the provided graphic.



Part 5 - The next step was to do some of this on Odin 22 30w RF, but it was taken out to make room for a fiber (and on Odin 32 60w RF!!!), so I wanted to see what the Aurora 20w Fiber Galvo would do.




Part 6 - Here is a USB scope comparison of the outputs of the Nova 35-80 and the Aurora Fiber. , This sample is one of the hardest to dial in. And the fiber is only a day old and I had ZERO idea what I was doing. I'm sure we can dial this stuff in!



MORE TO COME. RF testing will begin once Odin 32 lands.

    • Related Articles

    • The Difference Between DC and RF Excited CO2 Laser Tubes

      CO2 laser tubes are the most common type of laser tube used in laser cutting and engraving machines. They work by exciting carbon dioxide molecules with a high-voltage electric current (for DC excited) or with radio frequency (for RF excited... think ...
    • Fiber vs. MOPA

      fiber machines are q-switched and mopa uses a master oscillator power amplifier. so basically it's just different technology in the source. the mopa can pulse with more amplitude so you can actually dial in the frequency and other settings to create ...
    • RF Excited CO2 Laser Tubes

      The Thunder Laser Nova (special order) and Odin series CO2 laser gantry engravers employ a high-quality Chinese RF Excited metal tube. Every tube is inspected and tested to ensure that it conforms to our stringent specifications. One of those ...
    • DC Excited CO2 Laser Tubes

      The carbon dioxide laser (CO2 laser) was one of the earliest gas lasers to be developed. It was invented by Kumar Patel of Bell Labs in 1964, and is still one of the most useful. Carbon dioxide lasers are the highest-power continuous wave lasers that ...
    • Thunder Laser Aurora Fiber Galvo

      AURORA 8 comes with 20w standard fiber laser source, 110x110mm field lens, EZCAD2 controller/ software as standard. Customers can choose optional 150x150mm and 200x200mm lenses if needed. AURORA 8 PRO comes with 20w MOPA laser source (or 50W fiber), ...