¶ Handheld modes: weld, cut, and clean
This is an open Class 4 beam. The enclosure is gone. Reflections go wherever they want. If you treat handheld like “the same machine with a gun on a cable,” you are going to hurt someone.
Danger: Specialist laser-safety controls are required
A handheld high-power fiber laser is an open-beam Class 4 system. Establish a controlled area with barriers suitable for the wavelength, prevent access, remove reflective paths, use wavelength/optical-density-specific PPE selected by a competent person, control fumes/fire, and keep every engineered interlock functional. Eyewear is not a substitute for enclosure and access control.
¶ Choose the workflow
- Convert from CNC head to handheld mode
- Set up the wire feeder and weld
- Use handheld cutting mode
- Use cleaning mode safely
- CNC-table welding and cleaning: different from the handheld gun; FTC must be prepared first.
¶ The mode-change rule
Before touching an optical, electrical, gas, wire-feed, or head connection: stop software output, disable the laser source, isolate required energy, wait the specified discharge time, and verify the state. Cap optical connections immediately and keep them clean. After conversion, verify the software mode and physical head match before re-enabling the source.
¶ Never do these
- Do not point the head at a person, door, window, reflective bench, cylinder, cable, or unknown material.
- Do not test-fire into open air or use a shiny scrap as a beam stop.
- Do not tape, hold, bypass, or bridge a trigger, work-clamp condition, safety switch, or interlock.
- Do not use ordinary safety glasses as laser eyewear.
- Do not weld/clean painted, plated, solvent-wet, or unknown material without hazard assessment and suitable extraction.
- Do not leave a hot or smoldering workpiece unobserved.
NIOSH notes that welding fumes can affect the lungs and nervous system and recommends appropriate controls; source capture is preferable to relying on general room ventilation alone (NIOSH welding resources).
¶ Official Gweike video
These are Gweike's own walkthroughs. Keep the checks above, watch the sequence, then prove the result on your machine.