For anyone one thinking they should go out an buy a cheap ebay/gearbest laser engraver please realize the smell emitted from cutting acrylic is not lung friendly, and lingers for hours. I highly recommend a open garage and/or an exhaust system. Best I can describe the smell as being slightly sharp and acidic. While getting a whiff might only just give you a headache prolonged breathing it in could cause problems for some people. Please use caution. Now for wood I would suggest using a forced air nozzle to blow smoke that is produced away from the cutting area. smoke obstructs the path of the laser weakening it and making dark scorches on the surface. another way to prevent burn marks is putting a layer of blue painters tape over the cutting area on both sides. Also keep a extinguisher nearby. Wood can catch fire, you are burning it with a laser.
yeah, melting acrylic fumes are highly toxic. Same as the smoke from burning wood. There are all kinds of carcinogens in wood smoke. I just received my laser and am doing suede...you want to talk about STINK. I have a temporary exhaust set up with my shop vac but first thing on my todo list is to get an exhaust venting the fumes/smoke directly outside.
From time to time, I have to drill trough acrylic pieces using a standard shop drill with a standard HSS bit. The smell is acidic and pierces your nose, although I find it quite enjoyable. the worst part is when a puiece of molten plastic jumps on your skin.
Would it help with acrylic fumes if there was a HEPA Cartridge Filter? I know some 3D printers which have HEPA filters to get rid of ABS plastic Smell But would the same work with acrylic?
What do the edges of your cuts look like, are they square or slightly tapered from the top of the sheet to the bottom, I found the cut's wider at the top of the sheet than the bottom, it's not ideal so I just router them now
It's what I like most about your excellent videos. You're not afraid to share the info of your failures. Learning how to get everything right usually includes a few Out Take moments : )
Some good investigation into cutting acrylic! Just to reiterate to all - you can't cleanly cut clear acrylic with a blue diode laser - clear acrylic will not absorb the laser energy and thus not melt.
My mileage obviously varied. I'm claiming pure luck, rather than any insight. So diagnosing exactly the difference is a bit difficult. My laser is the same kind as yours. 2.5W blue laser. So all things being equal.. It should work. Perhaps we are using different acrylic sheets? Mine is 3mm dark red cast acrylic, which seems to have a lower melting point than extruded. My settings for the transparent red are.. Software Laserweb. Power 100% Passes 10 speed 100mm/minute.
I bought a 2.5w laser some time ago, never fit it to a printer yet, watching your video makes me wish I had more time, looks like the best way to cut a frame is inside out, ie. cut any holes, then cut the inner holes and finally the outside of the frame. maybe removing the acrylic and popping out any parts between cuts, so a means of accurately placing the acrylic, maybe against a couple of sides would help.
Great info for those wishing to experiment with laser cutting. I don't know if you can hand focus that particular laser but having watched lots of videos one of the main things seams to be focusing the lens, on the green acylic that only cut 1 axis maybee its not as tightly focused on the uncut axis giving a slight elipse shape and thus cuting less on the wider direction as the beam is not as concentrated. just a thought as i have not experimented with lasers(yet) will be keeping a good eye on future videos, thanks
when you lasercutting the acrilic, you want to go as fast as possible so the material does not heat up and melt. you will get better resolution that way, just increase the amount of passes.
and determine whether you are using cast acrylic or extruded. Cast has a higher melting point and is harder than extruded. Extruded is actually quite soft.
Black acrylic will be the easiest to cut, as it absorbs the most energy. I think a sheet of clear glass positioned over the black acrylic would act as a "paper weight" to prevent acrylic lift during the cut. Removing the lower paper backing sheet from the acrylic and placing the acrylic on a mirror sitting on the bed might decrease the cut time (or melt the laser). Printing the inverse pattern in PLA would provide a die, which should enable you to pop out the acrylic sheet quite easily without breaking the small bits. But acrylic is so brittle I wouldn't think it would be useful in a quadcopter, or anything that experiences stress.
I dont mean to be offtopic but does anybody know a way to get back into an instagram account..? I was dumb forgot the account password. I appreciate any help you can give me!
@Jayce Jadiel i really appreciate your reply. I found the site through google and Im waiting for the hacking stuff now. Seems to take quite some time so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
The light enters the object, heats it up, vaporizes the material. Color affects how much heat is produced. So every color needs different cutting parameters. Another thing that affects cutting efficiency is smoke. The smoke blocks the light reducing efficiency. A method to blow the smoke away will change the cutting parameters.
I appreciate this video, i've had a 2.5W laser in my possession for almost a year now, and it's still sitting in the box. but what i wanted to say, here, obviously, since you have to "Focus" the laser, it implies that the beam coming out of the laser is in the shape of a cone, larger diameter at the laser, smaller diameter at the target. if you lower the focus (tip of the cone) so that it's inside the acrylic, then that means that there is going to be some of the laser beam hitting the top of the acrylic just outside the cut line. this part of the beam is taking away from the energy getting to the bottom of the plastic layer you have lowered the focal point to. now, i'm not an expert on this at all, but it just might be that the deeper you place the focal point into the target material, the less wattage of the laser gets to that point and therefore would take either more power, or longer time to make the final layer cuts. If it were me, and I had all that room on those sacrificed plates, i'd do a few sets of side by side cuts, one set with lowering the focal point into the material, the others using no plate lowering. then again, if i were me, and I AM, i should get my lazy butt off this chair and build the quick interchangable mount on either my CNC machine or 3D printer. in any case, this was VERY informative and you now have one more subscriber. thank you, & keep up the great work. Russ from Coral Springs, Flordia, USA
One could probably avoid the pop-up (or problems caused by it) by cutting outward from the interior, so cuts containing cuts are done last. That way, even if something does shift midway through, it won't affect anything in progress.
The lift of the print is completely preventable, do all of your detail and hole making work first, then cut the outline. In any machining operation you have order of operations, that is why you start with the details first, and then cut the entire part out. I come from a CNC Machinist background, it is interesting to see that acrylic can be cut with a laser. I have never done any laser cutting, mostly stuff in steel and aluminum, but the order of operations is much the same from what I can see.
I have to say, that was a bit of a surprising result with the orange in your early tests. Blue and green having difficulty intuitively made sense because of the light reflecting off the acrylic. I only recently discovered your channel as I have just gotten in to 3d printing and after having bought 2 3d printers, i feel an itch to build one. Your Hypercube design is inspirational, and seeing this is giving me so many ideas for the use of a laser module like this. You have earned another subscription!
I have an idea, "Bowden" laser, just mount the laser on the frame and inject it into a fiber optic cable, print a mount for the other side and you're done, you can have it right next to the normal hotend, so that you don't need to change toolheads and fiddle with connectors, just use either one (and adjust offsets) depending on your needs
My 2.8W 450nm LASER can cut 3mm black acrylic with 20mm/min feed rate in "one pass". I always remove only the upper protective film before cutting. This method makes the cutting a lot easier.
I think you are ready for K40 cheap Chinese laser. Even without any modification, out of the box - you will be able to cut acrylic with polished finish (self heat polish).
Cutting plastics with a laser requires NON-VISIBLE wavelengths. You might choose, well, CO₂ laser (gas-based), 808 nm (infrared, invisible), or plasma machine. You could also used LDA (laser diode array), combining efficiently multiple visible-laser diodes (445nm, here) to achieve, say, 10W or more power that MIGHT cut through plastics. But would be kinda expensive and requiring some technical skills. Also, instead of manually managing the focal distance to get most power on the acrylic sheet, a proper collimation lens system works great.
I wonder if you could use air to clean out the slots if it would cut faster..maybe a needle on a mount pointed at the cut point, w/ tubing and a small compressor if it would push enough air thru to blow out the cutting and cool the part that isn't being cut
Have you checked the actual power of the laser? Because I bought a similar one rated also for 2.5W but when I checked with a calibrated bolometer the actual power was of 500mW.
after calculating the size of jobs id need to cut,thanks this helped save me heap of money,im going to have to go straight to co2,im doing insert panels and control panels for high end custom ebikes i build,also the battery boxes that are filled with 3m dilectric collant ,need really uniform cuts,i think theres are few videos out there not quite telling the truth
Love seeing stuff like this where folks show us how to do stuff, but what gets on my nerves is the positioning and material wastage. Why not do your cuts near the edge and close together?
Thanks for the get video. I have noticed when working with plastics and acrylic that it changes its properties, becoming brittle, when it is heated. I could imagine that the area just around the cut would get rather hot when the laser is moving slowly. Perhaps this is one of the reasons the quad copter part broke, along with your haste :)
Really nice information here! You could try using double sided tape to avoid shifting. Alternatively you could suspend the acrylic a little above the bed (so you can see the discarded pieces falling), and change the gcode to leave leave small uncut bridges on the edges of the main body.
Yeah was thinking that too. Maybe have the last pass interrupt at the tab points so a small pressure will shear the tabs when the print is finished. - Eddy
Ive never used a laser cutter; Could pieces start to fall before a cut is complete? The idea of suspending the acrylic sounds good, but not if a piece could fall and in so doing spoil the accuracy of the last few seconds of cut.
and if you don't cut them all the way through, you have to break them off and you might damage your part. It is better to cut all the way through and have the piece supported from below somehow. I run a cnc router and used to use tabs all the time but it would create marks on the side of my finished piece when the router went up and over the tab. This is due to the TIR of the router being rather high.
wild Idea, try gluing it down with double sided tape... on to a peace of cardboard, then after the cutting, soak in water and the cardboard, tape, and the protective paper should be easy to remove... .. I have no idea if it would work... but would be interested if it does work and hopefully one more pass at a faster rate just to make sure your cuts are all good.
I noticed that you were stopping it just as you were seeing the laser below. Is there a reason you couldn't let it do one more pass to make sure it's all the way through? Does it damage the aluminium plate?
You know You could get a WiFi enabled SD card (or microsd to sd adapter)? Even tho acrylic is transparent below 1100nm (i.e. whole visible, UV, near IR spectrum), You could cut it by low power laser (2W) by using pulses that would make micro bubbles and rip the fabric. And that's the reason why acrylic mostly being cut by CO2 lasers (10604nm).
Hi, can I suggest that if you were the make the larger removable segments in to 2, 3 or 4 pieces by adding additional cut lines, they would of been easier to remove putting less strain on the outside frame that fractured
could it be the sides of the acrylic is allowing light through the sides. as if you cut acrylic mount it into a piece of wood led shows light travelling through the sides. Hope this makes sense.
with some more intricate designs i would add some places for planned "uncut places you can use to prevent lifting. that you can flush cut later. I'd also add an extra pass for acrylic sometimes it likes to cut different for some reason lol. I'd like to see some vinal cuts for stencils or decals/stickers. keep doing what you do !
Hello from the "future" :) I noticed when cutting the squares, the laser did cut through in two parallel faces. Would it be possible to modulate laser power along the cutting process so it could be more or less powerfull according to the direction it's moving?
Can't say about this CNC, but I have the same problem, and I'm pretty sure it is precission issue (on my CNC at least). Sympthoms look the same, and that is - in certain directions, my CNC (2.5W also) simply does not hit exectly the same spot, and this inperfection can be better observed on wood as "darker" lines. If I'm wrong, please, correct me. The other part of your question is difficult to answer. Yes, but manually. You will have to edit G-code (it's not hard, just not worth the time).
Very interesting. I wanted to illuminate a group of custom switches on an automotive custom console. Using the ugly factory actual switch assembly below. I want to use a Clear with a universal symbols for windows, locks, etc., but next to them, place it clear cut out close to switch but provide an LED or two from edge for light. Cover with black and secure in place with center lid, held in place with magnets. My question is do I call a plastic store and provide detailed drawings, or do I can a place the makes trophies? I would guess it depends on their equipment and desire to do this type of work on 1/2” X 1/2” clear top plate, glued to 1/2” X 1” bottom part with a symbol on it then add LED(s) and mask & sandblast if needed. I fabricate and repair vehicles, but building a 55 year old truck with modern EFI V8 engine for daily driver. Thanks for the video. The color affects the lasers ability to cut. Who knew? ASE Master Tech since 1978-Retired.
That is very interesting, I wonder how the 7000mW version would do! I might grab one for my Hypercube evo just for this ! I would probably have some plywood under it and do an extra pass to get a full clean cut.
Hello I have 3 W laser on 65x50 engraver but without z axis.Which software are you using and how to determine exactly how much feed rate to set for cutting 3mm plywood.I use T2 software
i cut 3mm ply if you have no z axis you focus by hand about 8mms and you can set number of passes in t2 about 8 then reduce as needed hint lift it of the bed so the laser and gas can come through
It seems that some of the cuts, are very different between front and back, which means, the problem is that you are reaching the bottom, out of focus. I would suggest, to make a single pass, at whatever speed you want, and then measure how much depth it cut. then use that depth to lower the laser for the next pass. This should give you optimum cut/focus for that specific speed. For any other speed, repeat the same process, to determine the depth of cut of a single pass. NOTE: Cutting at a much lower speed might degrade the clean cut, even when focused correctly, since the acrylic will heat up more and will distort, making for a less clean cut acrylic.
Don't know if you have tried this, but can the laser you are using cut cleanly through a typical polycarbonate Compact Disc? I would think it would since the acrylic sheet you are using is much thicker. However, the CDs are mostly clear so perhaps a different color of laser is needed, eh?
Hi, Thanks for sharing your results. I have done a few experiments cutting paper and cardboard with a 2.5W and a 5.5W lasers (both lasers bought from Banggood and needless to say, both cut these materials as if they were butter). I have some wood and acrylic to try in the near future; your base marks will be surely useful. Thanks again; keep the videos up.
It is surprisingly quicker. I have only tested 80g bond printer paper and thin 0.5 mm cardboard to cut on different shapes (I used a prusa I3); I have cut both materials at a fixed focal distance of 50 mm for the 2.2W and 70 mm for the 5.5W) adjusting only the speed of cut until I got the cuts clean in 1 pass. The 2.5W 800 and 300 mm a minute and the 5.5W 1620 and 800 mm a minute respectively. Hope this helps. Thanks again for the videos.
Sir, can you try it on non solid bed such a honeycomb bed ? The laser can't cut through the bottom side since it heat power is absorbed by the solid bed.
One of the reasons why it doesn't make it through all the way is because the laser keeps going over material that is already burnt. With my setup when I cut acrylic I do one pass at full power (which I assume is what is being used here) and then with a fine needle trace along the cut grooves and then blow it with some air jets. This removes burnt material and is especially useful with plywood. Then I repeat the process with every two passes. I also put some masking tape over the acrylic to prevent any melts along the edges.
it will depend on the type of acrylic you're using too. Cast acrylic has a higher melting point than extruded. I tried extruded on my CNC router and the cut acrylic would refuse due to heat build up on the bit. Not so with cast.
Great video and inspiring as usual! I have purchased a similar laser for my Geeetech Prusa i3 Pro B but am nervous about over driving it. I would like to see a voltage/current regulator used with the PWM output for your laser. A single LM317 would be powerful enough to drive your 2.5W laser though I'm not sure it would be quick enough to follow the square wave your PWM fan.
Cool! I was wondering how the carbon fiber rods are holding up after several months of use by now.. any updates for us? Sorry if you've posted about this recently and I missed it! Thanks so much for your sharing your ingenuity through awesome youtube content!
Carbon tubes are a winner. They work just as well as the day I installed them. No visible wear either. I am using the IGUS plastic bushings on the carbon tubes though.
how about polycarbonate MUCH less brittle than acrylic, i avoid acrylic whenever possible it's not usually worth the cost savings as it cracks so easily. ...usually on the last whole that one has to drill on a project lol.
I know this is an older video. I just purchased a "20 watt" version of the laser you used. What do you think the performance might be? Waiting for mine to arrive. I want to do mostly engraving but some acrylic cutting.
And is the Laser arrived? Can you tell me if it works better to cut acrylic? I would like to buy also a 20w but i would like to know how got is it to cut. Thank you for a Answer :)
Very informative video. I see that you're using a different z threaded rod nut. One that seems to have a way to tension it to eliminate backlash. Would be interested in any further info you have about it and your thoughts. Cheers!
Hi Just would like to know what laser engraving machine you are using and where did you get it from and what was the cost? Can it also engrave on aluminium and Stainless?
I'm not him but: he custom built it. He bought a 2.5w laser to mount onto his 3dprinter (possible with ramps/radds) and looking at the product page, wave length and wattage: no you can't engrave stainless steel. You need at least 5w to get to it. Those start at 200 dollars :)
Nice examples and analysis of how well it cut Acrylic. Thanks. You really should not use an open laser cutter likt this. Just add some black Acrylic or green that protect people from the beam and reflections. Especially when the beams can reach others outside the room where the cutter are located.
Dude, get rid of those green glasses! They don't block blue light worth a damn. Go get some orange glasses made for YaG lasers; you've only got one set of eyes.
I just tried the laser and glasses he links to. I put the glasses in the path and turned it on for 10 seconds. The glasses melted, and the target doesn't have a mark on it. So they do absorb that frequency.
The ones that came with my laser diode, if I shine the laser at low power through them onto an object, a blue dot is still visible on the object. With proper OD6+ glasses, you don't see that dot. It's not just getting hit directly in the eye with the beam, the light is bright enough to do photochemical damage to your eye even when viewed indirectly. That's what those green glasses don't prevent.
Same way I focus CO2 lasers, by test-firing the laser and examining the mark left on the work. Once I have a nice sharp focus, I use a feeler gauge block to always position my work at the same height from the laser. I move the work up and down rather than adjusting the lens.
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For anyone one thinking they should go out an buy a cheap ebay/gearbest laser engraver please realize the smell emitted from cutting acrylic is not lung friendly, and lingers for hours. I highly recommend a open garage and/or an exhaust system. Best I can describe the smell as being slightly sharp and acidic. While getting a whiff might only just give you a headache prolonged breathing it in could cause problems for some people. Please use caution.
Now for wood I would suggest using a forced air nozzle to blow smoke that is produced away from the cutting area. smoke obstructs the path of the laser weakening it and making dark scorches on the surface. another way to prevent burn marks is putting a layer of blue painters tape over the cutting area on both sides. Also keep a extinguisher nearby. Wood can catch fire, you are burning it with a laser.
yeah, melting acrylic fumes are highly toxic. Same as the smoke from burning wood. There are all kinds of carcinogens in wood smoke. I just received my laser and am doing suede...you want to talk about STINK. I have a temporary exhaust set up with my shop vac but first thing on my todo list is to get an exhaust venting the fumes/smoke directly outside.
From time to time, I have to drill trough acrylic pieces using a standard shop drill with a standard HSS bit. The smell is acidic and pierces your nose, although I find it quite enjoyable. the worst part is when a puiece of molten plastic jumps on your skin.
Would it help with acrylic fumes if there was a HEPA Cartridge Filter?
I know some 3D printers which have HEPA filters to get rid of ABS plastic Smell But would the same work with acrylic?
After seeing this video, I bought a 5.5W laser and could cut 2.5mm black acrylic using a single pass at 2mm/s. Thanks for all your informative videos!
What do the edges of your cuts look like, are they square or slightly tapered from the top of the sheet to the bottom, I found the cut's wider at the top of the sheet than the bottom, it's not ideal so I just router them now
It's what I like most about your excellent videos. You're not afraid to share the info of your failures. Learning how to get everything right usually includes a few Out Take moments : )
you learn more by your mistakes than your successes.
Some good investigation into cutting acrylic! Just to reiterate to all - you can't cleanly cut clear acrylic with a blue diode laser - clear acrylic will not absorb the laser energy and thus not melt.
Yes you can.
So long as it is red tinted.
Uncoloured.. Not a chance. Beam passes straight through.
Well I tried red semi-transparent acrylic and it didn't cut. From my tests the colour needs to be solid.
Yes, that's what I said - you can't cut clear acrylic - it needs to be coloured to absorb the laser light to do any cutting.
My mileage obviously varied. I'm claiming pure luck, rather than any insight. So diagnosing exactly the difference is a bit difficult.
My laser is the same kind as yours. 2.5W blue laser. So all things being equal.. It should work.
Perhaps we are using different acrylic sheets?
Mine is 3mm dark red cast acrylic, which seems to have a lower melting point than extruded.
My settings for the transparent red are..
Software Laserweb.
Power 100%
Passes 10
speed 100mm/minute.
I think what you mean to say is: it has to be opaque or solid coloured.
I bought a 2.5w laser some time ago, never fit it to a printer yet, watching your video makes me wish I had more time, looks like the best way to cut a frame is inside out, ie. cut any holes, then cut the inner holes and finally the outside of the frame. maybe removing the acrylic and popping out any parts between cuts, so a means of accurately placing the acrylic, maybe against a couple of sides would help.
Great info for those wishing to experiment with laser cutting. I don't know if you can hand focus that particular laser but having watched lots of videos one of the main things seams to be focusing the lens, on the green acylic that only cut 1 axis maybee its not as tightly focused on the uncut axis giving a slight elipse shape and thus cuting less on the wider direction as the beam is not as concentrated. just a thought as i have not experimented with lasers(yet) will be keeping a good eye on future videos, thanks
when you lasercutting the acrilic, you want to go as fast as possible so the material does not heat up and melt. you will get better resolution that way, just increase the amount of passes.
That makes sense.
and determine whether you are using cast acrylic or extruded. Cast has a higher melting point and is harder than extruded. Extruded is actually quite soft.
Black acrylic will be the easiest to cut, as it absorbs the most energy. I think a sheet of clear glass positioned over the black acrylic would act as a "paper weight" to prevent acrylic lift during the cut. Removing the lower paper backing sheet from the acrylic and placing the acrylic on a mirror sitting on the bed might decrease the cut time (or melt the laser). Printing the inverse pattern in PLA would provide a die, which should enable you to pop out the acrylic sheet quite easily without breaking the small bits. But acrylic is so brittle I wouldn't think it would be useful in a quadcopter, or anything that experiences stress.
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@Roland Colten instablaster =)
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The light enters the object, heats it up, vaporizes the material. Color affects how much heat is produced. So every color needs different cutting parameters. Another thing that affects cutting efficiency is smoke. The smoke blocks the light reducing efficiency. A method to blow the smoke away will change the cutting parameters.
I appreciate this video, i've had a 2.5W laser in my possession for almost a year now, and it's still sitting in the box. but what i wanted to say, here, obviously, since you have to "Focus" the laser, it implies that the beam coming out of the laser is in the shape of a cone, larger diameter at the laser, smaller diameter at the target. if you lower the focus (tip of the cone) so that it's inside the acrylic, then that means that there is going to be some of the laser beam hitting the top of the acrylic just outside the cut line. this part of the beam is taking away from the energy getting to the bottom of the plastic layer you have lowered the focal point to.
now, i'm not an expert on this at all, but it just might be that the deeper you place the focal point into the target material, the less wattage of the laser gets to that point and therefore would take either more power, or longer time to make the final layer cuts. If it were me, and I had all that room on those sacrificed plates, i'd do a few sets of side by side cuts, one set with lowering the focal point into the material, the others using no plate lowering.
then again, if i were me, and I AM, i should get my lazy butt off this chair and build the quick interchangable mount on either my CNC machine or 3D printer.
in any case, this was VERY informative and you now have one more subscriber.
thank you, & keep up the great work.
Russ from Coral Springs, Flordia, USA
One could probably avoid the pop-up (or problems caused by it) by cutting outward from the interior, so cuts containing cuts are done last. That way, even if something does shift midway through, it won't affect anything in progress.
Yes, I need to do this in Fusion360. Cheers!
The lift of the print is completely preventable, do all of your detail and hole making work first, then cut the outline. In any machining operation you have order of operations, that is why you start with the details first, and then cut the entire part out.
I come from a CNC Machinist background, it is interesting to see that acrylic can be cut with a laser. I have never done any laser cutting, mostly stuff in steel and aluminum, but the order of operations is much the same from what I can see.
Absolutely correct! You have to think critically and logically.
I have to say, that was a bit of a surprising result with the orange in your early tests. Blue and green having difficulty intuitively made sense because of the light reflecting off the acrylic. I only recently discovered your channel as I have just gotten in to 3d printing and after having bought 2 3d printers, i feel an itch to build one. Your Hypercube design is inspirational, and seeing this is giving me so many ideas for the use of a laser module like this. You have earned another subscription!
Welcome aboard kind sir :)
I have an idea, "Bowden" laser, just mount the laser on the frame and inject it into a fiber optic cable, print a mount for the other side and you're done, you can have it right next to the normal hotend, so that you don't need to change toolheads and fiddle with connectors, just use either one (and adjust offsets) depending on your needs
I can already tell I'll end up having an unhealthy obsession with 3D printing and laser cutting things if I ever get the right equipment.
My 2.8W 450nm LASER can cut 3mm black acrylic with 20mm/min feed rate in "one pass". I always remove only the upper protective film before cutting. This method makes the cutting a lot easier.
I think you are ready for K40 cheap Chinese laser. Even without any modification, out of the box - you will be able to cut acrylic with polished finish (self heat polish).
Cutting plastics with a laser requires NON-VISIBLE wavelengths. You might choose, well, CO₂ laser (gas-based), 808 nm (infrared, invisible), or plasma machine.
You could also used LDA (laser diode array), combining efficiently multiple visible-laser diodes (445nm, here) to achieve, say, 10W or more power that MIGHT cut through plastics. But would be kinda expensive and requiring some technical skills.
Also, instead of manually managing the focal distance to get most power on the acrylic sheet, a proper collimation lens system works great.
I wonder if you could use air to clean out the slots if it would cut faster..maybe a needle on a mount pointed at the cut point, w/ tubing and a small compressor if it would push enough air thru to blow out the cutting and cool the part that isn't being cut
Very interesting. I'm going to have to give cutting Acrylic with my 2.5w elekslaser a go soon!
Have you checked the actual power of the laser? Because I bought a similar one rated also for 2.5W but when I checked with a calibrated bolometer the actual power was of 500mW.
Vertical lines on green might be the result of the shape of the laser light. They tend to be more like a line rather than a dot, as I heard.
after calculating the size of jobs id need to cut,thanks this helped save me heap of money,im going to have to go straight to co2,im doing insert panels and control panels for high end custom ebikes i build,also the battery boxes that are filled with 3m dilectric collant ,need really uniform cuts,i think theres are few videos out there not quite telling the truth
what was your power setting or about how many watts output?
Good to know. Thanks for the colour tests.
Why do you sound so much like EEVBlog?
straya m8
i think the light of the laser is diffused inside the material the black absorb light the opacity of the black keep the light trap in the cut
+1 for the "ahh shit!"moment at the end. Good to show failures as well as success.
Love seeing stuff like this where folks show us how to do stuff, but what gets on my nerves is the positioning and material wastage. Why not do your cuts near the edge and close together?
the smoke plume is limiting your efficiency.. put a blower fan on the part and you will get cleaner cuts with a finer cerf,
What you should do is get thick clear acrylic and use that to fine tune your cutting prcess and after that its just number of passes..
Thanks for the get video. I have noticed when working with plastics and acrylic that it changes its properties, becoming brittle, when it is heated. I could imagine that the area just around the cut would get rather hot when the laser is moving slowly. Perhaps this is one of the reasons the quad copter part broke, along with your haste :)
Haha, I like your reason why it broke :P
Really nice information here! You could try using double sided tape to avoid shifting. Alternatively you could suspend the acrylic a little above the bed (so you can see the discarded pieces falling), and change the gcode to leave leave small uncut bridges on the edges of the main body.
Yeah was thinking that too. Maybe have the last pass interrupt at the tab points so a small pressure will shear the tabs when the print is finished.
- Eddy
Ive never used a laser cutter; Could pieces start to fall before a cut is complete? The idea of suspending the acrylic sounds good, but not if a piece could fall and in so doing spoil the accuracy of the last few seconds of cut.
and if you don't cut them all the way through, you have to break them off and you might damage your part. It is better to cut all the way through and have the piece supported from below somehow.
I run a cnc router and used to use tabs all the time but it would create marks on the side of my finished piece when the router went up and over the tab. This is due to the TIR of the router being rather high.
Laser beam is not round, it is rectangular. That is why it does not cut to the same depth in both x and y directions.
wild Idea, try gluing it down with double sided tape... on to a peace of cardboard, then after the cutting, soak in water and the cardboard, tape, and the protective paper should be easy to remove... .. I have no idea if it would work... but would be interested if it does work and hopefully one more pass at a faster rate just to make sure your cuts are all good.
I noticed that you were stopping it just as you were seeing the laser below. Is there a reason you couldn't let it do one more pass to make sure it's all the way through? Does it damage the aluminium plate?
Nice video, but how do you set up multiple passes and lower Z aften each pass? Can you make a video showing how to set it up in Fusion360?
Well that´s why you cut first the inner parts and only at the end the outlay. It would go much better like this!
I have an A6. What parts must I buy to do laser cutting of acrylic, same as the video. Thank you very very much. Googling only confuses me. 😳
You know You could get a WiFi enabled SD card (or microsd to sd adapter)?
Even tho acrylic is transparent below 1100nm (i.e. whole visible, UV, near IR spectrum), You could cut it by low power laser (2W) by using pulses that would make micro bubbles and rip the fabric.
And that's the reason why acrylic mostly being cut by CO2 lasers (10604nm).
Hi, can I suggest that if you were the make the larger removable segments in to 2, 3 or 4 pieces by adding additional cut lines, they would of been easier to remove putting less strain on the outside frame that fractured
What if you painted the acrylic grooves each pass with black paint, then washed it off after?
Would that allow you cut transparent?
could it be the sides of the acrylic is allowing light through the sides. as if you cut acrylic mount it into a piece of wood led shows light travelling through the sides. Hope this makes sense.
Interesting results. Was the laser at 100% power?
Does this machine cut 6mm or 3mm transparent acrylic?
Tip: Laser Cutting Acrylic , raise it above the bed by about 2mm, to let laser clear it,
so basically 2.5W laser is enough to cut 3mm sheet acrylic as long as it pass multiple time until it cutted through?
You may want to experiment with the passes and the sequence that they are done in. Maybe inside out.
Agreed.
with some more intricate designs i would add some places for planned "uncut places you can use to prevent lifting. that you can flush cut later. I'd also add an extra pass for acrylic sometimes it likes to cut different for some reason lol. I'd like to see some vinal cuts for stencils or decals/stickers. keep doing what you do !
Interested in what it takes to cut these acrylics you cannot cut with this laser 🤔 more powerful laser, other color laser or better focused laser?
Hello from the "future" :)
I noticed when cutting the squares, the laser did cut through in two parallel faces. Would it be possible to modulate laser power along the cutting process so it could be more or less powerfull according to the direction it's moving?
Can't say about this CNC, but I have the same problem, and I'm pretty sure it is precission issue (on my CNC at least). Sympthoms look the same, and that is - in certain directions, my CNC (2.5W also) simply does not hit exectly the same spot, and this inperfection can be better observed on wood as "darker" lines. If I'm wrong, please, correct me. The other part of your question is difficult to answer. Yes, but manually. You will have to edit G-code (it's not hard, just not worth the time).
Very interesting. I wanted to illuminate a group of custom switches on an automotive custom console. Using the ugly factory actual switch assembly below. I want to use a Clear with a universal symbols for windows, locks, etc., but next to them, place it clear cut out close to switch but provide an LED or two from edge for light. Cover with black and secure in place with center lid, held in place with magnets.
My question is do I call a plastic store and provide detailed drawings, or do I can a place the makes trophies? I would guess it depends on their equipment and desire to do this type of work on 1/2” X 1/2” clear top plate, glued to 1/2” X 1” bottom part with a symbol on it then add LED(s) and mask & sandblast if needed. I fabricate and repair vehicles, but building a 55 year old truck with modern EFI V8 engine for daily driver. Thanks for the video. The color affects the lasers ability to cut. Who knew? ASE Master Tech since 1978-Retired.
That is very interesting, I wonder how the 7000mW version would do! I might grab one for my Hypercube evo just for this ! I would probably have some plywood under it and do an extra pass to get a full clean cut.
If you do please keep us informed!
Hello I have 3 W laser on 65x50 engraver but without z axis.Which software are you using and how to determine exactly how much feed rate to set for cutting 3mm plywood.I use T2 software
i cut 3mm ply if you have no z axis you focus by hand about 8mms and you can set number of passes in t2 about 8 then reduce as needed hint lift it of the bed so the laser and gas can come through
It seems that some of the cuts, are very different between front and back, which means, the problem is that you are reaching the bottom, out of focus.
I would suggest, to make a single pass, at whatever speed you want, and then measure how much depth it cut.
then use that depth to lower the laser for the next pass.
This should give you optimum cut/focus for that specific speed.
For any other speed, repeat the same process, to determine the depth of cut of a single pass.
NOTE: Cutting at a much lower speed might degrade the clean cut, even when focused correctly, since the acrylic will heat up more and will distort, making for a less clean cut acrylic.
Don't know if you have tried this, but can the laser you are using cut cleanly through a typical polycarbonate Compact Disc? I would think it would since the acrylic sheet you are using is much thicker. However, the CDs are mostly clear so perhaps a different color of laser is needed, eh?
Hi, Thanks for sharing your results. I have done a few experiments cutting paper and cardboard with a 2.5W and a 5.5W lasers (both lasers bought from Banggood and needless to say, both cut these materials as if they were butter). I have some wood and acrylic to try in the near future; your base marks will be surely useful. Thanks again; keep the videos up.
How does the 5.5w laser compare to the 2.5w laser? Is it that much quicker to cut?
It is surprisingly quicker. I have only tested 80g bond printer paper and thin 0.5 mm cardboard to cut on different shapes (I used a prusa I3); I have cut both materials at a fixed focal distance of 50 mm for the 2.2W and 70 mm for the 5.5W) adjusting only the speed of cut until I got the cuts clean in 1 pass. The 2.5W 800 and 300 mm a minute and the 5.5W 1620 and 800 mm a minute respectively. Hope this helps. Thanks again for the videos.
That's great news that it does halve the cutting time! Thanks for sharing :)
is this 7w, 15w or 20w laser and what power percentage did you use please?
Do they not make software that can auto compensate the Z? If anything you could hand code the z changes..
Are you using extruded acrylic or cast acrylic?
Apparently extruded acrylic is better for laser cutting.
Hey I was wondering could I get you to do a little project for out of acrylic
What is the best laser cutter to have for making cake toppers?
Sir, can you try it on non solid bed such a honeycomb bed ?
The laser can't cut through the bottom side since it heat power is absorbed by the solid bed.
Hi, just a little question. I have an Anet A8. Just purchased the Laser...what kind of software i need to engrave? Thanks
I bought this laser too, and the description says that the laser is not built for running longer than 25min at a time. Did you notice overheating?
One of the reasons why it doesn't make it through all the way is because the laser keeps going over material that is already burnt. With my setup when I cut acrylic I do one pass at full power (which I assume is what is being used here) and then with a fine needle trace along the cut grooves and then blow it with some air jets. This removes burnt material and is especially useful with plywood. Then I repeat the process with every two passes. I also put some masking tape over the acrylic to prevent any melts along the edges.
it will depend on the type of acrylic you're using too. Cast acrylic has a higher melting point than extruded. I tried extruded on my CNC router and the cut acrylic would refuse due to heat build up on the bit. Not so with cast.
Have you tried engraving 4mm high lettering in acrylic? I was thinking about flight simulator panels.
Thanks
Great video and inspiring as usual! I have purchased a similar laser for my Geeetech Prusa i3 Pro B but am nervous about over driving it. I would like to see a voltage/current regulator used with the PWM output for your laser. A single LM317 would be powerful enough to drive your 2.5W laser though I'm not sure it would be quick enough to follow the square wave your PWM fan.
Cool! I was wondering how the carbon fiber rods are holding up after several months of use by now.. any updates for us? Sorry if you've posted about this recently and I missed it! Thanks so much for your sharing your ingenuity through awesome youtube content!
Carbon tubes are a winner. They work just as well as the day I installed them. No visible wear either. I am using the IGUS plastic bushings on the carbon tubes though.
tried cutting but get a lot of small cracks. is it some way to get around it??
Woh! I got a 3.5w module. I didn't expect I would cut 3mm plywood...
Do you have any video about the assembling?
how about polycarbonate MUCH less brittle than acrylic, i avoid acrylic whenever possible it's not usually worth the cost savings as it cracks so easily. ...usually on the last whole that one has to drill on a project lol.
What laser do you use? What power does he have in the video, nor in the description of the video, does he write.
which laser head are you working in this video ? is it affordable ?
I get a lot of clear acrylic for free, so can I do clear or will it like just go through it and not do anything
Hi - how do you get the software to move the Z by 1mm every few passes? Which software are you using? I've got Inkscape and Fusion 360. Thanks.
If your 2.5W last can cut 3mm acrylic, will a 5W laser cut 6mm acrylic?
can u add a link as to were this laser cutter can be bought
thanks i have a
Question ×_×
How many watts is your laser? For 3 miles sheet 2.5 W ?!!!
I know this is an older video. I just purchased a "20 watt" version of the laser you used. What do you think the performance might be? Waiting for mine to arrive. I want to do mostly engraving but some acrylic cutting.
And is the Laser arrived? Can you tell me if it works better to cut acrylic? I would like to buy also a 20w but i would like to know how got is it to cut. Thank you for a Answer :)
@@fakeenergie9947 Also wanna know :-)
Very informative video. I see that you're using a different z threaded rod nut. One that seems to have a way to tension it to eliminate backlash. Would be interested in any further info you have about it and your thoughts. Cheers!
Yes I spoke about it in this video th-cam.com/video/6MVePHl6V2A/w-d-xo.html
Hello, Did you test Cutting PVC with this Laser?
I need for my projects!
Did you test it? PVC Pipe Sheet for Projects
try to print with balsa underneat to cut one more pass to get parts separate easily. as plate sucks heat!
Hi Just would like to know what laser engraving machine you are using and where did you get it from and what was the cost? Can it also engrave on aluminium and Stainless?
I'm not him but: he custom built it. He bought a 2.5w laser to mount onto his 3dprinter (possible with ramps/radds) and looking at the product page, wave length and wattage: no you can't engrave stainless steel. You need at least 5w to get to it. Those start at 200 dollars :)
More power, more speed. Hope to see the improvements.
Nice examples and analysis of how well it cut Acrylic. Thanks.
You really should not use an open laser cutter likt this. Just add some black Acrylic or green that protect people from the beam and reflections.
Especially when the beams can reach others outside the room where the cutter are located.
Dude, get rid of those green glasses! They don't block blue light worth a damn. Go get some orange glasses made for YaG lasers; you've only got one set of eyes.
I just tried the laser and glasses he links to. I put the glasses in the path and turned it on for 10 seconds. The glasses melted, and the target doesn't have a mark on it. So they do absorb that frequency.
The ones that came with my laser diode, if I shine the laser at low power through them onto an object, a blue dot is still visible on the object. With proper OD6+ glasses, you don't see that dot.
It's not just getting hit directly in the eye with the beam, the light is bright enough to do photochemical damage to your eye even when viewed indirectly. That's what those green glasses don't prevent.
Not disagreeing with you, but how do you focus the laser without being able to see it?
Same way I focus CO2 lasers, by test-firing the laser and examining the mark left on the work. Once I have a nice sharp focus, I use a feeler gauge block to always position my work at the same height from the laser. I move the work up and down rather than adjusting the lens.
Some of these cheap engraver/cutters don't have a z axis. How far out is the focus going to be over a 3mm piece of acrylic?
I need to cut clear acrylic thickness between 4.7mm - 6mm is there a laser cutter capable of doing this?
A CO2 laser will
Great video, maybe some magnets could hold it in place and down.
acrylic isn't metal to react to magnets
How is it with clear acrylic?
Hi,but for cut acrylic 5watt laser is good?
How high from the surface should the laser be
Always use ventilation when laser cutting, always always always. A couple in california died from that this year.
He's outside, I suppose it is as ventilated as it can be
he wasnt for the first 2 test cuts, then he moved outside.
I need a small radius gauge that I need laser cut in acrylic. I have the measurements. Would you be able to do this for me?
How do you make such a thin and thin line of your laser?
What program are you using to make the last shape
Very interesting video, I would be interested in what model of laser you have there
Hi. How can u cut xlear plexiglas with my atomstack a5pro
did you cut balsa or 3 layer playwood? THANK YOU FOR THE VIDEO!
I have a 7,000mW laser. What would you recommend I set my laser for dark acrylic?