Nowadays, more and more people choose to use a CO2 laser engraver to DIY some handcrafts or something they are interested in. If you want to upgrade your machine or prolong the lifetime of a machine, you should add some accessories which matches your machine.
The first thing we recommend is a water chiller. There are 2 different types on the market, the one is CW3000 and the other is CW5200, both of them are water chillers. CW5200 is more powerful than CW3000, because it contains an air compressor and CW3000 just has a fan inside. The water chiller can cool down the temperature even bring the temperature below to the ambient temperature, which can prolong the lifetime of the laser tube.
The other machine you may need to buy is an air purifier. A air purifier can purify the air that created by burning the material, especially acrylic. If people breathe in too much poisonous fume, he or she may feel headache. Once diluted with outside air, your laser engraver exhaust does not cause any issues or health concerns.
Besides water chillers and air purifiers, we also recommend a rotary axis. A rotary axis can hold a cylindrical object, and you can engraver some bottles.
As the CO₂ laser beam hits the workpiece, it vaporizes the material, creating smoke and airborne particles. Air assist keeps a constant stream of air flowing through the nozzle to clear the kerf (the cut line) of debris, prevent particles from contaminating the lens, and blow out any flames that might startup.
The air pump supplied with your laser is quite sufficient when you are engraving. But an air assist upgrade can definitely improve the laser cutting performance, as the higher pressure air jet penetrates deeper into the kerf, clearing the path for the laser beam more efficiently. This can improve your cutting speed and maximum cutting thickness.