I have been hobby welding for 50 years gas, mig, tig, stick I now restore classic cars and build restromods in my retirement about a year ago I got a 3KW laser ($19K+)that easily does full penetration from one side of 5/16" metal and also plastic panels parts can be repaired even nylon. If the fit is good no wire is needed and its about 5x+ the speed of MIG It also does cleaning and removes discoloration and can actually offer alternative to sand blasting w/o the finish issues I can restore a carburator in minutes and removing paint is simple. I was able to exceed the quality of my conventional welds in less than a day skills I had invested decades in reaching. I am able to hold and handle welded objects almost immediatly it's actually scary how soon I can handle welded parts with my bare hands and heavy gloves are almost not needed because the heat is focused on such a small area.Without the welds shrinking I can continously weld panels without having to tack weld adnauseam and very little grinding is needed. One important safety issue is that the wand/torch should be treated more akin to a gun as the laser beam will travel for long distance and can be reflected from certain surfaces, only one person should be in welding room at a time to prevent an accident. Like everything I get first the price starts to plummet shortly thereafter. Ray Stormont
Is the weld a soft weld as it fuses the parent metal? Like a TIG during planishing, hammer & dolly. Makes sense but curious. Thanks kindly for your answer in experience.
@@nigelbailey1711 The best thing to do is buy the gear, PPE, leather gloves, vest and practice on material you may most likely to use. Then practice! There are excellent welding videos on UA-cam and learn from mistakes. Just remember the laser is capable of thin metals. I don’t even have a TIG but my 1984 MIG is a true 150amp that does 1/2” easy, but I can install tiny wire (0.30”) and don’t have drive rollers for (0.23”) wire used on sheet metal. If you hammer & dolly you can do sheet metal better with a TIG as the weld is softer. It flattens well and requires less filler. It depends on your future requirements! Best of luck on your projects!
A bit of information to help everyone - general rule of thumb with a laser welder is 500 watts per mm of material thickness (so 1500 watts for 3mm, 2000 watts for 4mm and 3000 watts for 6mm). When you get up into the bigger wattages you will need a welding helmet but at 3000 watts you only need about shade 5, maybe shade 6 if welding aluminum. While these produce far less radiant heat than other forms of welding they do put out more invisible IR light so you do need to keep your skin covered to avoid sunburn.
Great info… one terminology point: IR doesn’t produce suburn though… IR just produces regular old burn burn, like sticking your hand three inches below the broil element on your electric oven for a minute or two. No doubt it FEELS like sunburn, and probably sneaks up on you the same way. Sunburn is from UV light.
I’ve used less power in demonstrations that worked pretty well. And for a lot of work that this might be used for, you can get to the back and weld that too.
We are using LightWeld 1500 since it's on the market in the US. I do not have enclosed room, either using the laser glasses, today my vision is like "you are looking trough a sieve". My POE: short sleeves T's, shorts, tennis or running shoes. No jokes a side the incident ray angle and reflected ray angle is always equal. ( you have to take in consideration the surface of the material you are welding is not like a mirror so the reflected ray will be like spray of rays) If you are behind the the rays you are safe. (don't pee against the wind) But recommended to use 1070wl laser glasses at list. If the ray hit you anywhere on your body its feels like a hot needle punctured your skin. We did a banana cutting video with our laser welder which is not intended for cutting, and it did cut the banana. Ours is the very first handheld by IPG. You can weld thicker, 70-80% thicker material then the factory specs, in order to do that: slow down your travel speed, with the 1500 you can do 3/8 with enough practice. I'm constantly welding 1/4- 3/8 aluminum with my LW1500 it specked for 4mm . Your parts have to be "clean" just like any other typical welding procedure, any foreign material will cause craters and will be hard to fix it on crucial parts. As he said in the video you can manually add filler metal, We do that when a larger gap present. Also with the laser your fitment has to be spot on. If you have a large weld gap the laser beam will bounce back and fort on the edges and it wont weld as intended, the rays have to penetrate you material. Also if the laser beam "escapes" your weldment it will light up everything in its way (distance depending by the wattage) you can easily light up a wooden table, shelf, or anything like it, puncture your 18V battery sitting close by your welding zone, Its kind of fun if its Lithium ion battery. 5053 0.45 filler 60-80 on wire feeder in general is good for any type of aluminum 1/8-1/4, if you go to slow you can blow trough, on thin steel or ss you can bump it up 95-105 and use higher W settings. You will save lots of time on the post processing literally no sanding required unless its specified by the designer or you want to sand it or...... You can weld up to 12X faster in most cases. Chinese units the better ones start at 8 grand and up, IPG 20+. I think Miller came out with a system for 45+ I don't know what fck they thinking its over priced. IMO IPG does not worth the price either you can pick up a few Korean brand fro half the price and its 3KW but it requires 3phase 380 and its quite large compared to the IPG1500, Also IPG gun has lots issues but the company has awesome customer support ( 4 years 6 guns trigger switch 10+times, Loop pogo connection to nozzle 6 times ( in that case you have send gun back for repairs), and galvo problems (gun replacement) Asian units have the same gun (not the same as IPG) in most cases and its 1500 US when you buy one recommended to get a replacement gun right on the bet. If you drop it accidentally you will kill the galvo, I did drop it in the first 30 days. Cons: heavy gun compared to any other type of welding procedure, cant do hard to reach areas simple because of the laser gun geometry and the extensive wire connections, inside corner welding on table is no go. you have to elevate your parts off of the table 4-6" at list. Pros: overhead welding no cherries what so ever some light sparks that's all. as I said up to 12x faster and almost 0 post processing. Oh an other tip you can do unlimited thickness V grove it and run multiple passes. its not qualified by D 1.1 but it works for other purposes.( I did fix a Bobcat arm 1/2 plate with this method and it still works did not break so far) good video thanks.
yrs ago, was welding railway track into a gold trommel, fully covered. 2mm?, lincoln inner shield. 1"' welds. wide. my lower calves got burnt. reflection off bare steel. 8ft trommel. ausie.
I use laser welding in watchmaking. It's revolutionised case restoration (and any other application where material needs to be added). I also know a chap who's business is repairing eye glasses by post. Re-welding broken frame etc. He's making a very good living. Completely different to the automotive application, but the same technology.
Laser welding has also been a gamechanger in mold repair. What used to involve cost-intensive grinding, filling, re-milling/re-facing, etc... can now be a two step process with far less base material removed, less material added, and less refinishing required. As a matter of fact, the welds can be so small/smooth, some molds don't even require milling. Many metals don't even require feed material. For hairline cracks in mold that doesn't require a perfect finish, you can flash weld the base material, and be done in one step with no added material/finishing.
32:51 I don't think laser eye injuries always hurt, but any sufficiently strong laser beam will leave an instant and permanent blind spot on your eye. They can also reflect at damaging strengths off of surfaces that aren't normally considered reflective. I've met a few laser physicists that were a few dots short of fully functioning eyeballs...
@@PatrickKQ4HBD Table, sheet metal, watch, welder case, Stanley bottle, clamps... anything you think light will bounce on, the laser will do it better.
They apparently don't hurt. There are no nerves. I did a cabling course years and part of it related to fibre. Our instructor knew people who had blinded themselves, looking into a laser. They didn't feel anything, and only realised they were blinding themselves when they could hear the blood vessels in their retina pop, and a blond spot appeared. Horrible.
My friends who is adding to his education and work experience! His Father is a part owner of one of the plants that produces a laser welder and rust removal as well as a number of other products! Was kind enough to recently ship their newest design to me, because while he came over to visit his son I mentioned that I would really like to get one but being on a pension couldn't afford it! I spend a lot of time making my art and this has made it so much faster!
The difference between laser & standard welding, Laser will permanently blind an onlooker. Tig, Arc & MiG it may hurt but it will heal. I have a friend who just recently bought one (7-10k comes to mind). He offered to loan it to our Makerspace, however without locking a room to do the work in, it’s too dangerous to others. In a factory environment, it’s different because you have controls in place.
Thank you, a great consideration for understanding this tool, and how to use it safely. I think FAR too many people have a casual idea of lasers and do not realize, one mistake could cost you highly. The safety factor for the user AND others around NEEDS to be hammered more heavily, so people understand how dangerous this CAN be.
As a automotive engineer I have had to gas weld steel/aluminium & brass & when I first heard of laser welding I thought it would be a game changer due to control of the heat. I have used most types of welding & there's nothing like creating a good clean weld especially when people tell you it can't be welded & repair it.
I have been using laser welders and cutting equipment since the 1990's in industrial applications and it is very good and when used properly its very quick and easy to use.
@@shacklifecustoms8430how do you know he hasn’t? I used to work for a military contractor that makes batteries for both the military & space program. They’ve had a laser welder in use since the early 90s. It takes up most of a small room.
They have been around in extreme specialty applications for more than 20 years, so he very much likely has. This is newer tech that makes it something that can go outside factories and very specific situations.
We most certainly have A LOT of laser welding in this country. I invented a laser for doing it, worked for a laser company that made lasers and have worked at companies that use lasers to weld, cut, mark and engrave on metals and other materials. Laser welding companies are literally all over the place in the US.
I always thought laser welding was a bit gimmicky. This video was great! Very informative and easy to understand! Awesome content as always Jared! Keep up the awesome job!
Definitely a light material bonding tool, the fact that it does not transmit a lot of heat into the material is perfect for sheet metal work, first time seeing this equipment and I've been a welder fabricator for decades pretty neat tool.
Really important: anyone in the room should have eye protection on when the machine is on. Reflected laser light can still blind you. This is different from the light generated by any other type of welder. I’m not an expert but know a physicist who specializes in laser safety in labs and she said even pets in the home of a laser cutter or welder should not be in the same room. Those open-bed types of laser cutters are really dangerous to your eyes.
There's also friction stir welding, but it's normally an industrial use situation that doesn't have much application in a garage or home setting. But it lets you do cool things like weld two disparate types of metal, or even polymers, that you'd have to bolt, rivet, or glue other wise.
I tried stir welding once, but it was a bit disappointing. Truth be told, I just had my mill spindle with regular endmill rotating in the wrong direction …
Great video Jared... I REALLY like the technology. I do have to say, the "easy weld" machine looks like something that was made in the 60's LOL The ability to easily make very thin weld lines is amazing. Yeah you can do it with TIG and MIG, but this is easier, cleaner, and doesn't require very much finish work. Especially from warping. I can see this becoming very popular here in the U.S, especially as the prices start going down like everything else does, after they have been on the market for awhile.
WOW!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU, FOR THIS AMAZING DEMONSTRATION!!!!! I'D BET IT'D BE FANTASTIC FOR JEWELRY REPAIRS, AND ART-METAL FABRICATION, AND, NON-FERROUS METALS OF ALL KINDS, ESPECIALLY ON SMALLER PARTS!!...
Jewlery work has been a typical application for laser welders for a while, low power, lower cost. Now prices are coming down and one can get laser welders for thicker steel, for the hobby garage too at a decent price. You might check out the Herolaser T300 for jewelery work, more info around
I’ve had a go with a big unit and agree with you. The fact it doesn’t get hot and it’s loads cleaner makes it brilliant for some jobs. It’s a faff for most jobs though
The Tesla Cybertruck has the highest precision welds I've ever seen. Since the Cybertruck's armor shell is bare, uncoated metal, Tesla needed to be able to weld to the inside of the body panels without overheating and discoloring the outside of the panels. So, they used computer-controlled laser welders to (for example) weld the inner stainless steel door panels to the outer cold-rolled hard fricking steel. They are such precision welds, so perfect, so controlled, they look like alien technology. Tesla left the surface discoloration for all to see. You can easily see the welds by looking inside the doors (which are 100% unpainted stainless steel). BTW, most of what you read about the Cybertruck is false, based on my 4 months of ownership. It drives like a spaceship of a sportscar with a rigid chassis on the road, it's surprisingly smooth, quiet and comfortable, even when railing a twisty road. Off-road, nothing can touch it. It just walks away from Land Rovers, Jeeps, and Toyota Land Cruisers. More ground clearance (by far), smoother, quieter, more comfortable ride (by far). And, when the going gets tough, the Cybertruck doesn't disappoint. Front and rear mechanical lockers can be activated from the touchscreen, and they turn the Cybertruck into an unstoppable climber, through steep, slippery slop. I can only imagine what it could do with grippier off-road tires! In tight spots the maneuverability is insane for a big truck, closer to a Toyota Land Cruiser. I've been off-roading for over 40 years, and I've never seen anything like it.
I don't think brazing is actually welding, tho. You're not melting the two surfaces and joining them via the heat and added material. Brazing just joins two+ surfaces together by adding in a melted material that acts more like glue rather than actually joining the surfaces.
Brazing uses brass filler rod. It spreads the heat over a wider area so can be stronger than electric welding. But too much heat can damage the parent material.
excellent review , i've been looking at laser welders but no one shows a proper demo , just a speeded up look how nice this is video , thanks for your down to earth demo , laser might not be what i need just yet but in the future it will replace almost every other type of welder .
Dang those welds looks so good. It's really clean. This is the next level for automotive restoration. They just need to be affordable like a flux core welder ($175) 😂
Thanks for the very informative introduction to laser welding for workshops. It’s really fascinating to learn about newer technologies and techniques! I think it’s cool that this is being made more widely available and accessible. Keep up the great work, Jared!
Great video, i work in heavy steel and i do not weld, a bit here and there ,although I do use CNC plasma cutting units and milling machines, our unit cuts anything from 6mm to 60mm nice and clean and we are shortly installing a new unit to cut up to 100 mm plus, this new laser unit for home will be just right i think for me , I am about to start some period vehicle body restoration, nothing major a bit of cutting and panel R&R, and also looking to buy a laser rust removal machine, I watched a demo at a friends shop, it rocks and doesn't take long either 👍
I was in China last week and got to use a new laser welder model and was easily welding 5/8 mild, stainless and aluminium with full penetration. Many people compare the W's with laser welders, but there is a big difference between companies in what percentage of that wattage is converted to actual light(heat) output from the laser source. The good ones are approaching 60%. The other thing is the annual rate of dropoff of this conversion - it can be as high as 5% or more.
@@chrisfischer511 The brand is called Strongest Laser - it is a joint Belgian / Chinese collaboration, the new model is getting released next month at a trade fair in Germany, they do have a U.S. distributor as well but I am not sure if they sell under the Strongest Laser name or are relabelled with another name - but I can find out. First thing to do is work out what you are going to be welding with the laser welder - that will determine what size machine you need. Next I would rule out any of of large "white or cream boxes on wheels" which most laser welders are - a laser welder has four main components (laser source, cooling, welding gun + wire feed, and user interface touchscreen/software) and most laser welders are just a big metal box on casters that a company was wired together those components into. You really want to be looking at one that is made by the company that makes the components - such as the Theo which is made by MaxPhotonics, there is IPG LightWeld, the Strongest Laser that I mentioned above - they do all of their own components, and there are a couple of others. Things I would look for when purchasing a laser welder - firstly that it is built in accordance with IEC 60825.1 - this is the international standard for the requirements that lasers need to meet - that gives you a start when it comes to safety. Next I would look at cooling - for 1500 watts and below then air cooling is fine, 2000 watts is pushing the limit for air cooling. Personally I prefer refrigerated cooling which is what the Strongest Laser uses - better cooling than air cooling in the same size box. Water cooling tends to have leaks etc and takes up a lot more space than air or refrigerated cooling. Next I would look at the welding gun and wire feeder. You want a welding gun that is fairly simple as that is the part that gets dropped, falls off the welding bench etc. Make sure that you can operate the button with a pair of gloves about as thick as mig gloves not tig gloves. Avoid guns that have LCD displays on them and buttons to make adjustments on the guns etc - just more unnecessary things that can break or screw up. Then look at the wire feeder and decide do you need a single or double wire feeder (not all laser welders have a double wire option). Most wire feeders on laser welders are a generic red box - that is OK - you don't necessarily need one that is made in house by the laser manufacturer. Then look at the user interface - how easy is it to use? How easy is it to train someone how to use it? How many settings and parameters can be changed? (less is better here - do you really need 80 different pretty weld patterns on your beads to choose from?). Try to avoid ones that go into menus then sub-menus with lots and lots of different things that can be adjusted - you can easily get "lost" in the settings and then have your welding get worse instead of better and then stray down the wrong rabbit holes and get totally and utterly lost. Keep it simple! Any questions please ask!
@@Diving_Into_History wow that was an excellent response! I'm learning a lot here. You basically already recommended against it but I've always been curious if a small shop could use one laser source for both the welder and the cnc cutter. Travis Mitchell here on UA-cam has been very inspirational building a cnc fiber laser from scratch. I cant help but think about one expensive source for both applications. Do you know anything about compatibility?
@@chrisfischer511 It may not be impossible - but it would be difficult to swap between the two. From what I understand a true CNC cutter head is quite different to a welding head that will do some cutting, and it would be difficult to swap between the two as you would need to resplice the fire optic cable each time you swapped - which to me would make it very impractical. You could fit the welding head to the CNC and use the cutting function - but a welding head has different protection against beam reflection as it is used at a different angle to that of a CNC cutting head and so you run the risk of a beam being reflected back up the head and lets just say that never ends well. Most laser welder machine damage actually happens when cutting for this reason.
Great info. It's nice seeing the pries for laser welders are climbing downwards. I got no rush getting one, but hope to get one in the future, might wait another 2-3 years
The main problem with lasers is their "danger zone" is huge. Anything that can poke an eye out from across the street needs more than a bit of caution. Or set something ablaze from across the room, etc. Plus with the invisible infrared people won't even realize they're losing an eye until it's too late. The danger can be managed with a machine, handheld not so much.
No windows, interlock on the doors to cut power to the welder, and a laser do not enter sign when the welder is active. It really basic radiation protection stuff (yes laser safety comes under radiation protection) all been known about since I did my Masters in Medical Physics nearly 30 years ago.
Great Review Mate I'm Totally Stunned at How Clean it Welds it Looked so Good even when your Dad Used it i Hope they get the Prices Down so the every DIY Guy Can Have them Thanks Loved it
I had been a A level certified pressure welding procedure #9 (PWP#9) Welder for years I welded pipeline and titanium, which is probably the hardest thing to do cause you must keep-the purge gas over the weld puddle till is solidifies, but when you welding with that laser equipment you have, I noticed that you pull your nozzle and will cause weld buildup and less penetration . whereas keep nozzle tip 90° to 105 degrees facing toward area to be welded when using a fill rod so the laser light is creating a molten puddle and heating up the metal filler rod prior to just making deposit like in oxy/acetylene and TIG welding when using a manual filler rod (hand feed) anyways it works better. When welding metals that are easily contaminated by atmosphere gas , you may have to build a customized inert gas cup to extend behind the weld with steel wool inside it so it’ll disperse cover gas evenly over the cooling weld so it won’t contaminate . You will know a weld is contaminated by it having bluish rainbow colors in it after it has cooled.
Can a guy make a mistake spelling, plus the fact that Jared doesn't do the editing makes him innocent, gotta blame the other guy. Amazing how far this technology has come, i could really see this being great for people who do a lot of fabricating and body welding. The laser left such a clean thin line, and without shrinking the metal, like tig welding which then requires more work to hammer it out. Maybe one day this will catch on, and the price will go down like it did with other welders. You did a good job explaining how it work's, and the usefulness of it. I look forward to seeing the Satellite body work with this machine. G-d bless.
I'll fall on the sword for allowing this error to go through. It's my fault. I can give all sorts of excuses, but the bottom line is: I should have double-checked Jared's RADAR explanation and then used an AI audio stimulator to alter his voice; that would have be simulating. Oh, there were so many ways I could have remedied the stituation, but I simply missed it. -Duane the Editor
OK, I'll fall on the sword for allowing this error to go through. It's my fault. I can give all sorts of excuses, but the bottom line is: I should have double-checked Jared's RADAR explanation and then used an AI vocal stimulator to alter his voice; that would have been simulating. Oh, there were so many ways I could have remedied the stituation, but I simply missed it. -Duane the Editor
Interesting , Thank You. Looks like there will be Many interesting applications . We MUST REMEMBER ALL of the SAFETY precautions. Looks Clean and minimal cool down? Used properly. Can they do verticals and overhead? I do see many applications . even 10% can save much time. Every thing has to start some where
TBH I always thought those videos were fake, the welds just looked like they had been cleaned up already so I assumed it was a editing/camera trick. Definitely cool technology!
There is also electron beam welding, done in a vacuum chamber. Usually used in the production of aero engine components. ie. the blades that make up the interior engine components. Used primary for welding titanium
When you started talking about it my head went right to body work, and someplace that does a lot of it. Probably wouldn't make sense for the home gamer given the cost, but could bring the cost of sheet metal work down when you farm it out too.
Fusion welding is any process the melts the items being welded. MIG , MAG , TIG , Stick , resistance , friction , laser are all fusion welding processes.
When are they going to be available to purchase I couldn't find the welder on there site and the ones they do have you can not just buy you have to contact hero that kinda sucks
It''s intended for autogeneous welding of thin stock properly prepped (cleaning with acetone like prepping for TIG is never a bad thing) which is outstanding for sheet metal. I suggest adding (many) safety warnings because inevitably some Bubba will blind themselves sooner or later by treating it like an arc welding process which it is absolutely not. Anyone buying one should as with any welding machine weld some test coupons for destructive bend testing to ensure making sound welds. A weld can look good (like cold wire welds) but not be good.
Thats really awesome, There is lots of other types of welding like stir welding wich is cold friction fuse welding where they use a spinning die head to fuse the metal. And thermite welding like on railroad tracks. Don't forget about gas welding too.
The S in LASER is for stimulated not simulated the T makes a big dfference! Imagine a tube where a particle is emitted by one end of the tube, hits the other side and that triggers ( *stimulates* )an emission of a particle in that end, and that goes from one end to the other and due to the nature of it, they will group together. Until the number of particles in a group is high enough that they can pas through one end. That's in a nutshell what happens in a laser, just that some people argue if light is a particle or a wave and for engineers it's both.
If you weren't so 'herky-jerky' on your pass, the weld wouldn't have all those blobs and valleys. But, smoothness will come with time if ya work on it. Just a steady, even speed, and there will be very little cleanup or grinding. GREAT VIDEO!!
Can you do any plastic welding with the laser welder? I could see how it would be possible. Same concept as with the one that just fuses them together and dosent use a filler rod. Just melt together and join two pieces of plastic. With the one that uses the filler wire, you could have a plastic filler material that gets fed into the joint. Can these machines be set up for plastics? It would be a neat idea!
I have seen those type of welder used with a robot. I have been trying to keep up on them and so far, I see most try them, the cost of consumables seem to just leave them angry if on a tight budget. I also think its going to take a while for most to fully understand this and keep it going as a first choice
Depends on the size of the "Garage" if your doing custom RC trucks and cars, then sure, using this to build those small tube chassis for those cars and trucks would work perfect
I was a LASER weld automation expert, Edison help with developing the schedule I developed for Nitrogen. shield gas. Much cheaper and prettier. Welding MGG safety systems. Micro Gas Generators for seat belt pretensioners. Millions of those welded, Push material is better for heaver material. Must replace the shield lenses more often. ND YAG what we used.
When welding aluminum, did you need to change shielding gas, or stay with the nitrogen? Also, when welding aluminum with some processes, like oxy acetylene the light shifts towards ultraviolet and special yellow lenses are required to avoid damage to your retinas. Did you notice any discomfort or added brightness when laser welding aluminum?
I only got interested in metal working after I got my pacemaker, but before I learned that pacemakers and welding don't play nice together. This tech could be VERY interesting to people like me.
How much power do they use? How much heat is in the piece vs mig/tig? (Thermal camera side-by-side to see how much and how far it travels through different materials) How much do they cost? How delicate are they? How clean do you have to keep the lenses and any thing special about cleaning them? How much to replace? Would love to see a few months of a test in a shop and see what it's great and not so great at everyday. (great to hear we'll see that) Looks super useful TBH, the interest is real though at the right cost (obviously much more expensive than a reasonable multi mode machine).
What is the range of the laser? If you burn a hole in the base metal, will the laser burn whatever is behind the base metal such as: your table or your leather glove and then your hand or your foot or someone across the room? If you point the laser at a mirror (or chrome), will the laser reflect back onto you to burn your face or set your clothes on fire or permanently blind a passerby who is not wearing shaded eye protection?
Culture shock: You don't need a ground loop, working flat on a metal table is probably holding you back. You might try elevating your work and possibly working on wood or something dirt cheap.
Did you smooch the metals in vice like we had to do for other welds? Butt weld 1/4 thick, 3/4" wide x 2" hammer into circle to ensure weld holds? That's what I had to do in high school to pass. 💖 from Minnesota 😎
Hello again, Jared Thank you for another Great Video 👍 I didn't know that this was even possible to lazar Weld. Thank you for introducing me to this technology.
My friend, Flux Core, isn't MIG it is classified by FCAW (flux core arc welding) in AWS code. And gas shielded flux core or FCAW-G is the most common structural prefab process in the world. Also, it's stimulated, not simulated....
Thanks for this go-thru..... A nice one..... But Nitrogen gas is used.... I did read in a manual to a laser welder ?name..... It was using a CO2 and for all metals!! That`s a plus to cut down the cost of buying a gas bottle for BIG bucks because of MONOPOLY.... A MAG welder can weld not so precise cut parts but Tig, Plasma and Laser welders are forced to have nice cut parts...... but now to days we cut things in a CNC but that was not common for some years ago. So comparing Laser and MIG/MAG is like apple an orange. A friend of mine did buy a Laser and I have to go on surprise visit....... few times!!
"There"s a nuther type of welding ..." That's right and believe it or not you (still) see it everywhere, including on almost every infrastructure construction site: oxy-acetylene
Great video and really cool technology. You should know that this info will send me down a rabbit hole doing research 😂. My 20+ year old Harbor Freight flux welder finally gave up the ghost and I’m in the market for a much more capable replacement.
As much as I would love to send you right to a laser welder, the Vulcan mig max might be an awesome fit. I’ve really abused the heck out of it and it’s just stunning.
As a generalization as much as all polymers are plastic, lasers are light. Being technical me, I will say that in terms of accuracy, lasers are photon-based EM energy. That aside, it is an interesting derivative of an industrial solution that is Finally starting to become a well-funded home garage option. My ideal would be a modernized acetylene-gas welder via a modified plasma torch, surprisingly which I've yet to see a viable option other than experimenting with my own tips and fumbling with feed air pressures.
Improving the welder would be to shrink the gun down to the minimum size necessary,and have a flex neck like is offered for migs now, and different size non-burnable portable tent type side open flex shields for protection from lazer bounce!! If Americans don't make them first the Chinese will!!!❤😊
I misread my notes looking down quickly and didn’t catch it! As much as I wish I knew everything I don’t quite. Thanks for catching and adding to the discussion!
@@TheQuestionableGarage You're making me feel bad for pointing it out ! Don't apologise, Jared - if I made as many videos and worked on as many cars as you do, my list of slip ups would go around the block - and then some !
I have been hobby welding for 50 years gas, mig, tig, stick I now restore classic cars and build restromods in my retirement about a year ago I got a 3KW laser ($19K+)that easily does full penetration from one side of 5/16" metal and also plastic panels parts can be repaired even nylon. If the fit is good no wire is needed and its about 5x+ the speed of MIG It also does cleaning and removes discoloration and can actually offer alternative to sand blasting w/o the finish issues I can restore a carburator in minutes and removing paint is simple. I was able to exceed the quality of my conventional welds in less than a day skills I had invested decades in reaching. I am able to hold and handle welded objects almost immediatly it's actually scary how soon I can handle welded parts with my bare hands and heavy gloves are almost not needed because the heat is focused on such a small area.Without the welds shrinking I can continously weld panels without having to tack weld adnauseam and very little grinding is needed. One important safety issue is that the wand/torch should be treated more akin to a gun as the laser beam will travel for long distance and can be reflected from certain surfaces, only one person should be in welding room at a time to prevent an accident. Like everything I get first the price starts to plummet shortly thereafter. Ray Stormont
Good details .
Is the weld a soft weld as it fuses the parent metal? Like a TIG during planishing, hammer & dolly. Makes sense but curious. Thanks kindly for your answer in experience.
Got one, need u to teach me a bit more about how to use it please reach out
@@nigelbailey1711 The best thing to do is buy the gear, PPE, leather gloves, vest and practice on material you may most likely to use. Then practice! There are excellent welding videos on UA-cam and learn from mistakes. Just remember the laser is capable of thin metals. I don’t even have a TIG but my 1984 MIG is a true 150amp that does 1/2” easy, but I can install tiny wire (0.30”) and don’t have drive rollers for (0.23”) wire used on sheet metal. If you hammer & dolly you can do sheet metal better with a TIG as the weld is softer. It flattens well and requires less filler. It depends on your future requirements!
Best of luck on your projects!
Very helpful. Thank you Ray.
A bit of information to help everyone - general rule of thumb with a laser welder is 500 watts per mm of material thickness (so 1500 watts for 3mm, 2000 watts for 4mm and 3000 watts for 6mm). When you get up into the bigger wattages you will need a welding helmet but at 3000 watts you only need about shade 5, maybe shade 6 if welding aluminum. While these produce far less radiant heat than other forms of welding they do put out more invisible IR light so you do need to keep your skin covered to avoid sunburn.
Good to know, TYVM for sharing!!!
My 5x8' utility trailer is all 19 gauge steel angle iron, which is 1mm or 0.040". A 700W unit would be perfect for my uses.
Great info… one terminology point: IR doesn’t produce suburn though… IR just produces regular old burn burn, like sticking your hand three inches below the broil element on your electric oven for a minute or two. No doubt it FEELS like sunburn, and probably sneaks up on you the same way. Sunburn is from UV light.
I don't know how thick the plates he used at 11 min mark but it sure looks like at least 1mm thick and he said it got full penetration with 300W unit.
I’ve used less power in demonstrations that worked pretty well. And for a lot of work that this might be used for, you can get to the back and weld that too.
We are using LightWeld 1500 since it's on the market in the US. I do not have enclosed room, either using the laser glasses, today my vision is like "you are looking trough a sieve". My POE: short sleeves T's, shorts, tennis or running shoes. No jokes a side the incident ray angle and reflected ray angle is always equal. ( you have to take in consideration the surface of the material you are welding is not like a mirror so the reflected ray will be like spray of rays) If you are behind the the rays you are safe. (don't pee against the wind) But recommended to use 1070wl laser glasses at list. If the ray hit you anywhere on your body its feels like a hot needle punctured your skin. We did a banana cutting video with our laser welder which is not intended for cutting, and it did cut the banana. Ours is the very first handheld by IPG. You can weld thicker, 70-80% thicker material then the factory specs, in order to do that: slow down your travel speed, with the 1500 you can do 3/8 with enough practice. I'm constantly welding 1/4- 3/8 aluminum with my LW1500 it specked for 4mm . Your parts have to be "clean" just like any other typical welding procedure, any foreign material will cause craters and will be hard to fix it on crucial parts. As he said in the video you can manually add filler metal, We do that when a larger gap present. Also with the laser your fitment has to be spot on. If you have a large weld gap the laser beam will bounce back and fort on the edges and it wont weld as intended, the rays have to penetrate you material. Also if the laser beam "escapes" your weldment it will light up everything in its way (distance depending by the wattage) you can easily light up a wooden table, shelf, or anything like it, puncture your 18V battery sitting close by your welding zone, Its kind of fun if its Lithium ion battery. 5053 0.45 filler 60-80 on wire feeder in general is good for any type of aluminum 1/8-1/4, if you go to slow you can blow trough, on thin steel or ss you can bump it up 95-105 and use higher W settings. You will save lots of time on the post processing literally no sanding required unless its specified by the designer or you want to sand it or...... You can weld up to 12X faster in most cases. Chinese units the better ones start at 8 grand and up, IPG 20+. I think Miller came out with a system for 45+ I don't know what fck they thinking its over priced. IMO IPG does not worth the price either you can pick up a few Korean brand fro half the price and its 3KW but it requires 3phase 380 and its quite large compared to the IPG1500, Also IPG gun has lots issues but the company has awesome customer support ( 4 years 6 guns trigger switch 10+times, Loop pogo connection to nozzle 6 times ( in that case you have send gun back for repairs), and galvo problems (gun replacement) Asian units have the same gun (not the same as IPG) in most cases and its 1500 US when you buy one recommended to get a replacement gun right on the bet. If you drop it accidentally you will kill the galvo, I did drop it in the first 30 days.
Cons:
heavy gun compared to any other type of welding procedure, cant do hard to reach areas simple because of the laser gun geometry and the extensive wire connections, inside corner welding on table is no go. you have to elevate your parts off of the table 4-6" at list.
Pros:
overhead welding no cherries what so ever some light sparks that's all. as I said up to 12x faster and almost 0 post processing. Oh an other tip you can do unlimited thickness V grove it and run multiple passes. its not qualified by D 1.1 but it works for other purposes.( I did fix a Bobcat arm 1/2 plate with this method and it still works did not break so far)
good video thanks.
Thanks for this awesome info. 👍
@@danl.4743 yw
yrs ago, was welding railway track into a gold trommel, fully covered. 2mm?, lincoln inner shield. 1"' welds. wide. my lower calves got burnt. reflection off bare steel. 8ft trommel. ausie.
This is useful info. Thank you.
Solid info...thanks for taking the time to post
Godspeed and Blessings for you and yours.
Walk with Jesus Christ
Stay Dangerous
L = Light, A = Amplification, S = "Stimulated", not simulated, E = Emission, R = Radiation
Came looking for this correction and was starting to get worried.
Yeah... lasers radiate like crazy, theres nothing "simulated" about it
He also misspelled radiation.
You must be a blast at parties.
No...just a mischievious English major trying save the world one misspelled word at a thyme...
Once that laser welder is available at Harbor Freight. Then it’s cheap enough.
Word!
I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for that to happen.
It's already got the colors.. may not be far off.
Does it have a ground like a welder?
@@Ut005A It shouldn't need one because it's not arc welding.
I use laser welding in watchmaking. It's revolutionised case restoration (and any other application where material needs to be added). I also know a chap who's business is repairing eye glasses by post. Re-welding broken frame etc. He's making a very good living. Completely different to the automotive application, but the same technology.
What machine do you use for the watch case returation? I am keen to get into this as an amature watchmaker here in the UK.
@@mlgboy1"returation"?
Laser welding has also been a gamechanger in mold repair. What used to involve cost-intensive grinding, filling, re-milling/re-facing, etc... can now be a two step process with far less base material removed, less material added, and less refinishing required. As a matter of fact, the welds can be so small/smooth, some molds don't even require milling. Many metals don't even require feed material. For hairline cracks in mold that doesn't require a perfect finish, you can flash weld the base material, and be done in one step with no added material/finishing.
@@gregbailey45 Restoration
32:51 I don't think laser eye injuries always hurt, but any sufficiently strong laser beam will leave an instant and permanent blind spot on your eye. They can also reflect at damaging strengths off of surfaces that aren't normally considered reflective. I've met a few laser physicists that were a few dots short of fully functioning eyeballs...
Ow wow! Surfaces such as...?
@@PatrickKQ4HBD Table, sheet metal, watch, welder case, Stanley bottle, clamps... anything you think light will bounce on, the laser will do it better.
They apparently don't hurt. There are no nerves. I did a cabling course years and part of it related to fibre. Our instructor knew people who had blinded themselves, looking into a laser. They didn't feel anything, and only realised they were blinding themselves when they could hear the blood vessels in their retina pop, and a blond spot appeared. Horrible.
I did my MSEE in optics. We had a sign in the laser lab: "Warning: do not look directly into beam with remaining good eye."
My friends who is adding to his education and work experience! His Father is a part owner of one of the plants that produces a laser welder and rust removal as well as a number of other products! Was kind enough to recently ship their newest design to me, because while he came over to visit his son I mentioned that I would really like to get one but being on a pension couldn't afford it!
I spend a lot of time making my art and this has made it so much faster!
The difference between laser & standard welding, Laser will permanently blind an onlooker. Tig, Arc & MiG it may hurt but it will heal. I have a friend who just recently bought one (7-10k comes to mind). He offered to loan it to our Makerspace, however without locking a room to do the work in, it’s too dangerous to others. In a factory environment, it’s different because you have controls in place.
@TBJK07Jeep
Thanks for sharing this important information. I didn't know about this danger
Thanks for sharing that, because people really need to aware of that danger.
Thank you, a great consideration for understanding this tool, and how to use it safely. I think FAR too many people have a casual idea of lasers and do not realize, one mistake could cost you highly. The safety factor for the user AND others around NEEDS to be hammered more heavily, so people understand how dangerous this CAN be.
Light Amplification by >Stimulated< Emission of Radiation.
Not Simulatied.
Honest mistake.
i have a laser welder....i just cant find it.
This is such a game changer! Saw it on donut today too. They welded, no prep, and it looked so clean! Ty Jared for showing laser welding
I can now understand why so many car manufacturers have moved over to laser welding now esp with thinner pannels and aluminium they use nowadays
I got to play around with a laser welder about a year ago, and I'm absolutely sold! Can't wait to add one to my shop.
As a automotive engineer I have had to gas weld steel/aluminium & brass & when I first heard of laser welding I thought it would be a game changer due to control of the heat. I have used most types of welding & there's nothing like creating a good clean weld especially when people tell you it can't be welded & repair it.
How well did that work out?
@@r.j.dunnill1465
I have been using laser welders and cutting equipment since the 1990's in industrial applications and it is very good and when used properly its very quick and easy to use.
@@shacklifecustoms8430how do you know he hasn’t? I used to work for a military contractor that makes batteries for both the military & space program. They’ve had a laser welder in use since the early 90s. It takes up most of a small room.
They have been around in extreme specialty applications for more than 20 years, so he very much likely has. This is newer tech that makes it something that can go outside factories and very specific situations.
@@shacklifecustoms8430if you weren't such a douche bag you might actually learn something.
i use it since 1989....
We most certainly have A LOT of laser welding in this country. I invented a laser for doing it, worked for a laser company that made lasers and have worked at companies that use lasers to weld, cut, mark and engrave on metals and other materials. Laser welding companies are literally all over the place in the US.
I always thought laser welding was a bit gimmicky. This video was great! Very informative and easy to understand! Awesome content as always Jared! Keep up the awesome job!
Definitely a light material bonding tool, the fact that it does not transmit a lot of heat into the material is perfect for sheet metal work, first time seeing this equipment and I've been a welder fabricator for decades pretty neat tool.
Really important: anyone in the room should have eye protection on when the machine is on. Reflected laser light can still blind you. This is different from the light generated by any other type of welder. I’m not an expert but know a physicist who specializes in laser safety in labs and she said even pets in the home of a laser cutter or welder should not be in the same room. Those open-bed types of laser cutters are really dangerous to your eyes.
I actually learned something from a 30 minute advertisement.... Wow! Thanks! That was actually interesting!
There's also friction stir welding, but it's normally an industrial use situation that doesn't have much application in a garage or home setting. But it lets you do cool things like weld two disparate types of metal, or even polymers, that you'd have to bolt, rivet, or glue other wise.
And electron beam welding , IR plastic welding plus many others some use sound waves, the list goes on most are beneficial but not cool.
I tried stir welding once, but it was a bit disappointing.
Truth be told, I just had my mill spindle with regular endmill rotating in the wrong direction …
Great video Jared... I REALLY like the technology.
I do have to say, the "easy weld" machine looks like something that was made in the 60's LOL
The ability to easily make very thin weld lines is amazing. Yeah you can do it with TIG and MIG,
but this is easier, cleaner, and doesn't require very much finish work. Especially from warping.
I can see this becoming very popular here in the U.S, especially as the prices start going down
like everything else does, after they have been on the market for awhile.
WOW!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU, FOR THIS AMAZING DEMONSTRATION!!!!! I'D BET IT'D BE FANTASTIC FOR JEWELRY REPAIRS, AND ART-METAL FABRICATION, AND, NON-FERROUS METALS OF ALL KINDS, ESPECIALLY ON SMALLER PARTS!!...
Jewlery work has been a typical application for laser welders for a while, low power, lower cost. Now prices are coming down and one can get laser welders for thicker steel, for the hobby garage too at a decent price. You might check out the Herolaser T300 for jewelery work, more info around
I saw laser welding in an RMS video earlier today and now a full Jared breakdown of it? What a day for learning new things!
That is awesome!
I’ve had a go with a big unit and agree with you.
The fact it doesn’t get hot and it’s loads cleaner makes it brilliant for some jobs.
It’s a faff for most jobs though
Such clean welds excited to see the future of Laser welding
The rust removal capability is a cool part of laser welding.
the video starts at 10:00
The Tesla Cybertruck has the highest precision welds I've ever seen. Since the Cybertruck's armor shell is bare, uncoated metal, Tesla needed to be able to weld to the inside of the body panels without overheating and discoloring the outside of the panels. So, they used computer-controlled laser welders to (for example) weld the inner stainless steel door panels to the outer cold-rolled hard fricking steel. They are such precision welds, so perfect, so controlled, they look like alien technology. Tesla left the surface discoloration for all to see.
You can easily see the welds by looking inside the doors (which are 100% unpainted stainless steel). BTW, most of what you read about the Cybertruck is false, based on my 4 months of ownership. It drives like a spaceship of a sportscar with a rigid chassis on the road, it's surprisingly smooth, quiet and comfortable, even when railing a twisty road. Off-road, nothing can touch it. It just walks away from Land Rovers, Jeeps, and Toyota Land Cruisers. More ground clearance (by far), smoother, quieter, more comfortable ride (by far). And, when the going gets tough, the Cybertruck doesn't disappoint. Front and rear mechanical lockers can be activated from the touchscreen, and they turn the Cybertruck into an unstoppable climber, through steep, slippery slop. I can only imagine what it could do with grippier off-road tires! In tight spots the maneuverability is insane for a big truck, closer to a Toyota Land Cruiser. I've been off-roading for over 40 years, and I've never seen anything like it.
You forgot about Brazing with flame and rod as well as flame fusion welding. Where you use a torch h and flame to melt the metal together.
I don't think brazing is actually welding, tho. You're not melting the two surfaces and joining them via the heat and added material. Brazing just joins two+ surfaces together by adding in a melted material that acts more like glue rather than actually joining the surfaces.
@@TheJohn8765Baisically copper and brass using solder (tin)
Brazing uses brass filler rod. It spreads the heat over a wider area so can be stronger than electric welding. But too much heat can damage the parent material.
@TheJohn8765 And that's the literal definition of welding 🤣
excellent review , i've been looking at laser welders but no one shows a proper demo , just a speeded up look how nice this is video , thanks for your down to earth demo , laser might not be what i need just yet but in the future it will replace almost every other type of welder .
I love how you took a moment for the science of lasers 👍
Dang those welds looks so good. It's really clean. This is the next level for automotive restoration. They just need to be affordable like a flux core welder ($175) 😂
That would be nice .. bit I'm guessing there is prolly another 1 or 2 0's on that price ATM unfortunately... but hopefully in time
@@mastercricket7626only 1 extra zero.
We’re looking for a cheap laser welder - $2,000. That is cheap.
Thanks for the very informative introduction to laser welding for workshops. It’s really fascinating to learn about newer technologies and techniques! I think it’s cool that this is being made more widely available and accessible. Keep up the great work, Jared!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Its nice they gave you protective goggles for children. Lookin like that scene in the 2nd willy wonka movie.
Great video, i work in heavy steel and i do not weld, a bit here and there ,although I do use CNC plasma cutting units and milling machines, our unit cuts anything from 6mm to 60mm nice and clean and we are shortly installing a new unit to cut up to 100 mm plus, this new laser unit for home will be just right i think for me , I am about to start some period vehicle body restoration, nothing major a bit of cutting and panel R&R, and also looking to buy a laser rust removal machine, I watched a demo at a friends shop, it rocks and doesn't take long either 👍
There's another metal working tech worth looking at: air/arc gouge. Very useful for big cutting jobs.
I was in China last week and got to use a new laser welder model and was easily welding 5/8 mild, stainless and aluminium with full penetration. Many people compare the W's with laser welders, but there is a big difference between companies in what percentage of that wattage is converted to actual light(heat) output from the laser source. The good ones are approaching 60%. The other thing is the annual rate of dropoff of this conversion - it can be as high as 5% or more.
What was the brand? How would you recommend choosing what to buy?
@@chrisfischer511 The brand is called Strongest Laser - it is a joint Belgian / Chinese collaboration, the new model is getting released next month at a trade fair in Germany, they do have a U.S. distributor as well but I am not sure if they sell under the Strongest Laser name or are relabelled with another name - but I can find out.
First thing to do is work out what you are going to be welding with the laser welder - that will determine what size machine you need.
Next I would rule out any of of large "white or cream boxes on wheels" which most laser welders are - a laser welder has four main components (laser source, cooling, welding gun + wire feed, and user interface touchscreen/software) and most laser welders are just a big metal box on casters that a company was wired together those components into. You really want to be looking at one that is made by the company that makes the components - such as the Theo which is made by MaxPhotonics, there is IPG LightWeld, the Strongest Laser that I mentioned above - they do all of their own components, and there are a couple of others.
Things I would look for when purchasing a laser welder - firstly that it is built in accordance with IEC 60825.1 - this is the international standard for the requirements that lasers need to meet - that gives you a start when it comes to safety.
Next I would look at cooling - for 1500 watts and below then air cooling is fine, 2000 watts is pushing the limit for air cooling. Personally I prefer refrigerated cooling which is what the Strongest Laser uses - better cooling than air cooling in the same size box. Water cooling tends to have leaks etc and takes up a lot more space than air or refrigerated cooling.
Next I would look at the welding gun and wire feeder. You want a welding gun that is fairly simple as that is the part that gets dropped, falls off the welding bench etc. Make sure that you can operate the button with a pair of gloves about as thick as mig gloves not tig gloves. Avoid guns that have LCD displays on them and buttons to make adjustments on the guns etc - just more unnecessary things that can break or screw up. Then look at the wire feeder and decide do you need a single or double wire feeder (not all laser welders have a double wire option). Most wire feeders on laser welders are a generic red box - that is OK - you don't necessarily need one that is made in house by the laser manufacturer.
Then look at the user interface - how easy is it to use? How easy is it to train someone how to use it? How many settings and parameters can be changed? (less is better here - do you really need 80 different pretty weld patterns on your beads to choose from?). Try to avoid ones that go into menus then sub-menus with lots and lots of different things that can be adjusted - you can easily get "lost" in the settings and then have your welding get worse instead of better and then stray down the wrong rabbit holes and get totally and utterly lost. Keep it simple!
Any questions please ask!
@@Diving_Into_History wow that was an excellent response! I'm learning a lot here. You basically already recommended against it but I've always been curious if a small shop could use one laser source for both the welder and the cnc cutter. Travis Mitchell here on UA-cam has been very inspirational building a cnc fiber laser from scratch. I cant help but think about one expensive source for both applications. Do you know anything about compatibility?
@@chrisfischer511 It may not be impossible - but it would be difficult to swap between the two. From what I understand a true CNC cutter head is quite different to a welding head that will do some cutting, and it would be difficult to swap between the two as you would need to resplice the fire optic cable each time you swapped - which to me would make it very impractical. You could fit the welding head to the CNC and use the cutting function - but a welding head has different protection against beam reflection as it is used at a different angle to that of a CNC cutting head and so you run the risk of a beam being reflected back up the head and lets just say that never ends well. Most laser welder machine damage actually happens when cutting for this reason.
You can also get a Laser welder that you can use a laser to clean metal as well as welding. The cleaning part is good and worth a try
Great info. It's nice seeing the pries for laser welders are climbing downwards. I got no rush getting one, but hope to get one in the future, might wait another 2-3 years
Yep hero laser has a T1 700 already on the site. Might look at those for my 0.120 wall tube welding. says it can go up to 0.157.
The main problem with lasers is their "danger zone" is huge. Anything that can poke an eye out from across the street needs more than a bit of caution. Or set something ablaze from across the room, etc. Plus with the invisible infrared people won't even realize they're losing an eye until it's too late. The danger can be managed with a machine, handheld not so much.
No windows, interlock on the doors to cut power to the welder, and a laser do not enter sign when the welder is active. It really basic radiation protection stuff (yes laser safety comes under radiation protection) all been known about since I did my Masters in Medical Physics nearly 30 years ago.
Great Review Mate I'm Totally Stunned at How Clean it Welds it Looked so Good even when your Dad Used it i Hope they get the Prices Down so the every DIY Guy Can Have them Thanks Loved it
Get a laser rust remover system please, would like to see it from an American UA-camr.
I can't believe Car Wizard is selling that 308GTB you EFI'd. I love that car.
It takes a very certain body type to drive that car!
"lack of body" type 😂
Thanks Jared for the great information. That's a fantastic welding tool! Can't wait to see this work on body panels!
Autogenous requires a perfect fit also no filler, no gaps
I had been a A level certified pressure welding procedure #9 (PWP#9)
Welder for years I welded pipeline and titanium, which is probably the hardest thing to do cause you must keep-the
purge gas over the weld puddle till is solidifies, but when you welding with that laser equipment you have, I noticed that you pull your nozzle and will cause weld buildup and less penetration . whereas keep nozzle tip 90° to 105 degrees facing toward area to be welded when using a fill rod so the laser light is creating a molten puddle and heating up the metal filler rod prior to just making deposit like in oxy/acetylene and TIG welding when using a manual filler rod (hand feed) anyways it works better.
When welding metals that are easily contaminated by atmosphere gas , you may have to build a customized inert gas cup to extend behind the weld with steel wool inside it so it’ll disperse cover gas evenly over the cooling weld so it won’t contaminate .
You will know a weld is contaminated by it having bluish rainbow colors in it after it has cooled.
Can a guy make a mistake spelling, plus the fact that Jared doesn't do the editing makes him innocent, gotta blame the other guy.
Amazing how far this technology has come, i could really see this being great for people who do a lot of fabricating and body welding. The laser left such a clean thin line, and without shrinking the metal, like tig welding which then requires more work to hammer it out. Maybe one day this will catch on, and the price will go down like it did with other welders. You did a good job explaining how it work's, and the usefulness of it. I look forward to seeing the Satellite body work with this machine.
G-d bless.
I'll fall on the sword for allowing this error to go through. It's my fault. I can give all sorts of excuses, but the bottom line is: I should have double-checked Jared's RADAR explanation and then used an AI audio stimulator to alter his voice; that would have be simulating. Oh, there were so many ways I could have remedied the stituation, but I simply missed it. -Duane the Editor
I'll bet that 300W unit would be ideal for spot welding tabs onto lithium cells when building custom battery packs or repairing EVs and hybrids.
At about 13:00, it looked like you were dragging the tip across the metal?
OK, I'll fall on the sword for allowing this error to go through. It's my fault. I can give all sorts of excuses, but the bottom line is: I should have double-checked Jared's RADAR explanation and then used an AI vocal stimulator to alter his voice; that would have been simulating. Oh, there were so many ways I could have remedied the stituation, but I simply missed it. -Duane the Editor
4:55 Bro almost gave me the mandela effect. it actually stands for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation, not Simulated.
We have been using laser welding for a while now. Bit expensive compared to a sprayweld. But seems to work good with soft metals.
Interesting , Thank You. Looks like there will be Many interesting applications . We MUST REMEMBER ALL of the SAFETY precautions. Looks Clean and minimal cool down? Used properly. Can they do verticals and overhead? I do see many applications . even 10% can save much time. Every thing has to start some where
Thanks for showing us this cool technology. I’ve seen the ads and such but always wondered how it worked.
Thanks for sharing and taking us along
Wow. YT suggested a video from a Subscribed and Notified channel for the first time in 3 months. Well done YT.
TBH I always thought those videos were fake, the welds just looked like they had been cleaned up already so I assumed it was a editing/camera trick. Definitely cool technology!
It really seemed to be too good to be true. It’s not a do everything machine, but when it can do it, it does it incredibly well!
I use Argon with my laser welder and most welds have a nice shiny silver color.
Thank-you for the video Chad. Love the team work with the boys. Keep it up .
There is also electron beam welding, done in a vacuum chamber. Usually used in the production of aero engine components. ie. the blades that make up the interior engine components. Used primary for welding titanium
When you started talking about it my head went right to body work, and someplace that does a lot of it. Probably wouldn't make sense for the home gamer given the cost, but could bring the cost of sheet metal work down when you farm it out too.
Fusion welding is any process the melts the items being welded. MIG , MAG , TIG , Stick , resistance , friction , laser are all fusion welding processes.
I'm not giving up my MIG welder anytime soon. As I just retired a week ago after 48 years of welding, of which the last 35 were in the field.
When are they going to be available to purchase I couldn't find the welder on there site and the ones they do have you can not just buy you have to contact hero that kinda sucks
It''s intended for autogeneous welding of thin stock properly prepped (cleaning with acetone like prepping for TIG is never a bad thing) which is outstanding for sheet metal. I suggest adding (many) safety warnings because inevitably some Bubba will blind themselves sooner or later by treating it like an arc welding process which it is absolutely not. Anyone buying one should as with any welding machine weld some test coupons for destructive bend testing to ensure making sound welds. A weld can look good (like cold wire welds) but not be good.
Thats really awesome, There is lots of other types of welding like stir welding wich is cold friction fuse welding where they use a spinning die head to fuse the metal. And thermite welding like on railroad tracks. Don't forget about gas welding too.
The S in LASER is for stimulated not simulated the T makes a big dfference! Imagine a tube where a particle is emitted by one end of the tube, hits the other side and that triggers ( *stimulates* )an emission of a particle in that end, and that goes from one end to the other and due to the nature of it, they will group together.
Until the number of particles in a group is high enough that they can pas through one end. That's in a nutshell what happens in a laser, just that some people argue if light is a particle or a wave and for engineers it's both.
If you weren't so 'herky-jerky' on your pass, the weld wouldn't have all those blobs and valleys. But, smoothness will come with time if ya work on it. Just a steady, even speed, and there will be very little cleanup or grinding.
GREAT VIDEO!!
Can you do any plastic welding with the laser welder? I could see how it would be possible. Same concept as with the one that just fuses them together and dosent use a filler rod. Just melt together and join two pieces of plastic. With the one that uses the filler wire, you could have a plastic filler material that gets fed into the joint.
Can these machines be set up for plastics? It would be a neat idea!
I have seen those type of welder used with a robot. I have been trying to keep up on them and so far, I see most try them, the cost of consumables seem to just leave them angry if on a tight budget. I also think its going to take a while for most to fully understand this and keep it going as a first choice
I was looking for someone to try this tehnology!🤔...❤️👏
Depends on the size of the "Garage" if your doing custom RC trucks and cars, then sure, using this to build those small tube chassis for those cars and trucks would work perfect
Great report. Good demonstration.
Will the laser melt plastic? Can you weld plastic with the laser welder? What about white plastic versus black plastic or clear plastic?
I was a LASER weld automation expert, Edison help with developing the schedule I developed for Nitrogen. shield gas. Much cheaper and prettier. Welding MGG safety systems. Micro Gas Generators for seat belt pretensioners. Millions of those welded, Push material is better for heaver material. Must replace the shield lenses more often. ND YAG what we used.
Company should have sent the stuff to Welding Tips and Tricks.
These new laser machines typically build up a lot of heat in the wallet area. Sometimes, it's enough to melt credit cards.
Something to consider.
If you are going to try plastics be very careful as certain plastics can let off very toxic gasses when lasered
When welding aluminum, did you need to change shielding gas, or stay with the nitrogen? Also, when welding aluminum with some processes, like oxy acetylene the light shifts towards ultraviolet and special yellow lenses are required to avoid damage to your retinas. Did you notice any discomfort or added brightness when laser welding aluminum?
Hi Jared nice video 📹 and workmanship those are nice welders LASER ONE LOOKED GOOD
I only got interested in metal working after I got my pacemaker, but before I learned that pacemakers and welding don't play nice together. This tech could be VERY interesting to people like me.
Great stuff broham. Keep the info coming.
How much power do they use?
How much heat is in the piece vs mig/tig? (Thermal camera side-by-side to see how much and how far it travels through different materials)
How much do they cost?
How delicate are they?
How clean do you have to keep the lenses and any thing special about cleaning them? How much to replace?
Would love to see a few months of a test in a shop and see what it's great and not so great at everyday. (great to hear we'll see that)
Looks super useful TBH, the interest is real though at the right cost (obviously much more expensive than a reasonable multi mode machine).
WOW. That is staggering. Thanks.
What is the range of the laser? If you burn a hole in the base metal, will the laser burn whatever is behind the base metal such as: your table or your leather glove and then your hand or your foot or someone across the room? If you point the laser at a mirror (or chrome), will the laser reflect back onto you to burn your face or set your clothes on fire or permanently blind a passerby who is not wearing shaded eye protection?
Culture shock: You don't need a ground loop, working flat on a metal table is probably holding you back. You might try elevating your work and possibly working on wood or something dirt cheap.
This is pretty cool, I foresee a lucrative future for this type of welding
Did you smooch the metals in vice like we had to do for other welds? Butt weld 1/4 thick, 3/4" wide x 2" hammer into circle to ensure weld holds? That's what I had to do in high school to pass. 💖 from Minnesota 😎
Hello again, Jared
Thank you for another Great Video 👍 I didn't know that this was even possible to lazar Weld. Thank you for introducing me to this technology.
Glad I could help!
My friend, Flux Core, isn't MIG it is classified by FCAW (flux core arc welding) in AWS code. And gas shielded flux core or FCAW-G is the most common structural prefab process in the world. Also, it's stimulated, not simulated....
I can not find the Hero Laser unit you have on your bench and were using. Any info on were to get one would be great. Thank you.
I’ve never used anything from everlast, but they now make laser welders too. I’m curious how good they are since their cost makes it attainable.
Thanks for this go-thru..... A nice one..... But Nitrogen gas is used.... I did read in a manual to a laser welder ?name..... It was using a CO2 and for all metals!! That`s a plus to cut down the cost of buying a gas bottle for BIG bucks because of MONOPOLY....
A MAG welder can weld not so precise cut parts but Tig, Plasma and Laser welders are forced to have nice cut parts...... but now to days we cut things in a CNC but that was not common for some years ago. So comparing Laser and MIG/MAG is like apple an orange.
A friend of mine did buy a Laser and I have to go on surprise visit....... few times!!
Thank you for the explanation on laser welders!! Very cool
"There"s a nuther type of welding ..."
That's right and believe it or not you (still) see it everywhere, including on almost every infrastructure construction site: oxy-acetylene
Great video and really cool technology. You should know that this info will send me down a rabbit hole doing research 😂. My 20+ year old Harbor Freight flux welder finally gave up the ghost and I’m in the market for a much more capable replacement.
As much as I would love to send you right to a laser welder, the Vulcan mig max might be an awesome fit. I’ve really abused the heck out of it and it’s just stunning.
As a generalization as much as all polymers are plastic, lasers are light. Being technical me, I will say that in terms of accuracy, lasers are photon-based EM energy. That aside, it is an interesting derivative of an industrial solution that is Finally starting to become a well-funded home garage option. My ideal would be a modernized acetylene-gas welder via a modified plasma torch, surprisingly which I've yet to see a viable option other than experimenting with my own tips and fumbling with feed air pressures.
So, Jared the Welding Jedi finally gets a lightsaber. Very cool.
Improving the welder would be to shrink the gun down to the minimum size necessary,and have a flex neck like is offered for migs now, and different size non-burnable portable tent type side open flex shields for protection from lazer bounce!! If Americans don't make them first the Chinese will!!!❤😊
'Stimulated' not 'simulated' !
There's a 't' in it !!
Good job! You were quicker than me ;-)
What does "Light Amplification by Simulated Emission of Radiation" even mean anyway?!?
@@philbrabbin4348 Dunno but it sounds good !
I misread my notes looking down quickly and didn’t catch it! As much as I wish I knew everything I don’t quite. Thanks for catching and adding to the discussion!
@@TheQuestionableGarage You're making me feel bad for pointing it out !
Don't apologise, Jared - if I made as many videos and worked on as many cars as you do, my list of slip ups would go around the block - and then some !