Laser Cutting Foamboard Question

[Leadfoot335]

I have a home built 40W laser that I have used to cut several of the Master Series planes for myself and another member of my club.

Some parts will cut completely, while others will have corners that are not complete and have to be hand cut after the fact. I have not had the same issues when cutting 1/8" ply. My thoughts are that the laser is "ramping" up and down at the corners, and because I am using relatively low power settings, it's not completing the cut.

In terms of my process for preparing the plans for cutting, I will first import the PDFs into Autocad and create a DXF file from there. The DXF is then imported into Inkscape for layout and adjustment, then sent to Visicut to create the final gcode. My laser cutter uses a Smoothie board and Pronterface.

When working in Autocad, I do try to ensure that all of the lines are joined into a single polyline before exporting them.

Thanks in advance!

 

[chrisvdv]

Try to contact @dkj4linux, if he is still active on this forum. You can read his posts about needle cutting on this forum, IIRC he mention his work with lasers in these posts.

 

[Leadfoot335]

Thanks, I will touch base with him as he does still appear to be active.

Another thought I had was to incorporate a small curve at each of the corners. That way the laser/software may interpret it as a continuous cut rather than a hard stop and change of direction.

 

[Leadfoot335]

Well the curves helped a bit, but it's still not making a continuous cut (see attached photos)

 

[mrjdstewart]

Well the curves helped a bit, but it's still not making a continuous cut (see attached photos)

that is pretty common. without those tabs the pieces would just fall out, which may affect other cuts. if you look at the vector files you will see that the lines all have tabs designed into them. if i was you i would not be worried and just come back after the laser with a small blade and cut the tabs just like with the speed build kits.

can i ask what laser are you using?

good luck,

me

 

[Leadfoot335]

I'm using a home built 40W laser with a Smoothie Board controller. Software wise, I use a combination of Inkscape, Visicut and Pronterface. I particularly like Visicut, as it allows me to setup for multiple passes, at multiple speed, power and focal distances.

If I were to cut a similar design with my 1/8" ply settings, it would cut all the corners, which leads me to think it has something to do with the lower power settings.

Thanks!