ENGINEERING.com’s Jim Anderton gets the scoop on Mazak Optonics’ newest laser technology.
Could the VCL-T100, utilizing direct diode laser technology in combination with machining technology, be the future of laser cutting?
Watch the video above for interview highlights with Al Bohlen, vice president and general manager of Mazak Optonics Corp. or read on below for the entire dialog.
Jim Anderton (JA): Al, we’re looking at something significantly different, in laser cutting and tube laser in particular.
Al Bohlen (AB): We’re really excited that we’re featuring this machine for the first time here at FABTECH in Chicago. This is a generation of machine that we currently build in our factory in Florence, Kentucky. Our friends there build a version of this machine tool with a spindle and tool changer or machining center. What we’ve done is take this platform, which is a highly precise motion system and mounted a laser system to it. We’ve basically combined the ultra-high accuracy of a machining center with laser power.
JA: If it’s based on the chassis of a machine tool, I’m thinking of extreme precision repeatability that’s significantly greater than we can imagine for a fabricating application. Is there some commonality in the machine controls or interface for the equipment?
AB: We don’t want to reinvent the wheel. We want to use a lot of the knowledge that we have in drive systems. So we’ve incorporated the same motion unit, drive system and feed systems as we do in the machining center.
We’ve upgraded the controls to a FANUC 30i control. This allows us to do more 3D geometry and laser cutting and that involves a lot of axis movement and chuck orientation. The power of this control system really helps us in that regard.
JA: In terms of the laser source, the conventional wisdom is that CO2 is dead and everyone is using fiber lasers, but is there a level of technology that we can consider beyond fiber?
AB: Absolutely. I think that the industry is starting to hear about direct diode laser. We all know of the advantages from moving from CO2 laser to fiber, with the maintenance profile, the cutting advantages, all of those kinds of things. What direct diode technology does, is really taking it to the next level. Fiber lasers are quite energy efficient and that’s a big advantage over CO2. What direct diode technology has done is really raise that bar a bit further. Direct diode cuts very similarly to fiber, but is even more energy efficient.
JA: We know on the machine tool side that advanced connectivity is the leading edge. Will we see similar connectivity on the laser side?
AB: Yes, that was something that we felt was very important. In our Mazak machining centers, they all incorporate MTConnect technology. These new machines at the show, including the VCL also have MTConnect where we have online, real-time productivity metrics that are reported. We can do that through a mobile app, the company’s network and we can show what the machine is cutting, how long its been cutting and set up an analysis of how much productivity we’re getting from a machine every hour of the day.
JA: For years, lasers have been sold like horsepower in cars. It’s always been about power. What’s your opinion on thinking about lasers strictly in terms of power output?
AB: We all get stuck on power and we certainly want to leverage its advantages, but what we’re learning with both fiber and direct diode lasers is that we can develop cutting techniques and cutting head technology that leverage lower power levels to get similar cutting performances that used to be limited to higher power lasers.
Power and cutting fast is important, but there are often times that the machine is not running on the shop floor and it has nothing to do with power. It has to do with ‘Are my programs ready?’ or some other variable on the shop floor that’s restricting the machine from running. Having this connectivity that we talked about, this MTConnect platform, we can really report more data to the end user about why this machine is either running or not running. I think that is a much more intelligent way to get more hours per day of cutting than simply higher speeds and higher power.
For more information, visit Mazak Optonics Corp.’s website here.