RE: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] FYI - A New Small Laser Machine

In theory 100W C02 would do it, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH4MIlFSn_U is a 150W one cutting 2mm. That’s using oxygen to do the actually cut though.



That sort of power is within reach to the adventurous hobbyist, a 150 tube costs around $2,000.



I’d sticking to punching unless someone does laser cutting in your area.



Tony









Tony,

I am curious, what size laser would I need to cut 20 gauge painted steel, Digi-Key item # HM306-ND? I need to cut vent holes in this box.





Denis Knobloch
Kam Inc.
ph. 712-473-2400



_____

From: "'Tony Smith' ajsmith1968@... [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO]" <CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com>
To: CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 5:08 PM
Subject: RE: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] FYI - A New Small Laser Machine





Lasers are pretty linear, 80% of the power so drop the speed 80%. About 4mm/s for 6mm plywood sounds right. I do 4mm at 6-7mm/s.

Depends on the plywood though, I’ve got some that cuts like butter, others that just create charcoal. I think it’s the resin, hard to find details on most of it. I’ve got one type that leaves a sticky ‘tar’ behind.

Those lasers have a couple of quirks as stock; one is they don’t do corners properly, they go too fast. So you wind up with straight lines cut though, and the curves almost through. So you either drop the speeds or do a fast second pass.

They don’t do PPI either which slows things down a bit.

I cut at lot of 3mm MDF at about 12mm/s, but with curves I drop the speed.

Acrylic varies with colour and the edge I’m after. One day I’ll figure that out. I usually cut 3mm at 7mm/s, ben a while since I’ve done any 5mm. Can’t remember. I do remember doing two passes, probably to get a better edge.

On one machine I run Mach3 on which solves the curves problem (I’ll get around to PPI one day). On that machine I cut 10-20% faster.

Tony



>The 40W laser can cut up to 6mm plywood with about 10 passes

What speed was that at. I can cut 6mm ply with one pass on my 50watt, at around 6mm/sec , Im curious as to how those 40's compare in speed/power combinations. I find 5mm acrylic is 1 pass at 100%power at around 9mm/s .. how does that compare?

Thanks,
Art
www.gearotic.com

----- Original Message -----

From: 'Tony Smith' ajsmith1968@... [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] <mailto:ajsmith1968@...%20[CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO]>

To: CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2014 4:25 PM

Subject: RE: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] FYI - A New Small Laser Machine

Ah, you’ve got the deluxe model!

The $500 version doesn’t have the z-lift or air assist.

These guys: http://fslaser.com/products/lasers/hobby-lasers/40wbasic take those lasers and blueprint them (mostly adding a new driver) and charge $1,800 bucks for it. The mechanicals are exactly the same as the $500 one.

This bloke: http://msraynsford.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/cheap-ebay-lasers.html#comment-form complains about them, everything he says is true (though I’ve never had most of those problems) but then again he’s already got a better one, and is trying to sell you this: http://www.justaddsharks.co.uk/blacknose-a3-laser-cutter/ for 3 times the price.

BTW, you can squeeze a bit more space out of those lasers, I get 320x230mm. You can move or clip the limits (depending on your version) for more space, and you can cut a fair bit off that garden hose stopper for more Y-axis travel. You might need to cut the exhaust port shorter if you clip the Y-axis limit shorter, I eventually pulled mine out. (Older versions have rivets – easy, new ones are spot welded.)

Tony

From: CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com [mailto:CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: Thursday, 15 May 2014 1:00 AM
To: CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] FYI - A New Small Laser Machine

I have bought one of these 40W chinese laser, with the USB port! ( Important!) The older parallel port styles are still around. And It is amazing what you actually get for little money. Laser PSU, Airpump, Waterpump, 40w tube, Controller, metal case and adjustable Table height adjustment and XY mechanism, Mirrors and lenses..

The 40W laser can cut up to 6mm plywood with about 10 passes, but then you do get slight V cuts. It will cut acrylic sheet very easily, and does raster engraving.

The 2W laser diode has no chance of of this level of performance.

Any one paying $600 for a $50 laser diode and some printer parts is silly

If anything my next upgrade is to build a bigger platform for it so it can cut bigger sizes. currently it can do about an A4 sheet size.

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