I am laser welding engineer who works for IPG photonics Here are my observations Lightweld XC is designed for 5/16th plate maximum With laser welding of ferous based metals you use Nitrogen not argon You should be using 1/16th diameter wire for a greater fillet size The machine that best suits that process is the Lightweld XR 2000 watt which is for 1/4" or above The hardest part of my job, is getting welders to adato the new technology You are trying to make the machine do with what you are familiar with, which is MIG. But over all you are learning and that is a good thing.
@@lamania32 Been a long time since I studied lasers and it was from a chemists pov but I wonder since CO2 can lase if that would cause an issue? Just to add to your list of why N2 versus CO2.
Some are bashing him, but I think this is an interesting test. Teaches us that you need a lot more laser power for something this thick, and the differences and limitations of it (which is not super clear in industry right now).
Lasers are as strong as TIG actually. About 7 years back I had laser welds tested and grain structure examined by a lab that found no difference from a metallurgical standpoint. These were welds done on bellows that were 0.025” stainless steel. The power source was an IPG YLR series’s rack and the welds were done in quasi-continuous wave mode. To be honest I don’t know the light weld specifications but that material looks way thick for 1500 watts. Plus you did a fillet plus wire feed versus a butt so it was closer to 1/2”. We used a 2k watt YLR that would weld 1/4” stainless autogenous so you can figure 500 watts per 1/16” of material.
I own one of them 260's-it's around here somewhere. I used to run it and it's big brother an old 350MP. Now all the 350 does is just push-pull aluminum. Any steel wire welding is done off a pipepro 400 with an LN25-the arc is SO sweet!
If the bead of the laser and was as wide and think as the MiG it may have held up. BUT .. if I recall this test should not have the weld itself break if I recall all the parameters are correct and your technique is correct the weeks should hold and tear out base metal when failures occur. But it had been a long time since I have done this test, you should almost maybe cut and etch these joints to give a good look at what the pen looks like.
I believe another test needs to be done. This laser max thickness is closer to 3/16”. I’m positive with a larger laser, wire diameter and even a gas change to nitrogen would’ve changed a lot
It appears to be something the paint and body guys would be pleased with. I can't see where it would be helpful in any of the "heavy industrial" applications due to the amount of heat needed and heavier wall thicknesses.
If it is the same welding wire used in both machines then same ksi tensile strength weld. Break test is is really only comparable if two samples welded are as close as human possible to the same leg length as well as same surface profile. Done this way it would still only show the difference in penetration in the root of the two welds. Still interesting to see laser welds compared & would like to see more.
The laser machine wire feed had obviously put a lot LESS metal into that joint. Maybe you just needed to move your hand slower so the heat and feed metal matched the other weld?
I have been welding with laser for 9 years and I can say that laser has very poor penetration even with high effect. laser is very good for its area, low heat input and very clean welding, with example inconel 625
*7:00** Crystal sizes: 2 Scenarios, I'd have to have them in hand to tell which... 1) Quench speed after welding, 2) Ultimate temperature DURING welding.*
Never welded with laser but any experienced mig welder would use other settings on the mig machine too litle voltage and not enough amps... Its works like that but you have to weld very slowly...
@@austinhargett5792 I am only familiar with MIG (we just started using laser at my job), but I would imagine the difference in the material that was left on MIG was what held the metal together for more force. The laser probably penetrated just as well, but didnt have as much support in the end product as far as material is concerned.
Not until this “experiment” was finished did I realize I needed to adjust a few things for a fair fight. Larger diameter wire, slower travel speed, nitrogen, and a bigger laser. I used what I had on hand to just see what would happen. I don’t have very much experience on these lasers, I’ve enjoyed learning along with our viewers as most people don’t have access to one. How would you have done it differently? What’s your solution?
this is not a test when you are using the laser above its rated capacity. you had severe undercut on the laser weld and a concave profile which leads me to believe you angle was wrong as well as you wire speed and travel speed. practice more and re test my friend.
@@austinhargett5792 no hard feelings I hope. Do a test on 18G to see if you get warpage. lots of auto body guys would be interested. you should get adequate penetration (butt and lap weld would be perfect Thanks)
Thanks for the demo! Ive heard 100% argon also works well with laser. Would be interesting comparing different joint configurations as well. For instance would a bend test on a 3/8 plate with a zero bevel butt weld have the similar mechanical properties vs V-groove assuming complete penetration and fusion
Yes, but they advertising this method as a faster and stronger than semi automatic one. To build up on the same level it will take much more time. I know it's all about marketing but they shouldn't try to push this method everywhere as they want to. The only advantage is in thin gauge on mass production and that's it.
They are advertising up to 4 mm pen, depending on the brand. also have to follow the setup guide, correct W settings, and speed. I assure you it's min 10 times faster operating one for almost 4 years
I don't know anything about laser welding, but I would say, If operated with its specified design parameters it would probably shine. I'd be almost certain that welding schedule 40 pipe would be outside of its designed function. That's why there are different types of welding processes. A specific process for a specific application. I would venture to guess an mig welder would preform poorly for an application that the laser was designed for.
@@nealesmith1873 I can wait until after early adopters buy; use, rate and return them to HF for upgrades and improvements. I won’t get stuck wasting money on unproven low priced tools again. Low priced often equals high costs unless there’s a track record.
Is it just me, but it made me cringe when he welded the parts to the top of the welding table. If you don't remove it properly, it will now have lumps and gouges on the surface of the table.
@@austinhargett5792 part of my shop clean up after finishing a project is grinding down all the tacks and splatter on my table… takes like 2 mins, no big deal.
Вы допустили ошибку направив излучение в нижнюю пластину. Нужно взять сопло "вилку", повернуть его на 90° и направлять лазер паралельно нижней пластине
@@austinhargett5792Ещё один совет с вашего позволения. Ударяйте с другой стороны пластины. Со стороны шва. Результат может быть обратным. Попробуйте изменить рабочее расстояние переместив фокальную точку глубже в металл.
Running a 2000 xr for r&d for an ultra-high vacuum company. Thing is neat but basically useless in real world applications that aren't seemles flat joint welds. Anything with a gap it will throw a fit, and you can't have a tac in your process as it traces the base materials. it doesn't wet it in like mig or tig, just makes the area worse. Also, to get the claimed weld penetraition, that's using no filler, which again means no gaps. Otherwise, it just makes craters. Body shop or robotic welding is a good place for these.
Gonna be pretty hard to convince me that laser welding isn't a fad, it does have some industrial/scientific uses, but those have been around for decades already, for the home gamer, or for your average weld shop its a one trick pony who's tricks aren't very impressive, great for thin or very small welds in critical areas, but overall nothing a cheap TIG machine can't do.
The reason is magic fairies from the blue light portal. The Blue Light is a magical place where the lords of the realms rule, Lincoln and across the way is lord Miller ahh but lads and ladies that is a story for another time. The metal is held together by magical fairies some weave tighter than others.
tthe mig used more material so you had to break a thicker stuff laser also NOT heating up as much as the mig doing it so theres explanation but some smarter need like me
Yeah lasers only rated for 5/32 so lets run it on quarter inch and be shocked the weld wasnt strong wtf 😂 bring back redbeard and mancub they had answers
Uhhh, why are we wasting materials MIG welding up a F2 proficiency test? Both will fail by video end, I don't even have to see it through. This is a SMAW test I would use to determine if my students were ready for the certification class. FOLKS, MIG is not, never was, structural welding. It's brazing on steroids ars far as "shear, and tension" forces are concerned. Also this test is done in a press and bent to a specific angle.
It eould of made more sense if you would of judt welder the laser on both sides of one plate. I strsd of teo different welds on oach side. Not a good way to test the welds.
It was a ridiculous test. He had a huge bead and a MIG welder and of course it's going to be way stronger but there wasn't even any need to test that. It was obvious the the laser welder was undersized for the job plus his feed rates, the wrong gas but white test. Why test it when you have such a thin bead on there? A thin bead with a mig a thin bead with a heliarch whatever. It ain't going to match up to a to a robust big bead and you need to compare apples with apples that just sucked. It should never have been even performed. The laser is way undersized for the job. Your your set at 1500 w. I mean it's just ridiculous
Why on earth would you try to compare two completely different processes? Laser shines on thin stainless and Mig works great on thick steels. Get real.
@@austinhargett5792 I've had too much experience with MIG, TIG and Laser, to bite on this clik bait, but one never knows, so sure I was curious. Regards.
@@dacoelec I have little experience with lasers. Other than the supervised use of these haha. I can tell you this wasn’t a great test. But it was never intended to be click bait. Just a dude playing with a laser. And ran a test, didn’t realize how flaw the test was until I was done. Lessons were learned, experience was gained
Proof that just because you took some classes to become a cwi you still don’t know how to weld. If you were able to get that close to a uniform weld an actual welder would’ve been able to
I am a welder way before i was a cwi. You know nothing about me, not to say this experiment wasn’t a bust, and changes need to be made. I’m not the smartest or the slickest, but I can hold my own with any torch. Before making RU-vid videos I was welding high pressure and alloyed pipe in power plants and refineries. Sorry to disappoint you sir.
Is this not scary when you don’t weld anything at all but too think that we count on someone else’s skills that we don’t consider what they used on the boat trailer next time we move a trailer loaded or not it just snapped off with a little hammer 😮and we pulled heavy stuff down the highway of America with trailer welded by someone who we don’t even know 😮I mean how easy it broke thank god for insurance 😮
These laser weld videos always seem like but hurt welders scremin there here to takes r jobs. Man i just want to know if these are good but its always just see look wleders are better! 😂
Needs a special welding hood, needs special walled in work area? Already too needy with no reason to switch from MIG. Thanks for showing me how useless laser welding is.
