laser cutting aluminum

Date 02-01-2012 02:47

What assist gas was used for the Al cutting. If it was air, you might have some trouble. What thickness, alloy, etc. Got pics?

By Milton Gravitt (***)

Date 02-01-2012 06:00

I don't have no pictures but the material is 6061 T6 and the thickness is .250. We have an outside source to do the laser cutting so I don't know what type of gas that was used if any.

M.G.

By 99205

Date 02-01-2012 06:06

A simple phone call could answer those questions.

By Milton Gravitt (***)

Date 02-01-2012 06:16

I agree but I'm a welder we don't make calls like that. Tell me what type of assisted gas should be used in laser cutting aluminum.I know nothing about the process. To me it looks like they used a plasma cutter.

M.G.

By aevald

Date 02-01-2012 06:43

Hello Milton, I believe I have experienced similar issues with laser cut aluminum. Had to break out the soft pads/flap discs or die grinder and carbide burrs to address impurities on the cut edges. There is likely a way to address this through process modification as fschweighardt has suggested, yet, your supplier may be unwilling to do this or not really care one way or the other. My $.02 for what it's worth. Good luck and regards, Allan

By 522029

Date 02-01-2012 15:31 Edited 02-01-2012 17:01

Milton,

The Laser cut aluminum I have done (6061 10g) tigged just fine. The job was building tool boxes for rigging out oil patch trucks.

However, the first sets of material I received for 6 boxes welded like the plasma cut aluminum I had done on other jobs. I contacted my customer,who had supplied the pre-cut pieces, he contacted the cut shop, and sure enough, these peices had been plasma cut, by error of course.

I built these boxes for almost a year with no more problems. The ensuing sets were all laser cut.

Griff

By fschweighardt (***)

Date 02-01-2012 19:37

If they are laser cut, there is a pretty good chance they used nitrogen for the assist. This should not mess with the edges too much. If they used plasma, there is a real good chance they used air. Air assist edges have a certain amout of oxide, which can be tough to remove. The oxide will (of course) make the welding a lot harder. Probably a lot of crud in the weld, etc. If you have a few good close up pictures of the edge, I might be able to tell what process and gas was used.

If you want truly clean edges, you can use argon for assist, but it costs the earth. 99% of folks get by just fine with N2.

End of the day, you will have to clean up the edges with something if it is causing problems with the weld. File, grinder, carbide burr, router, there are a bunch of things that will work.

By 522029

Date 02-02-2012 00:23

fschweighhardt,

What you have described is exactly the conditions I encountered.
Sorry, no pics. That job is long gone.

Griff

By fschweighardt (***)

Date 02-02-2012 02:35

I was asking MG if he had any photos of his project

By 99205

Date 02-02-2012 05:22

You may be dealing with a water jet cut. Water jet cuts can cause problems with welding. It depends on what was used as the cutting medium.

By Milton Gravitt (***)

Date 02-02-2012 14:23

I'm not allowed to post pictures from work. I wish I could.
M.G.