wood etching laser table questions

Xizor said:

Well darkening, but if I have to co2 I guess both.  Haven't found anything on ebay for a good price yet, but I guess I'll just have to keep my eyes out.

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with lasers I have always it is better to start off with this statement or question...

what is your budget?

Pat can you post the design sheet of the miniature bench you made?

I mounted a 6x Blu-Ray on my cnc and used Photo V Carve from Vectric. The photo size was 2 x 3 and it turned out ok but it took almost 2 hours to do it, I had to slow the machine down to a crawl. The software kinda works like you described but only in a straight line. The up and down travel was only a few thousands. After it was done I lightly sand the top to give it light and dark separation. I could do the same photo with better results with a V-Cutter in a few mins so I scrapped the project. I might try it again some day with a different setup. Good luck, it sounds like a interesting project. If you are able to etch with the cnc please let me know your setup.

Chuck

Sorry to steal your thread Xizor, I just have a quick (related) question for laserman.

I'm contemplating building a laser cutting table, but all i want to cut is thin balsa (about 1/8th of an inch). Would i need a CO2 laser, or could i get away with something cheaper.

Thanks for the help

-Knight

CRFultz said:

The photo size was 2 x 3 and it turned out ok but it took almost 2 hours to do it

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Any chance you could post a picture of the result, and/or your setup before you scrapped it? I would love to see it!

@Laserman532,

It wasn't until Blu-Ray_Junkie said "miniature bench" that I realized how small that furniture is that you made!  I'm running 1024 wide on my monitor, so the dime was off to the right and I missed it the first time through. I went back and scrolled over to see it. ;D

From the picture, it looks like the wood you used is about 0.115" thick, or just under 1/8"

Laserman532 said:

50 watts will cut into walnut or pine about 1/4" to about .375"

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So is that made of walnut and cut with a 50 W CO2?

What size is the beam, did you change its size or shape (compared to the unmodified laser output) and what cutting rate did you use?  

That is beautiful work!

I always wanted a CO2 ever since I saw the articles in Scientific American (many years ago) on how to make one.  I think those were only a few watts, though.

knight said:

Sorry to steal your thread Xizor, I just have a quick (related) question for laserman.

I'm contemplating building a laser cutting table, but all i want to cut is thin balsa (about 1/8th of an inch). Would i need a CO2 laser, or could i get away with something cheaper.

Thanks for the help

-Knight

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CO2 lasers are the cheapest watt per dollar laser you can buy. 1/8 balsa can be cut with about 25 watts of co2, (10 watts slowly with charring). (I use 60 watts with a fast cutting speed and air assist to keep the wood from catching on fire. If you cut slower you char the edges (and could start fire). 10.6 micron wavelengths are ideal for engraving and cutting organics and plastics. The key is to use as much power with the correct cutting speeds (fast) to least affect the HAZ (heat affected zone) The thin plywood in the RC field dosnt cut well due to the glue between the layers.

If you look closely at the cube in my last photo you see there is no charring...you try to vaporize the wood so there is no time to build up heat. Slower speeds create worse HAZ. The wood used in those items is alder less than .125" it varies around .115" (excellent measuring technique warske)

I engraved a portrait of Michael Jackson (with breast) on a graham cracker (sold it on ebay), a beautiful picture of my daughter on a flour tortilla, my name on a peanut, the MTV logo on an emu egg, and did a box of ritz crackers with the texas instruments logo for a board meeting. They are real fun to play with, but can start a fire very quickly if something glitches.

Guess that's a big "no" ;D

No problem Pat. Take care, and good luck with your projects.

Blu-Ray_Junkie said:

Guess that's a big "no"  ;D

No problem Pat. Take care, and good luck with your projects.

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there are no prints. it is a vector .cdr file. if you have corel draw it would open, it is not that i dont want to give it away, but do I want to take the time to go through the dance without sincere interest.

LOL...I found the picture of Michael Jackson with breast on a graham cracker. Damn, I must have been bored that day...

No more dancing..life is short. I have always been sincere, and will always be here if you needed something. You really got me all wrong. I know you probably don't believe that, but its true.

I actually want to make a full size version in oak for my girlfriend to put in her garden. Vaporizing wood is crazy. I'd love to see that. What is the maximum thickness of wood that you can cut?

Laserman532 said:

LOL...I found the picture of Michael Jackson with breast on a graham cracker. Damn, I must have been bored that day...

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I guess ;D ;D ;D thats F'n funny..I just choked on my lunch ;D

FYI...EMU Eggs smell REAL BAD while engraving them...Sort of like burning hair coming out of a donkeys ass after feeding at a dairy farm next to the rotten egg disposal plant that uses compost piles to decompose the waste by product...if you know what I mean...

Blu-Ray_Junkie said:

No more dancing..life is short. I have always been sincere, and will always be here if you needed something. You really got me all wrong. I know you probably don't believe that, but its true.

I actually want to make a full size version in oak for my girlfriend to put in her garden. Vaporizing wood is crazy. I'd love to see that. What is the maximum thickness of wood that you can cut?


[quote author=Laserman532 link=1240259321/0#25 date=1240416539]LOL...I found the picture of Michael Jackson with breast on a graham cracker.  Damn, I must have been bored that day...

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I guess  ;D ;D ;D thats F'n funny..I just choked on my lunch  ;D[/quote]

I dont know how you would scale it to a full size, if you did the points between the nodes would make it a steping instead of smooth curves. Maximum thickness of wood single pass is about .1875 to .25 or so. Making a multiple pass tends to char wood. If you have a cad program I can e-mail file you need to accept .eps, or .ai, or .cdr. Im not trippin...i doubled my medication, and when Im not sleeping, i can travel through time...so it works out...

Laserman532 said:

[quote author=Blu-Ray_Junkie link=1240259321/0#26 date=1240416822]No more dancing..life is short. I have always been sincere, and will always be here if you needed something. You really got me all wrong. I know you probably don't believe that, but its true.

I actually want to make a full size version in oak for my girlfriend to put in her garden. Vaporizing wood is crazy. I'd love to see that. What is the maximum thickness of wood that you can cut?


[quote author=Laserman532 link=1240259321/0#25 date=1240416539]LOL...I found the picture of Michael Jackson with breast on a graham cracker.  Damn, I must have been bored that day...

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I guess  ;D ;D ;D thats F'n funny..I just choked on my lunch  ;D[/quote]

I dont know how you would scale it to a full size, if you did the points between the nodes would make it a steping instead of smooth curves.  Maximum thickness of wood single pass is about .1875 to .25 or so.  Making a multiple pass tends to char wood.  If you have a cad program I can e-mail file you need to accept .eps, or .ai, or .cdr.  Im not trippin...i doubled my medication, and when Im not sleeping, i can travel through time...so it works out... [/quote]

You are probably right. Maybe I can fudge the design. She will never know either way. Send some of those time warp drugs over ;D my Xanax lost its edge long ago.

Peace LaserMan

You're a strange duck. What did the cracker sell for?

Cyparagon said:

You're a strange duck. What did the cracker sell for?

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I think it only got about $15.00 a bit less probably, but as they say...you can almost sell anything on ebay.