PLH3D-15W Engraving Laser Head

Parts included in the PLH3D-15W Cutting and Engraving Laser Head:

• PLH3D-15W Cutting and Engraving Laser Head
• High-Speed driver with Analog and PWM/TTL inputs
• Long Nozzle for Cutting Thin Materials
• Short Nozzle for Cutting Thick Materials
• Built in High-Pressure Air Nozzle
• Connector Plug

PLH3D-15W in Complete Plug & Play Laser Upgrade Kits for All CNC Machines:

Click to view the dedicated machine category with kits. For details on the PLH3D-15W Laser Head, see below.

Features & Benefits of the PLH3D-15W Cutting and Engraving Laser Head In Details

High-Pressure Air Nozzle Prevents High Upkeep

With the high-pressure air nozzle, you can clean the lens 10x less often. The pressurized air also speeds up the cutting and engraving process by removing smoke and preventing excessive dirt build-up on the lens. In addition, the directed airflow cools down the working site, resulting in a lack of defects and a uniform engraving contrast.

Delivered with two different length nozzles for cutting thin and thick materials

Unrivaled Optical Power in its Class - PLH3D-15W Utilizes multiple high-power blue laser diodes to scale optical power.

Cutting and Engraving - PLH3D-15W blue laser allows to cut and engrave various materials such as wood, cardboard, rubber, paper, textiles, leather, plastic, balsa, plywood, and many others, as well as engrave stainless steel, titanium and low heat conductance subtypes of steel. To learn more, please check our Manuals and Articles section.

Factory Set Lens - the engraving laser head is shipped with the Difraction Limited Aspherical Lens installed and adjusted to focus at 30mm (measured from the front-face surface of the laser head to the engraving plane). This focal distance has a well-optimized focal spot size which is suitable for many laser cutting and engraving applications. This is the best-optimized focus distance to start with! 

Input Signal Versatility and 5/10V Analog input Switch - the build-in driver allows accepting a variety of signals 0 - 5 V analog signal and 0 - 5 V, 0 - 10 V or 0 - 24 V for PWM/TTL signal. The engraving laser head is now equipped with an additional switch for the 10 V analog input. Modulation Input 1 of the cutting engraving laser can be changed from 0–5 V analog input to 0-10 V analog input. This change makes this cutting and engraving laser even more versatile, and compatible with more CNC machines and 3D printers. Please refer to the user manual to find out how to change the voltage range on Modulation Input 1.

The Built-in Driver inside the Engraving Laser Head - Opt Lasers is the first company that integrated the laser diode driver directly into the cutting and engraving laser head. A short connection between the laser diode and a driver ensures better protection for a diode, possibility of high-frequency current modulation as well as eliminates inductance effects during the switch-on. In contrast to the previous generation of the driver, the engraving laser diode driver features enhanced efficiency, produces less noise, and is built with even-higher quality components, which ensures improved reliability and long lifetime of the engraving laser.

Working with standard 24V Power Supplies - integrated high-efficiency DC-DC converter is adjusting the input voltage to proper diode compliance voltage. This reduces the amount of heat generated and ensures over-voltage protection.

No Additional Cooling Required 24 hours / 7 days- This lightweight 220 g (7.8 oz) engraving laser requires no additional cooling and can work constantly 24 hours every day. The engraving laser's body acts as a heatsink, and the fan design allows it to function as an air nozzle, protecting the lens from the smoke whilst also cooling the laser head. Rigorous testing on tens of prototype designs allowed us to optimize the heatsink’s shape and enable efficient cooling while maintaining the module’s notably compact design the distinct shape of the cutting and engraving laser heads provides the best possible cooling method for a 6 W laser diode. Numerous prototypes have been tested to find the best solution for cooling the laser diode. The current design allows the engraving laser to warm up by only 2 - 3 degrees Celsius after a whole hour of constant work at full power.

Compatible with Accessories for the Ease of Use - ease of work as well as safety is crucial to us. Accessories we produce are of highest quality, milled on CNC machine, which makes the work easy and safe. Please check out the accessories we prepared for the PLH3D series.

OEM Customization is Available for Manufacturers of 3D Printers and CNC Machines.

Example Applications of PLH3D-15W

Woodworking

Blue laser engraving can produce a detailed pattern with round edges as well as darken the color of the wood. Laser engraving can be used to engrave a logo or a photo, which can’t be done with milling bits. With PLH3D-15W, you can laser engrave wood and wood-based materials, including cork, chipboard, particleboard, alder, cherry, maple, MDF, basswood, balsa, veneers, medium-density-fiberboard and high-density-fiberboard. For these applications, speed is vital. PLH3D-15W can ensure your business or home workshop stays ahead of the curve. High levels of absorbed optical power allow it to engrave plywood at 100 mm/s.

Leathercrafting

Another exciting application of PLH3D-15W is in leathercrafting. You can laser engrave and cut top-grain leather, full-grain leather, corrected grain leather and bonded leather. This 15 W laser head can cut 1.3 mm thick leather with a single pass at 21 mm/s (equivalent to 75 m an hour, or 1.8 km (1.1 mi) per laser machine’s 24 h workday). It does so without charring the edges. It can engrave leather at >100 mm/s at 40% power.

Wide Range of Textiles

The high absorption of blue laser light for numerous materials enables fast cutting without damaging protection layers used in textile cutting. Blue laser cutting and engraving are suitable for diverse types of textiles including Cordura™, Alcantara, felt, 1080 denier nylon, jeans, short-staple fiber cotton, wool, tartan, fleece, white polyester, softshell, silk, lace and linen. High power density enables laser cutting textiles with carbon-reinforced yarn and nylon-reinforced yarn as well as white textiles. Many robust materials used in the production of tents, kites, and bags can be cut at 60 mm/s.

Stainless Steel Engraving

PLH3D-15W also measures up if you want to engrave stainless steel alloys. In the example of the photo with the knife, we engraved it at 6 mm/s. The 15 W blue laser head can mark stainless steel at 33 mm/s.

Carbon Steel Engraving

You cannot engrave tool steel and high-carbon content steel species with a 6 W blue laser. However, our tests have shown that a 15 W blue laser head can engrave high-speed steel as well as mild steel. In fact, the contrast and precision enable an engravement of a working QR code.

Cutting and Engraving Plastics

Another application of PLH3D-15W is cutting and engraving synthetic polymers. You can laser cut and engrave plastics such as polycarbonate, ABS plastic, acetals, nylon, acrylic, PLA, polycarbonate, polyesters, microsurface plastic polymers, polyurethane, polyethylenes, fluoropolymers, PEI, polypropylene, vulcanized fiber, PEEK, polyimides, Rowmark® plastics,  PPO, polystyrene and VCF films. For example, our testing has shown that a 15 W blue laser can cut colored PMMA with a single pass at 2.5 mm/s.

 

PLH3D-15W Product Videos - Rapid Cutting and Engraving

PLH3D-15W Product Videos - Single Pass Cutting and Engraving

Built In a Laser Diode Driver by Opt Lasers - The Heart of The Laser Head

Opt Lasers is also a laser diode drivers manufacturer. Due to our experience building over years, we created a very high-efficiency driver with low power consumption and low heat production. Additionally, it is the fastest dedicated engraving laser driver available on the market, accepting signals up to 30 kHz. Using 6 W cutting and engraving laser at high speed is no longer a problem while engraving small details or making small radius turns, because the engraving laser controller is able to read all necessary signals.

CNC controllers are able to send modulation signals at great speeds, hence 30 kHz is not a problem to them. This is why a high-speed driver is a must in such a device. The driver is able to read 30 000 instructions every second, which creates enhanced precision and resolution in terms of power control. Also, the maximum driver current is 6 A so using it with 3 - 4 A value ensures an offset and a long life of the driver.

High power and high-frequency current laser diode driver

• Maximum output current capacity: 5 A
• Typical output current: 3-3.5 A
• Input voltage 12-24 V
• Integrated microcontroller for temp. measurement and soft start
• Thermal protection system: 45 °C 1
• Soft start for diode protection
• Electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection
• Reverse voltage protection
• Overcurrent protection
• Compact size and 90% efficiency
• CW Mode and Input Control Mode
• PWM/TTL and analog inputs
• Modulation bandwidth 0-30 kHz

Available Accessories

PLH3D-CNC Adapter (Included in the Kits) - Easy connection to any CNC machine

Many types of CNC machines and 3D printers with different control voltage standards and levels available on the market may be used to control the PLH3D head. The PLH3D-CNC Adapter converts all these signals to the standard compatible with the PLH3D head. The PLH3D-CNC Adapter contains widely used industry-standard screw connectors. A dedicated desktop low-noise power supply unit assures compatibility and reliability as well as eliminates problems caused by using third-party power supplies. The general status (power, armed, laser working) may be checked at a glance by watching three LEDs.

Laser Safety Glasses (Included in the Kits) - Ensure the highest quality of protection

These laser glasses can help reduce the probability of light entering the eye from the diffusely reflected laser light. It is important to note that while these laser glasses may be helpful at adding an additional layer of safety for diffusely scattered light, the user should not depend on them to protect against the beam entering the eye, either directly or indirectly. It is necessary to take additional precautions when working with lasers, receive proper training on how to do so and not depend on equipment as an alternative to safe practices.

Other accessories (Included in the Kits) - To make your Opt Lasers Kit plug & play

With these accessories, it is a plug & play kit. Height Reference - helps you set your working distance, power adapter with AC adapter to allow you to plug into all outlets (US, AU and Europe), wiring and screw set to connect everything together and mount to connect the machine.

Blue Laser Safety Window (Compatible with all Blue Lasers) - Install as you need

These laser windows can help reduce the probability of light entering the user’s eye from a diffusely backscattered laser light. This product is rated at OD 6+ over the range of 190 to 540 nm, blocking deep ultraviolet to green including violet and blue light.