During laser cleaning, the focused beam vaporises the oxide layer, contamination or coating off a surface — without harming the base material underneath. How evenly and how fast it does that comes down to one part: the cleaning head.
The cleaning head does the work
The efficiency of the process depends heavily on the optical and mechanical design of the head — specifically the mirror system that steers the laser beam, and the servo motors that drive it. There are two main approaches: the single-axis (Single Pendulum) and the two-axis (Double Pendulum) head.
1-axis head — Single Pendulum
A 1-axis head deflects the beam through a single rotating mirror moved by a high-resolution servo motor. This gives precise, linear scanning across the surface. The design is simple, the movement is accurate and highly repeatable, and the energy density of the beam stays high.
- Good cleaning on flat or slightly curved surfaces
- Simple, reliable, low-maintenance
- Compact, with favourable weight
- But: limited coverage — larger surfaces need multiple passes
2-axis head — Double Pendulum
A 2-axis head steers the beam along two perpendicular axes, through two servo-driven mirrors. That lets the beam move in raster, spiral or other pattern-based paths — for much greater coverage and a more uniform, homogeneous result across the whole working area, even on larger and more complex shapes.
This is where the filled cleaning patterns come in — the head can lay down the energy in different shapes for an even finish:
Side by side
Which head is in the GM Mini?
The GM Mini 1500W uses the Double Pendulum (2-axis)head — because for cleaning, coverage and an even finish are everything. It cleans the full area without you manually sweeping the gun, delivers a homogeneous result on complex shapes, and reaches large or awkward surfaces efficiently. That's exactly what a dedicated cleaning machine should do.