Laser

The Greek mathematician and
engineer, Archimedes, invented,
among other things, the process
of producing heat with a ray of
LIGHT. Twenty-three centuries
ago from the hills of Syracuse,
Sicily, he set Roman ships
aflame by concentrating the
sun's rays with large metallic
mirrors. The first star war
weapon!

It is child's play to use the same
principle and burn a piece of
paper with a magnifying glass on
a sunny day: a simple scientific
experiment that most of us have
enjoyed. Today this principle has
been put to use in a wide variety
of applications using a process
introduced theoretically by
Einstein, called Light
Amplification by Stimulated
Emission of Radiation: LASER.

Since the construction of the first
laser in the 1960's, laser
technology has solved numerous
problems in medicine,
electronics, telecommunications,
the military, aerospace and
manufacturing.

With today's powerful lasers it is
possible to cut, drill, weld and
mark virtually any material, at
speeds and accuracies not
available by other technologies.

How it Works
Concentrated heat produced by the laser beam at the focus of a lens, simply melts and vaporizes the
material. The work piece is positioned on a X-Y table. The direction and speed of table movements are
controlled by a computer system according to a CNC program tailored to the blueprint specifications.
Today, laser cutting is much faster than Conventional Machining or Electric Discharge Machining, more
precise than Plasma Arc Cutting, and presents a much lower cost than Stamping for shorter runs. For
thinner materials it is better than Waterjet Cutting.
Laser drilling is unmatched in its accuracy for drilling microscopic holes. In welding delicate parts, laser
welding has a definite edge on TIG and MIG and even Electron Beam Welding due to less heat input to
the part and its capability to hermetically weld components. Laser marking has become the method of
choice for many marking applications due to its speed, durability, ease of automation and lack of
contamination.