Hi Janet,
Desktop unit capable of cutting non-ferris metals? Probably not any
time soon, I think.
The power consumption is pretty massive, and the fact that silver is
a nearly perfect mirror adds a whole new level of complication to it.
What I can tell you is that the laser head (and equipment) on the
laser that cuts the KC saws is about the size of a refrigerator, and
that one will only cut 3/16 aluminum. I don’t honestly know what the
wattage is on that laser, but well up into the hundreds, which means
at minimum a 220V feed, if not several.
(CO2 lasers are only about 1-2% efficient. So if you’re dumping 100
watts out in the beam, you’re pulling 10,000 watts in power.) I had a
chance to play with a 3,000 watt cutting laser at one point, and it
pulled power by way of three or four separate 600V, 90 Amp feedlines.
It helped that it was about half a block from the university power
station, and had been wired into their generator boards directly.
So, the short answer for this is don’t hold your breath until/unless
someone comes up with some way to radically improve the efficiency
of CO2 lasers.
Regards,
Brian.
