How useful is a laser cutter? Current findings.
Added 2021-09-02 15:22:02 +0000 UTCBeen testing materials and pretty happy with the results I am getting with this laser cutter. The main materials I wanted to test were:
Thin Foamies
Plastic for eyes
Hard Felt
Thick Foamies
Thin Wood
These are all materials I use at work (aside from the wood as I was testing harder materials to cut). And the laser cuts them without an issue. These are some of the settings I was using to get these results with LightBurn.
I am burning/cutting all of these at 100% power which has worked out well. Granted I am running a 5.5W machine so my laser is much less powerful than a Co2 laser. Another thing to keep in mind is to cover your material with masking tape/blue tape to avoid the material having "burn bleeds".
Fumes? Yes the machine will release fumes so please be safe when using a laser. Do it in a well ventilated area, use a fan to blow the fumes out and wear a breathing mask of some kind to protect your lungs. Wear your goggles as well to protect your eyes from the light the laser releases and keep a somewhat close eye on it as some materials can easily catch on fire.
Initial tests have been great and waiting on more materials to arrive and test those next. I plan to laser cut rubber and acrylic next.
