Aye! Chihuahua! Bottled gas is 'SPENSIVE Lucy!

[Joe Jones]

So we set up the fiber laser table, and had two good days of training on it. Everything went well, until I noticed that BOTH large, full bottles of assist gas are now EMPTY!

We used oxygen assist or Nitrogen assist, depending on what we were cutting.

I am going to have to re-evaluate the price structure for products cut with this laser. We went through $150.00 of bottles gas in only ten hours!

I will contact AIRGAS tomorrow, to see about getting their 12-pack of gas bottles, which may last a week to ten days if I am lucky. The price of everything I will cut on this table just DOUBLED!

Joe

[acourtjester]

Ah yes the hidden expenses they don't tell you about, bummer X 10

[Joe Jones]

We are learning the software (partially in CHINESE!") and getting things done.

Here is my sign cut in 14 ga mild steel and 16 ga stainless steel

agit signs.jpg

This laser is only rated for 6mm steel, but we pushed it and got it to cut a 1.5" hole through 1/2" steel! The smaller hole was drilled.

HALF INCH MATERIAL HOLE.jpg

[Joe Jones]

Off to Bowling Green tomorrow, to get 24 bottles of gas (on the wall ...)

12 O2 and 12 N2

Joe

[djreiswig]

That's why laser shops have the big tanks outside and a tanker that comes by and fills them.

[Joe Jones]

They say they deliver these 12-packs of bottles. So I will order two oxygen and two nitrogen today, to get me started, and see how long they last.

Joe

[plasmanewbie]

Awesome you have it up and running and the cuts look great! Bummer on the gas consumption but that is cost you will have to pass on to the customer I suppose.

[Joe Jones]

I will get a 12-pack of gas bottles and keep track of the cut inches. When they are all empty, I will divide the cost of the bottles by the cut inches, and come up with a "Gas Price Per Cut Inch" to cover the costs.

On the plus side, the word is getting out and I am already receiving many requests for work using this laser!

Joe

[Joe Jones]

http://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BiswupuBV/

[acourtjester]

Well Joe not for everybody
This content isn't available right now
When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted.

How about posting some of pictures of your table and info about its model, you know the neat stuff, don't be shy.

[Joe Jones]

I have decided to get the 'YUGE bottles of liquid oxygen and nitrogen. The 12 packs are okay, but the liquid bottles give you more gas for the same basic price. I will probably get three of each, and then swap out four empties at a time, while still running on the remaining two bottles.

HALF INCH MATERIAL HOLE.jpg

cut samples.jpg

chiller fan and bottles.jpg

[Joe Jones]

Well Joe not for everybody
This content isn't available right now
When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted.

How about posting some of pictures of your table and info about its model, you know the neat stuff, don't be shy.

Yeah ... Facebook is a place I would rather not be, but in order to access the Marketplace, I must jump into the swill and swim with the turds. I am trying to avoid anything that might toss me into "Facebook Jail" again. Those Facebook snowflakes cannot handle reality.

So the Facebook links cannot be viewed unless you first "friend" me.

Joe

[Joe Jones]

Cutting 1/4" mild steel, a table leg gusset for a client. I am not sure I will ever use my plasma table again

Joe

FS LASER COLT GUSSET.mp4

[weldguy]

Watched your vid! That is slick, mesmerizing to watch, love the thin kerf!

[Joe Jones]

Watched your vid! That is slick, mesmerizing to watch, love the thin kerf!

Check out the kerf on this piece of 14 ga aluminum!

Joe

aluminum kerf.jpg

[Jason@bc]

That's impressive!

[Joe Jones]

Yep!

Joe

ALUMINUM KERF 2.jpg

[weldguy]

Wow, that is amazing!

[Joe Jones]

So ... the "12-Pack" of bottles is one price, and you open each bottle in sequence as the gas runs out. They swap them out in a 12-pack, bundled together.

The large bottles of LIQUID gas are about $100.00 cheaper, and they contain about the equivalent of 17 bottles of gas. A better deal, RIGHT?

Well ... ... Education is expensive! They did NOT tell me that liquid bottles are mainly for the large factories that have machines sucking gas out of the liquid bottles 24/7, NON-STOP.

Apparently, the liquid converts to a gas inside of the bottle ... CONSTANTLY. So if a bottle of liquid oxygen or liquid nitrogen is allowed to sit stagnant and the internal pressure exceeds 230 psi, a pressure relief valve opens and blasts about $10.00 worth of gas out into the air before it closes again ... EVERY 30 MINUTES OR SO!

So I went out to the laser to cut something, using my new $700.00 bottle of liquid nitrogen, and the bottle was EMPTY Evidently, it bled itself dry over a two-day period, releasing the internal pressure to drop it below 230 psi, every 30 minutes or so, day and night. The shop is not air conditioned, so it gets hot in there at night, and I guess this accelerates the process. I got two bottles of oxygen, and two bottles of nitrogen, THINKING I would be set for a month or two...

The same thing happens with the liquid oxygen bottles too. Every 30 minutes or so, the valve opens wide and bleeds out costly gas for ten seconds or so.

I am going on a road trip tomorrow, so there is nothing to be done. The gas in all four bottles is wasted. When I get back, I will have them bring me a few 12-packs of GAS bottles that CAN be shut securely, and haul off these giant liquid gas tanks that I THOUGHT would certainly save me some money.

$2,800.00 shot to Hell! Live, and learn.

Joe

[djreiswig]

I bet if you ask your gas supplier, they will explain how it works.

[Joe Jones]

I bet if you ask your gas supplier, they will explain how it works.

Oh, yes! They explained it. AFTER I had four bottled delivered to my shop, to watch them gas off to oblivion.

Joe