handheld laser welding machine  - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2019, 02:43:56 am
content: What do you think?The future?

author: bitwelder
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2019, 04:47:17 am
content: Quote from: coppercone2 on September 03, 2019, 02:43:56 amWell, if that's the future, it's going to be a blind future.

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2019, 05:27:52 am
content: Still needs gas. Still needs skill. Can probably not work on aluminum.Future? Yeah, I'd bet on it. For specific production welding of thin stainless steel sinks and other crap like that which some company makes by the hundreds of thousands. Maybe the automobile industry. Probably will be done by robots. Will probably never be used in a body shop or Joe's garage, even if the price loses 4 zeroes. Well, at least not in our lifetime.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2019, 05:44:00 am
content: i question the term "handheld"

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2019, 05:51:07 am
content: granted for the same size I think you could weld warship armor with a conventional welding machine of the same size, but still..its the easiest hand welding process I ever saw in my life, it looks easier then plasma cutting because you just drag it and you can't tell if it punched through or its clogging etc, it makesmigactual 3m hot glue work look hard, I don't think he is even looking to see what happens? even with a glue gun you need to make sure you don't squirt it on your handthe interesting thing is that research is showing us that we should stay away from stainless steel for culinary uses because its antibacterial properties are shit compared to copper (now hospitals might start going to old school metals instead of fancy stainless, since it has like 50% or less bacteria on it then stainless without sanitation, at least for frequently used things like door knobs). We got shafted with al the stainless kitchen stuff. I kinda regret getting the fancy door knobs

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2019, 06:01:13 am
content: it would be interesting to know if a thin coating of copper will still work to kill bacteria, maybe we can retrofit the stainless crap if you brush it hard at high speeds with copper brushes (gives it a gold coating with a brass brush, maybe it will work for copper)

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2019, 07:09:26 am
content: QuoteI'm sure it requires very clean and consistent finish on the sheet metal. The guy's hand moves like a robot, silky smooth. Just cuz the result is good doesn't mean it didn't take hours to dial in the settings, piles of sheet metal to practice on, and 20 takes for each clip to get one that wasn't a disaster. I am sure this is way harder than MIG welding. I want to see what happens when it goes wrong, but a company making expensive experimental stuff doesn't spontaneously publish videos to showase how bad their stuff sucks.And if you messed it up. Say you went a little too fast or slow. Say you got your angle a bit off. Can you just go back over it and fix it? Or is the metal fouled and must be cleaned up? Is any bead or warpage or surface effect going to screw up the power transfer/focus/absorption? You might have to go back to square one, even. This would go in the trash. Next! And it's fast, yep. But can you even go slower, if you wanted, and have it still work?This makes a great video, but I would bet this is gonna be done by robots in a fairly sterile/clean environment on an assembly line.

author: Kleinstein
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2019, 07:41:14 am
content: Quote from: blueskull on September 03, 2019, 05:36:05 amAt the power needed for any reasonably size (that is more than µm foils) metal welding, even the scattered light is dangerous (not just to the eye, but even to the skin) and the laser usually class 4. For professional use the safety requirements would essentially exclude this - for private use, it a question of costs.AFAIK 1064 is still dangerous to the eye - some of the intensity is absorbed in the eye ball, but not enough.Anyway for welding one would need a shield or gasses anyway because of the intense light and possible splashes - so one could include a proper laser filter.

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2019, 07:51:03 am
content: ^Robots!

author: AndyC_772
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2019, 08:21:47 am
content: I wonder what's with the thin vertical stripes on the video. Camera damage caused by...?

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2019, 09:53:08 am
content: Quote from: AndyC_772 on September 03, 2019, 08:21:47 amMaybe lasers? Scattered unpredictably from metal surfaces?But just like the Radium girls, people have to die to get some common sense.Or in case of china, you never get common sense, if there is profit.BTW They should've made it in this shape:

author: xmetal
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2019, 12:47:34 pm
content: It looks good but I think I will just have to put up with a MIG welder and plasma cutter for the time being!

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 04, 2019, 12:01:15 am
content: can you smoke it with soot to make it some what safer before welding>?

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 04, 2019, 02:01:34 am
content: Yeah, I'm sure they didn't think of that. Try sooting up the metal before TIG/MIG welding and see how far you get.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 04, 2019, 02:09:58 am
content: I thought the laser might cause it to disappear like the technique with gas welding to check temperature, but only in the hottest spots in case there is some kind of misalignment or whatever that causes reflections

author: AngusBeef
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 04, 2019, 02:30:18 am
content: It looks like it has terrible penetration...Sent from my SM-T820 using Tapatalk

author: KL27x
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 04, 2019, 03:07:45 am
content: The laser probably has to be tuned and focused very tightly to work. Notice how the nozzle is resting against the surface and a guide. Doing the outside corner, he uses a special tip to rest against the work.As soon as the metal starts to melt and change color and shape, you might think all bets are off. So I imagine the penetration will be really limited. If you stayed in one spot too long, maybe you just wastefully scatter laser around the room. Or maybe some reflects back into the nozzle and fouls the optics. Or maybe... it burns a hole through the earth and exits somewhere in China.I saw in another video this apparently uses a 1000W laser. That's really not that much, considering the speed. Seems like it is fairly efficient.

author: AngusBeef
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 04, 2019, 03:15:02 am
content: I have my doubts that the laser will ever have great penetration but to be honest I'm ignorant of the tech...but as far as efficient sheet metal welding? In the hands of a robot? Yeah I think it will end up in automotive and manufactured goods as everyone above saysSent from my SM-T820 using Tapatalk

author: David Hess
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 04, 2019, 06:15:23 pm
content: I will only be impressed when I see the same joints done with TIG and both tested to see which breaks first.

author: MadTux
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 04, 2019, 09:28:05 pm
content: For everyday stuff, that thing is outperformed in price and performance by about every TIG welding machine.Apparently, from what I've heard, they are nice for difficult things though, like cast iron welding and filling galling marks in machine ways, because of extremely focused energy and thereby very little heat input into the workpiece.