Until recently, the textile industry remained an industry with a high share of manual labor. The reason for this is the difficult machining of the fabric.
The situation has radically changed, when the technology of laser cutting of fabric began to receive more and more distribution. The thinnest seam of the cut provides a high-energy beam, and a laser machine controlled by a microprocessor CNC system can perform figured cutting of fabric blanks and provides high-quality processing, absolute absence of rejects and great material savings.
In addition, CNC laser cutting machines are quite easy to maintain and manage - everyone can easily handle them.
And most importantly, most models of machines are quite affordable for a small business, private workshop or art studio. With a competent approach to the selection of equipment for processing fabric, a business will be able to get a powerful machine tool base, and at the same time a minimum of cash costs will be required.
Machine Features
The CNC laser machine has a sturdy steel case with a table located inside, where the workpieces are placed, an instrumental portal that carries the head of the emitter, a laser tube generating radiation. Stepper motors are provided for the movement of the tool portal, they are controlled by a CNC system. All systems of the machine are controlled by the CNC controller, it is also equipped with built-in memory, where program files for processing are loaded.
Principle of operation
The processed fabric blank is spread on a horizontal working table. Its area corresponds to the maximum size of the workpiece. It can be placed on the table either manually or with the help of an automatic loader. In this case, the laser machine is able to work with fabric in rolls, which will greatly simplify the process.
The machine starts up after the workpiece is placed and the control program is loaded. Moving over the tissue plane, the laser head delivers a pulse at a given point with a power that will be enough for cutting through the fabric. Since the laser acts on the fabric for a relatively short time, the adjacent layers are not affected by through burning - this allows you to achieve the fineness and accuracy of the edges of the cut. Machine tools, thanks to this feature, can produce laser cutting of leather and fabrics, including synthetic and complex in texture.
In accordance with the processing route, the head of the laser emitter moves continuously on the fabric. This allows you to accurately repeat the program sketch.
Versatility is the strongest advantage of laser cutting equipment. The machine can be instantly readjusted to the production of products of various types, while there will be no difference, is it a mass batch or a single product. All copies of manufactured products are identical and of high quality.
Criterias of choice
For productive work on equipment for cutting fabric, you should adhere to some selection criteria when buying. If everything is done correctly, production will go off with a bang.
The first criterion is the area
The first and most important criterion is the area of the desktop. Of course, for each production an individual size of the working surface is suitable.
The counterweight to this requirement is the price, because the larger the size of the machine, the higher its cost. Nevertheless, a larger format machine is more universal if it becomes necessary to rapidly expand production.
The second criterion is power
The second criterion is the power of the laser tube. Of course, it does not require very high power for cutting fabric (even a weak machine will cope with thick fabric and through burning). However, a high processing speed can be provided with sufficient power.
The third criterion is autoload fabric
Working with a roll stock will help to get rid of two processes at once: preliminary cutting and manual loading of fabric. In the basic configuration, not every laser machine model has a mechanical startup. In addition, such a mechanism may not be required if the work is done with small batches or individual orders.
Fourth criterion: drawing scheme
One of the advantages of laser cutting of fabric is that solid waste is completely absent. Only the gaseous residue is obtained in the process of "irradiation" of the tissue. The laser gas extraction machine is equipped with a standard exhaust hood. Also, when choosing equipment, it should be borne in mind that a number of machine models have exhaust systems with flexible capacity.
Fifth criterion - manufacturer and service
After forming the "image" of the machine according to the above criteria, you can choose a specific model that is offered on the market. At a cost swing products from different manufacturers - especially the Chinese technology has attractive offers. However, it is best to give preference to the manufacturer who can provide a guarantee and has a developed service network. Otherwise, there is a risk of getting an unworkable cheap machine for laser cutting of fabric.