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Laser-Cut Music Box [video]

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Re: Laser-Cut Music Box [video]

#2
Neat! The confluence of skills to dream up, model, cut, and build a musical instrument is pretty cool!

My full time job is operating a 4kW 1070nm fibre laser setup for cutting metals, mostly steel; stainless steel; aluminium here in Launceston, Tasmania.

Unfortunately the supplier advised us not to cut timber / particle board due to the potential of an ember reaching the fume extractor which contains regular cardboard type air filters. Oddly enough, last year I reached out to some other laser cutters locally and one mentioned their laser was down due to a fire in the fume extractor!

Re: Laser-Cut Music Box [video]

#3

Neat! The confluence of skills to dream up, model, cut, and build a musical instrument is pretty cool! My full time job is operating a 4kW 1070nm fibre laser setup for cutting metals, mostly steel; stainless steel; aluminium here in Launceston, Tasmania. Unfortunately the supplier advised us not to cut timber / particle board due to the potential of an ember reaching the fume extractor which contains regular cardboar…

That seems like a very small town, is there enough demand for the machine?

Are there any good resources on how fiber lasers work? I have a co2 laser 200W that's pretty good for all things non-metal and would be interested in getting a fiber one, alignment seems like a breeze, but the prices for the fiber lasers start at $100k or so.

Re: Laser-Cut Music Box [video]

#4

Neat! The confluence of skills to dream up, model, cut, and build a musical instrument is pretty cool! My full time job is operating a 4kW 1070nm fibre laser setup for cutting metals, mostly steel; stainless steel; aluminium here in Launceston, Tasmania. Unfortunately the supplier advised us not to cut timber / particle board due to the potential of an ember reaching the fume extractor which contains regular cardboar…

What types of applications are you using the laser cutter for?

Re: Laser-Cut Music Box [video]

#5
post #3

Neat! The confluence of skills to dream up, model, cut, and build a musical instrument is pretty cool! My full time job is operating a 4kW 1070nm fibre laser setup for cutting metals, mostly steel; stainless steel; aluminium here in Launceston, Tasmania. Unfortunately the supplier advised us not to cut timber / particle board due to the potential of an ember reaching the fume extractor which contains regular cardboar…

That seems like a very small town, is there enough demand for the machine? Are there any good resources on how fiber lasers work? I have a co2 laser 200W that's pretty good for all things non-metal and would be interested in getting a fiber one, alignment seems like a breeze, but the prices for the fiber lasers start at $100k or so.

I moved here 5 years ago due to other life factors conspiring to bring me here. I had no idea Launceston is a little manufacturing powerhouse. The city is growing and there appears to be a lot of opportunities in the arts, manufacturing, technology, there’s even a bit of software development fling on here. Plus a bit of skiing an hour away. I’ve met a lot of great people here an occasionally get to laser cut art.

Without going in to too much detail, yes there’s a lot of demand for machine time.

I haven’t really looked at smaller machines, ours was in the vicinity of 1MM.

I would have thought a lower power laser diode module, and associated optics would be available at a reasonable price by now.

Re: Laser-Cut Music Box [video]

#6
post #4

Neat! The confluence of skills to dream up, model, cut, and build a musical instrument is pretty cool! My full time job is operating a 4kW 1070nm fibre laser setup for cutting metals, mostly steel; stainless steel; aluminium here in Launceston, Tasmania. Unfortunately the supplier advised us not to cut timber / particle board due to the potential of an ember reaching the fume extractor which contains regular cardboar…

What types of applications are you using the laser cutter for?

Predominantly structural steel, marine (we also build boats), agricultural, architectural, and art.

I’m a huge proponent of working with local artists, we’ve helped with some pretty cool metal sculpture and installation art.

Ping me if you’d like to see some photos / video, contact details in my profile :)