ANNISTON ARMY DEPOT, Ala. -- To keep Anniston Army Depot's new laser cutter running continuously would require at least four people - one to program it, one to load material onto its table, another to remove and clean finished product and a fourth with a forklift of metal parts awaiting work.
In those conditions, all four would be moving continuously to keep metal sheets loaded and being processed.
That's how fast the new fiber optic laser cutter is - it can easily outpace its operators, who only move as fast as humanly possible.
According to Jerome Kelley, one of those two operators, it's approximately twice as fast as the depot's other laser cutter, a carbon dioxide pulse laser.
It is also precise.
Joe Cash, toolmaker/machinist supervisor for the depot, said the enclosed system aids in the precision.
"The machine can hold tighter tolerances over larger quantities because it isn't impacted by atmospheric conditions," said Cash.
According to LVD, the manufacturer of the Phoenix FL 3015, its repetitive accuracy is +/- 0.001 inches or about 0.025 millimeters.
Kelley said it would cut any type of material from .005 to 1.25 inches in thickness.
For comparison, a millimeter is 0.039 inches and the diameter of a half dollar is a little less than 1.25 inches.
The new laser cutter was delivered in December, installed in January and operators are completing their training on the equipment now.
"Just about every combat vehicle program might be touched by this new cutter," said Steven Johnson, machinist supervisor for the Component/FCIM Machining Branch.
According to Kelley, when material is cut on the new machine there is less burring for the operator to remove during post-production cleaning.
"There is less wear and tear on the operator because it doesn't take as much effort to de-burr," said Cash.
"It cuts faster and leaves a cleaner cut," agreed Johnson.
Social Sharing