industrial cutting laser DIY help/thoughts

a business "friend" of mine is interested in the possibility of adding a laser to an machine he uses working with Neoprene.
the material is 0.500" thick nominally and passes through the machine at 88 fmp (feet per minute).
there is a need to insert a cutter to cut the Neoprene to size, think of a long belt, and seeing my 405nM laser burn stuff he was wondering if it would be possible to add a laser to his present machine rather than going the traditional rout of using a blade which will always need sharpening and is a major rebuild to add to his current rig.

so what wave length and out put could cut through 0.500" Black Neoprene passing by at 88fpm?

and how close to the material does the laser need to be?
there is one spot on the rig where we could mount a laser with relative ease (depending on size) but it would be almost 43" from the material.

anyone know how to do the math on this one?

I'm going to just throw this out there and suggest a CO2 setup, at 10,600nm even a few watts would slice through most stuff with relative ease.

Prototype said:

I'm going to just throw this out there and suggest a CO2 setup, at 10,600nm even a few watts would slice through most stuff with relative ease.

Click to expand...

don't know squat about building a co2 laser.
but still I'm going to assume that IR is going to be he more efficient cutter.

You don't have to build one, just buy a tube, ZnSe lens and power supply. Not sure of a reliable source though. 10,600nm Is IR, in case you were wondering :na:

I am guessing he machines square cut on a lathe.

No the cost ratio is not in his favor. neo-70 stinks enough as it is, burning it will be toxic.

(most things we call rubber today have nothing to do with rubber. All this is do to modern chemistry. Put plainly all rubber products you see today is a chemical compound and should be treated with respect. Burning compounds such as these is very harmful to your health.)

Neoprene serviceable temp range is -65 - +212 f