Cleaning paint from materials has different ways to accomplish. You can use an angle grinder, sand plasting, ice blasting, using sandpaper, etc. All of these are different mechanical ways to clean and some of them can be used depending on the surface expectation.
If you want to see a controlled damage on the surface which leaves you a good result, generally above options either not suitable or not enough by using one process only.
There comes the life-saver, laser cleaning. It cleans the surface more gentle and without creating additional contamination like sand remnants. But which laser cleaning we are talking about?
Continuous wave lasers are high in power and generally lower priced solutions. Their advantage is generally cleaning a wider area and removing thicker contamination from the surface like thick rust and paint. CW lasers can be used on metal surfaces only as they have too much power to be used on surfaces like wood, concrete, etc. So if you plan to clean a rusty metal, it is ok. But still if you would like to have a smooth surface like you may want on a stamping die, CW laser cleaning may not be the best option.
If you want a smooth surface after cleaning, more control and being able to clean non-metallic surface, it is pulse laser cleaning technology you should be going for.
Pulse laser cleaning machines start from 100W and can go up to 500W realistically. As you see, these power ranges are too less compared to CW lasers. But these are small giants. They can create stronger pulse hits on the materials by being able to apply less power. This will eventually clean the surface without creating unnecessary damage on the surface.
Pulse lasers are more expensive compared to CW but the surface quality after cleaning is not comparable. As said above, if you are cleaning rusty, heavily painted sheet metal or profiles then CW laser cleaning is good for you. Anything else, pulse laser should be chosen.
We will talk about laser safety and laser PPE on another post. Stay tuned!
