Is this a topic for those with access to the university's shop with the $100,000 laser all the students get to use for free, or is there an actual CO2 laser that can cut 1/4 or 3/8" delrin and plywood that's affordable for occasional home use?
Yeah I wish he went more into details on this.. he mentions a 60w laser at one point. Watts, wavelength, thickness, inches per second would have been nice.
Yeah I wish he went more into details on this.. he mentions a 60w laser at one point. Watts, wavelength, thickness, inches per second would have been nice.
All commercial CO2 lasers for cutting use are the same wavelength, 10,600nm. Conveniently, that wavelength is completely blocked by almost everything except air - including glass, plastics, and water. This makes it comparatively safe to work with, as high power invisible lasers go. Standard shop safety goggles provide complete eye protection, and a direct beam to the eye is necessary to cause injury since the light cannot penetrate the cornea to focus on the retina like most laser beams. But I digress... The power needed to cut a material depends on the thickness, edge quality required, and speed required. Like welding, there are no clear rules, only general guidelines based on experience. 60W is not much power for laser cutting, and would be unlikely to make a clean edge on 1/4" plastic at any reasonable speed, or to give an acceptable cut on 3/8" material at all unless assisted by a compressed gas jet, which cheap and low-powered laser cutters do not use.
And your favorite, hobby laser cutter is... (Score:4, Insightful)
Is this a topic for those with access to the university's shop with the $100,000 laser all the students get to use for free, or is there an actual CO2 laser that can cut 1/4 or 3/8" delrin and plywood that's affordable for occasional home use?
Re:And your favorite, hobby laser cutter is... (Score:2)
Yeah I wish he went more into details on this.. he mentions a 60w laser at one point. Watts, wavelength, thickness, inches per second would have been nice.
Re:And your favorite, hobby laser cutter is... (Score:5, Informative)
Yeah I wish he went more into details on this.. he mentions a 60w laser at one point. Watts, wavelength, thickness, inches per second would have been nice.
All commercial CO2 lasers for cutting use are the same wavelength, 10,600nm. Conveniently, that wavelength is completely blocked by almost everything except air - including glass, plastics, and water. This makes it comparatively safe to work with, as high power invisible lasers go. Standard shop safety goggles provide complete eye protection, and a direct beam to the eye is necessary to cause injury since the light cannot penetrate the cornea to focus on the retina like most laser beams. But I digress... The power needed to cut a material depends on the thickness, edge quality required, and speed required. Like welding, there are no clear rules, only general guidelines based on experience. 60W is not much power for laser cutting, and would be unlikely to make a clean edge on 1/4" plastic at any reasonable speed, or to give an acceptable cut on 3/8" material at all unless assisted by a compressed gas jet, which cheap and low-powered laser cutters do not use.