Two laser tubes, one machine, 1 for cutting, 1 for engraving

[SWMS]

I have recently stumbled upon the concept of a dual tube machine. Apparently over 120W+ tubes are too heavy duty for engraving lighter materials, so you have to have a dual tube setup? Is this correct? Is this when you would use a beam combiner etc? Can both lasers fire at the same time or would the wavelengths interfere with each other?

Thanks

[Tech_Marco]

Dual tube system need different mechanic setup. And,there are two different mechanical setup on dual system. Plus, casing is a little bit difference for two tubes placed in the same compartment but in opposite direction. Too much trouble for a DIY to make dual system. 120W seems a little over kill for engraving and I'll suggest 100W or smaller for better result. Remember that a bigger tube has higher threshold current. For a small tube, it take 4~5mA to get into 'saturated' but for a 100W tube, it take 7~9mA depends on the tube. Plus, for such high power output, you may want to increase the speed to offset the over-burn issue. But not too machine can handle 600mm/s or over engraving speed without seeing some 'backslash' from happening.

Marco

[SWMS]

I am more concerned about being able to cut through things but it seems then you can't reduce the power enough for an engrave. So it seems 100 watt is a happy medium. What thickness MDF would a 100 watt cut through. When upgrading from a 60 watt tube, I know I'd need a new power supply but would I need bigger mirrors etc?