I have a question about Air Assist, currently I am using the stock Air Pump which I got with my unit, a ACO-002 which is 35 Watt and 40 Lt per minute system. Recently I ran the pump and feel the power under the nozzle and it while still blowing air doesn’t seem to be that powerful. Does upgrading the Air Pump to something more powerful help in the cutting and engraving of Acyrlic and similar materials?
I don’t run the air assist when cutting acrylic, I don’t know if it’s just me but I find it clouds the surface and then need cleaning where as without it leaves it’s nice and clean.
that’s cause acrylic sublimates instead of vaporizing, so it can re-condense on surrounding materials. I have heard a thin bit of soap helps treat the surface beforehand, or tape.
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If you feel the power under the nozzle I think you have a way too much airflow. There is an excellent article about air/smoke assist in here: https://k40laser.se/air-assist/ .
I just removed my air-assist completely as I had also this surface effects and replaced it with a smoke assist like https://k40laser.se/smoke-assist/ and I’m very happy now. I’m using a 12V fan running at 5V to provide a very very small flow blowing away the smoke and to prevent from flaming-up.
#K40AirSmokeAssist
As that excellent linked post above said, you really don’t need a large flow rate for the standard “air assist” heads most of us have. I have a flow gauge on mine and I’m really only running 7-10 L/min for most things. It’s enough to keep the lens/cut area clear and to mitigate against flame ups.
@donkjr I found it on amazon https://www.amazon.com/LZQ-5-Flowmeter-2-5-25-Meter-Oxygen/dp/B01CKR39XA/
I need if for no other reason that it looks cool :)!
#K40AirAssist
OK… that did it one is now going on order! Maybe one for my CNC mill also :)…