Creality CV-30 Laser Falcon 5/10 Watt home/entry level Engraver/cutters

[LitterBug]

Stepping up my game a notch with a LASER. My patience and skill for printing and cutting plans on foamboard and balsa have had me flustered for some time. Been watching Laser cutters for a while and there is FINALLY a somewhat cheap price that is perfect for my needs without having to build from scratch. At some point I may extend the rails to make it capable of cutting a full sheet of foamboard, but for now, this is perfect.

Creality has a 5 Watt (optical output) 400mm x 410mm laser engraver out that right now can be had for $250 from MicroCenter. The 10 Watt version is $350 from the same store.

I also picked up a Two Trees 400mm x 400mm honeycomb with a metal sheet to go under the cutter so I don't burn whatever surface I am running it on. The plate alone would protect the surface, but the honeycomb allows the smoke/fumes to escape below to prevent charring on the bottom of material you are cutting.

My first foamboard attempt will be cutting out the EZ Bronco designed by @AgentC

I'll post the speed/power settings that work for me with this cutter on foamboard in this thread. If anyone else has played with this cutter, Feel free to share info in this thread as well!

Cheers!
LitterBug

 

[LitterBug]

First tests after unboxing. "STOCK" etching test file works on the provided wood as expected. They optimized it for that material. File says it is running at 80% power and 6000mm/min for movement speed. Same settings on foamboard produced a very faint image. As others have stated in laser cutting threads, White can be a tough material to work with since it is reflective. Will play with the power and speed and provide results. There is a Single F6000 command for speed, which will be easy to change. The S800 (S<power>) is on every move, so it will be a bulk change. Will also create a cutting test file that varies the speed/intensity to better replicate my main goal. Need to rig up some ventilation to get the fumes out of the working area. Wood isn't so bad, but I don't really want burning foam fumes lingering around. (or other materials)

Cheers!
LitterBug

Top = Dollar Tree Foam Board, bottom = wood

 

[joelspangler]

I'll be watching for more of your findings. I keep pondering automating my cutlist, but can never decide to go Lazer, CNC, or needle cutter. All have their benefits and down sides for what other projects could be done with the machine and what types of materials can be used.

 

[skymaster]

Good luck, but it is not going to work hopefully i am wrong. unless you change the color of the foam the laser beam is going to get reflected, and once the paper cover is burned you are just going to create a foam lightbulb . but good luck any ways. let us now how it goes.

 

[JetCrafts]

how much does it cost

 

[LitterBug]

how much does it cost

See first post in thread. Click on the prices in that post to get to the product on the web site I purchased it from.

LB

 

[LitterBug]

Good luck, but it is not going to work hopefully i am wrong. unless you change the color of the foam the laser beam is going to get reflected, and once the paper cover is burned you are just going to create a foam lightbulb . but good luck any ways. let us now how it goes.

I have seen the other threads about laser cutting foamboard and understand where you are coming from. I also plan to cut balsa, which this setup is perfectly capable of. @hunterdave99 posted a thread about successfully using a diode laser cutter for black foamboard. I am not against that either. I am going in to this with an open mind. For the pricepoint and size of this product, it is something I can easily modify into a needle cutter, swap out the laser, add air assist, etc. . I don't mind tinkering. If it does work out "stock", that is icing on the cake. Longer rails can be easily swapped out, the harnesses can be extended, and if needed, the firmware dimensions updated for a bigger cutter too. For me, it is a starting point, not an end all cure all, even if it works "stock".

Cheers!
LitterBug

 

[LitterBug]

Modified the demo file to 100% power. Also dropped the speed From 6000mm/sec by 1000mm/sec for each letter. It did indeed burn the foam on both the FT Waterproof Foamboard and Dollar Tree Foamboard. The Dollar tree Foamboard appears to be more dense and the slower the burn, the deeper the cut.
FT board burned through on the L
DT board was still getting deeper at that point.
The "Stock" file can be seen on the DT foamboard as barely visible. Switching from 80 to 100% was enough to go from barely visible to visible/cutting.

So yeah, this should work even bone stock with the right settings. Even with the 5W optical power laser.

Cheers!
LitterBug

 

[LitterBug]

Lable on the laser

LB

 

[LitterBug]

Ran a LightBurn material test on FT Waterproof Foam Board.

 

[LitterBug]

Readi-Board (DTFB) material test.

So again, The DTFB (Readi-Board) is tougher to cut, but is possible to cut through with this basic (5W Optical Output) Creality Falcon laser.

Cheers!
LitterBug

 

[Tench745]

Readi-Board (DTFB) material test.
So again, The DTFB (Readi-Board) is tougher to cut, but is possible to cut through with this basic (5W Optical Output) Creality Falcon laser.

Cheers!
LitterBug

I notice the outlines on the squares which cut through the foam have extra charring and a rather irregular burn in the foam. When I was testing foam in my laser I got similar results because the paper was actually catching fire and beginning to burn which is what melted deeper into the foam.
I believe my laser is a 3W, I found that at full power and slow cuts the paper would catch fire. Once the paper was cut, additional passes did essentially nothing to further cut into the foam. I ended up setting my material profile to the fastest travel which would give me good cuts through the paper. On my laser this is about 900mm/sec at full power.

 

[LitterBug]

I peeled the squares off the samples for a better view of what is happening inside the foam. The paper layer is so thin, any marking at all makes a cut all the way through the paper. Depending on speed and power, the more energy put into the foam, the bigger and deeper the blob of hot goo made in the foam. Be interesting to see the results from multiple passes, and/or to add air assist.

This is already a win for me since I can print the pattern directly on the Foamboard. With a little extra cut power over minimum to mark the paper, the groove will guide the knife as well.

LB

 

[LitterBug]

And with all the paper removed after printing

These squares being so small and close together is not really an ideal test. Need to do some long cut tests that are further apart better simulating the type of cuts we'll be making....

 

[LitterBug]

Created a more realistic cut test and played with different power/speed/pass settings on Redi-Foam/DTFB. Then I also pealed back the paper and did a cross cut to see "what happens if...". As others have stated above, the foam cut is mostly achieved by the heat created by the paper. You can clearly see in this test that there was NO foam burning where the laser hit the foam directly.

Cheers!
LitterBug

 

[Yankee2003]

Created a more realistic cut test and played with different power/speed/pass settings on Redi-Foam/DTFB. Then I also pealed back the paper and did a cross cut to see "what happens if...". As others have stated above, the foam cut is mostly achieved by the heat created by the paper. You can clearly see in this test that there was NO foam burning where the laser hit the foam directly.

Cheers!
LitterBug
View attachment 233891

interesting thread.
Thank you for doing such detailed postings. Good research and detailed recording.

 

[Piotrsko]

Not my specialty and I didn't notice a mention, but are you exhausting cooling air over the cut?

 

[LitterBug]

Not my specialty and I didn't notice a mention, but are you exhausting cooling air over the cut?

No, I do not have Air Assist yet but it is on it's way. I will be using that for cutting Balsa/Ply

EDIT: There is a fan to move fumes away from the cutting area that I assume also may cool the laser. Not the same as parts cooling or air assist.

 

[LitterBug]

Even if it doesn't cut DTFB all the way through, this is still a win for me. I can use it to put plans directly onto the foamboard without the need to print, cut, trace, etc.... Right now I can not do an entire sheet at once, but eventually I will get longer rails.

 

[Merv]

...I can use it to put plans directly onto the foamboard without the need to print, cut, trace, etc....

Great work, thanks for sharing.
What power & speeds are you using to put plans on the foam?
About how long will it take to "print" one sheet of foam?