Laser cutting power information

[mungral]

hello from Tasmania / Australia.

Just got my self a 60Watt laser cutter.
and was woundering if anyone had information on what power / speed setting are good for cutting foam board.



i can cut with one pass but the foam between the paper sheets melts away and creates a concave shape.

any information would be greatly appreciated

 

[CrashRecovery]

Welcome to the club. The question is how much melts away? That is exactly how all the speed build kits come. I noticed your in australia so the chances of you getting a speed build are quite slim. A little bit seems to be the normal.

 

[nerdnic]

Full power at full speed for full cuts. The slower the laser is the more foam it's going to melt.

 

[Balu]

I'd say full speed and reduce the power so you still get clean cuts every time.

But I was never allowed to test foamboard on the campus lasers... :-(

 

[SP0NZ]

Laser envy!

 

[mungral]

Welcome to the club. The question is how much melts away? That is exactly how all the speed build kits come. I noticed your in australia so the chances of you getting a speed build are quite slim. A little bit seems to be the normal.

the foam board i can get here is 5mm thick and the concave is around 3mm into the board.

getting the speed build kits delivered here to australia costs to much. so thats was one of the main reasons to get the laser cutter in the first place.

FT is nice enough to supply the full size plans as PDF so dropping them into the laser software is easy.

i'll run some tests this weekend with different speeds and powers and i'll post my results just incase anyone else can use them.

 

[Jugsy]

How much did you pay and where from! Very jealous

 

[mungral]

How much did you pay and where from! Very jealous

around $2800 australia dollars delivered

got it on ebay.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/CO2-60W-USB-Laser-Engraver-Cutter-Engraving-Cutting-Machine-Arts-Laser-Printer-/272203174389

worked 100% have not had any issues with it at all

 

[Ocean]

I have a 40W CO2 laser. I run 100% speed 20% power with clean cuts, could probably push it lower to 15% power.

 

[nerdnic]

around $2800 australia dollars delivered

got it on ebay.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/CO2-60W-USB-Laser-Engraver-Cutter-Engraving-Cutting-Machine-Arts-Laser-Printer-/272203174389

worked 100% have not had any issues with it at all

The work area is smaller than a sheet of foam. How are you getting around this?

 

[mungral]

The work area is smaller than a sheet of foam. How are you getting around this?

The only foam board size I can get is A2 size (420mm x 594mm) so it fits nicely. (laser cutter is 700x500)
But if the FT design is to large I just drop it into my CAD software and add a few cut joints and re-nest it back onto the A2 sheet size..

I would love it if the Flite Test guys could save their designs in DXF, DWG format but I under stand why they don't.

 

[Jugsy]

Wow, quite the investment! Can't wait til they get more affordable

 

[mungral]

Wow, quite the investment! Can't wait til they get more affordable

I saved up a lot before i got the machine.

I have also let people who have stalls at the local arts and craft fairs that i can cut things for them.
I'm now very busy on the weekends cutting designs out of ply wood for the local "arty types".
at current rate of usage the machine will have paid for it's self in 6 months.

 

[mungral]

if any one is interested

for my 60Watt Chinese built Co2 laser cutter
my settings to cut all the way through in one pass are

3mm indoor plywood - speed 15mm/sec @ 45% power
7mm indoor plywood - speed 5mm/sec @ 60% power
2mm cardboard (matt board) - speed 20mm/sec @ 90% power
3mm Acrylic - speed 10mm/sec @ 85% power
5mm white foam board - speed 90mm/sec @ 60% power - 2 passer to cut all the way through.
(2 passes at this setting seems to reduce melting of the foam core)

power v's Amps

10% power = 2 amps
20% power = 7 amps
30% power = 10 amps
40% power = 13 amps
50% power = 17 amps
60% power = 20 amps
70% power = 22 amps
80% power = 24 amps
90% power = 26 amps
100% power = 28 amps

 

[Boeesen]

Will this be able to cut the FT foam boards?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Focusable-...146516&hash=item3629ea0bb6:g:uXsAAOSwVLRaXKXa

 

[kilroy07]

Looks pretty similar to the one I have. Congrats, there's nothing like dropping in a full sheet of foamboard and a minute later have a new project started!

If you are using RDWorksV8, here are the settings I use (2 passes for each run, that minimizes the cutback from the foam core.);

FoamCut Speed 80, Power 20
FoamMark Speed 100, Power 12
FoamEtch Speed 100, Power 15

For heavy foamboard (Elmers etc) I use; Speed 60, Power 30

In your CAD program you can assign colors and RDWorks will use those colors to assign the levels and power/speed combinations (import the DXF)

I also suggest having a 500x700mm Box on a color/level that doesn't cut to layout the pieces and when you import there will be no scaling issues.

 

[motoguy]

If you are using RDWorksV8, here are the settings I use (2 passes for each run, that minimizes the cutback from the foam core.);

FoamCut Speed 80, Power 20
FoamMark Speed 100, Power 12
FoamEtch Speed 100, Power 15

What is the difference between your FoamMark and FoamEtch?

 

[kilroy07]

FoamEtch cuts through the top layer of paper (listed as 50% cuts on plans)
FoamMark simple discolors the top paper (marking it for alignments etc.)