Uploaded April 2021 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
We all know that laser machines CUT materials and we complain about edge striations, off-square cuts and non-flat edges but no one seems to ask why and how does that cut happen in the first place? Despite digging through many academic and industry research documents, the cutting mechanism seems unexplained. I find this so improbable that I blame myself for inadequate diligence.....somebody knows. However, in parallel with this search for someone else's answer, I have continued with my own experiments and observations. My recent failure to find a long compound lens combination that could improve the cutting performance of single lens was yet another strange puzzle in this Alice in Wonderland world of lenses. It forced me to examine all the lenses in my collection in a totally different way to see if I could obtain objective test data that characterized each lens rather than one crude "cutting speed" parameter. The results were full of interesting data , the most significant being that cutting ability increases with the focal length. On its own, this is just another interesting observation but to me this was a lightbulb moment that connected all the disparate and puzzling observations I had made over the past two and a half years. Originally I was convinced that amplifying the intensity to the focal point would in effect create a mega (very thin) mode burn. However, a normal mode burn requires PARALLEL rays and lense theory predicts DIVERGING rays below the focal point which will not support that idea.
This is a landmark video for me, trying convey the many images (and their complex interrelationships) that reside in my brain. It has been no easy ride , so get a cup of strong coffee and let's see if I can explain a fact that everyone else accepts without question.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Even though what happens is fact, this explanation is still a theory that links my many experiments and observations
We all know that laser machines CUT materials and we complain about edge striations, off-square cuts and non-flat edges but no one seems to ask why and how does that cut happen in the first place? Despite digging through many academic and industry research documents, the cutting mechanism seems unexplained. I find this so improbable that I blame myself for inadequate diligence.....somebody knows. However, in parallel with this search for someone else's answer, I have continued with my own experiments and observations. My recent failure to find a long compound lens combination that could improve the cutting performance of single lens was yet another strange puzzle in this Alice in Wonderland world of lenses. It forced me to examine all the lenses in my collection in a totally different way to see if I could obtain objective test data that characterized each lens rather than one crude "cutting speed" parameter. The results were full of interesting data , the most significant being that cutting ability increases with the focal length. On its own, this is just another interesting observation but to me this was a lightbulb moment that connected all the disparate and puzzling observations I had made over the past two and a half years. Originally I was convinced that amplifying the intensity to the focal point would in effect create a mega (very thin) mode burn. However, a normal mode burn requires PARALLEL rays and lense theory predicts DIVERGING rays below the focal point which will not support that idea.
This is a landmark video for me, trying convey the many images (and their complex interrelationships) that reside in my brain. It has been no easy ride , so get a cup of strong coffee and let's see if I can explain a fact that everyone else accepts without question.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Even though what happens is fact, this explanation is still a theory that links my many experiments and observations
