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CAN WE USE A LASER FOR GOLD POLISHING?

2003

HELLO TO EVERY ONE WHO READS THIS MAIL.

I AM AN ENGR. STUDENT. I HAVE A TECHNICAL QUESTION ON A FINISHING PROCESS. PROBLEM:- IF I WANT TO FINISH (POLISH SURFACE WITH HIGH SURFACE FINISH) SMALL GOLD PIECE HAVING DIMENSIONS 6 MM-LENGTH, 2 MM-WIDTH, AND 0.5 MM-THICKNESS . TO FINISH SUCH SMALL PIECES AT HIGH VOLUME IN A SHORT TIME, WHICH METHOD IS SUITABLE?. PLEASE COMMENT ON METHODS YOU ARE AWARE OF. CAN WE USE LASER BEAM FOR FINISHING GOLD COMPONENT?

I NEED YOUR SUGGESTION ON PROBLEM.

MAHESH PADAMAKAR JAGTAP
STUDENT - JALGAON, MAHARASHTRA, INDIA

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You can use a CO2 laser system to perform on almost every material, including metal and non metal parts. The only limitation might be the reflectiveness of the piece. (Those gold little pieces you mention mustn't be too much reflective so that the light could affect the material surface). The typical spot diameter is of about 0.2-0.3 mm but you can de-focalize it to get a bigger size, being able to get a feature of 2 or 3 mm.

Sergio Barrio
- Spain
2004