Aeronaut Flatbed Laser Cutters

Let's get something out of the way first! Aeronaut manufactures flatbed laser cutters intended for technical textiles and on the whole, they are big machines. Aeronaut does not manufacture the small laser-in-a-box style cutters which typically come from China and are intended for small size work, typically in signs and engraving where they do a good job.

Aeronaut uses American made lasers which are powerful, durable and well supported. These laser tubes are called "all metal" because they are mostly metal. Chinese lasers are mostly glass tubes which you can pick up on eBay for a few hundred dollars.

Our US made laser tubes, especially the higher power versions, cost more than an entire laser-in-a-box. However they are good for tens of thousands of hours, decades of use, unlike the Chinese ones which if you get two thousand hours out of the laser tube, you doing well.

With lasers, you get what you pay for! 

Laser Facts

CO² Lasers. All the lasers that Aeronaut sell are CO² lasers. These are ideally suited to cutting textiles and given normal precautions and the built-in safety interlocks on the machine, they're easy and safe to run.

How Lasers Cut. Lasers cut by melting or burning which cuts and edge seals most synthetic textiles. On thicker, coated and laminated materials there may be fumes, however the fumes are extracted at the cut zone and with a fume filtration system, laser cutting can be fume and odour free.

Laser Power. Lasers are available from milliwatt to kilowatt sizes. The milliwatt lasers are mostly used for laser pointers. The kilowatt lasers are mostly used for cutting materials like steel. Laser power levels of 30 - 250 watts are suitable for cutting almost all synthetic textiles.

Cut Speed. There's a direct relationship between cut speed, power, weight and price with lasers. Any power of CO² laser will cut the same materials but the higher the power, the faster the cut (and the higher the price).

Water or Air Cooled. Laser cutters generate some heat and they need cooling. This is either by air (fan) or water cooling, especially on the higher power lasers. Water cooled lasers are fitted with a chiller to keep the laser at the best operating temperature but in some environments, water can condense on the cool parts of the laser so water cooling isn't always the right thing. Aeronaut can advise on this.

Pulse or Continuous Wave Lasers. Modern CO² lasers come in two types… one where the laser beam is pulsed and the other where the beam is continuous. There are advantages to each type for different work.

One more thing! Laser cutters are really good tools for accurately cutting almost all synthetic textiles. The main reason is that during the cutting process, nothing touches or moves the fabric which is being cut. This makes for better accuracy. If markings are done with an inkjet printhead, the same thing applies… faster and more accurate markings.

Blade cutters can move fabric around on the cutting table, especially if the vacuum is not 100% or the fabric is very lightweight and not completely flat. Many customers with low power lasers cut heavy materials but because the laser cutting process is so hands-off, they can leave the laser cutting while they get on with another job.

Case History: There are advantages to laser cutting which may not be entirely obvious. A few years ago, Aeronaut did some test cutting for a very large Swedish furniture company. At that time, they were high-ply cutting polyester fabric for lounge suites 70 layers thick. The fabric had to be spread, then cut and finally the pieces were overlocked… a time consuming process. Aeronaut test cut the same materials in a single layer with a laser which both cut and edge sealed. The pieces were then subject to the normal test routine of multiple wash cycles to make sure the edge sealing was as good as overlocking. It passed the tests.

Laser cutting and edge sealing in single layers took almost exactly the same time as the high-ply cutting process but avoided all the labour of spreading and overlocking. Accurate pattern matching was possible as was dynamic nesting where fabric faults could be identified and the queue retested to avoid them.

With the enormous range of specialised textiles used in the modern aerospace industries it's hardly surprising that laser cutters find a use - from space suits to reentry parachutes.

We're hugely proud to say that one of our customers has a parachute on mars.

Military and recreational parachutes are an area where Aeronaut is the dominant cutter manufacturer. With all-round edge sealing being an important requirement, a laser is the best tool for the job.

Low power lasers are perfect for canopies but if harnesses, containers and other products are cut, then a higher power laser is more efficient.

Paragliders are another industry where Aeronaut laser cutters play an essential role. Mostly these cutters are small to medium power lasers which can achieve cut speeds of over 1200mm/sec.

The best cutter for spinnaker cloth is a laser. However lasers are also great for cutting heavier cruise materials, solarstop acrylic and many other marine materials.

With accuracy and edge sealing being so important with this work, the best tool for the job is a laser cutter. Since the output is not normally very high, a lower power laser can do the job well.

Most synthetic textiles can be cut (and edge sealed) with a laser - just not PVC. While you might not get perfect edge sealing with materials like polycotton, this and many of the textiles used in outdoor and recreational products will cut fast and efficiently with a laser cutter.