Cutting THICK letters

[Brian Robison]

Hi folks, this is a sign issue but it would need to be cut on the laser. I've seen letters that are gold in color and about 1" thick. Looks like a foam with vinyl on it. Any idea if the laser can cut something like this?

[AL Ursich]

I would look at the Signs 101 Forum, it has a bunch of good info on the letters.

AL

[Gary Hair]

Looks like a foam with vinyl on it. Any idea if the laser can cut something like this?

You don't want to cut vinyl with a laser. You could paint the foam in the color you want and then cut with your laser. If you need vinyl then cnc routed would probably be best.

Gary

[Brian Robison]

But can I cut 1" thick foam with the laser?

[Gary Hair]

But can I cut 1" thick foam with the laser?

Maybe. With a long enough lens you might be able to get a decent cut, I doubt it, but it's possible. You could, however, cut 1/2" and bond them together. My guess is that the best bet is to use a cnc router.

Gary

[Larry Bratton]

But can I cut 1" thick foam with the laser?
I know a guy that made loads of money over the years selling foam letters and numbers. It cuts like butter in the laser. You can also paint it with latex paint and install it with liquid nail. If you wanted to face it with something like vinyl, try reflective. The stuff I use is either acrylic or polyester. I put it on acrylic all the time. I simply cover the area my letters are in and then cut them.

[Brian Robison]

Is the material the "Sign Foam" product? Seems like I have a sample someplace in the dungeon.

[Rodne Gold]

We cut 1" expanded styrene on the laser very well , it seems to act as a wave guide , IE the edges are quite straight and dont take on an hourglass shape that the beam is. the cut width is pretty much a suck it an see thing , suffice it to say , you cannot cut anything with extreme precision or very small letters.

[Joe Pelonio]

There's a dense foam insulation material (not the styrofoam) that's available at the home improvement stores that's 1" and cuts well, you just have to use a water based spray paint, other kinds can melt it.

[Brian Robison]

Hi Joe, it's not the blue stuff is it?

[Mike Null]

Brian

check out this site.

http://www.signfoam.com/

[Dan Hintz]

Blue or pink, depends on manufacturer...

[Carl Sewell]

Mike;

Have you used their material? Have you cut it on a laser? What thicknesses?

[Mike Null]

Carl

A mutual friend has cut it at 1/2" with no problem.

[Carl Sewell]

Thanks.

No toxic fumes? Do you know their laser power?

The FAQs section says "we recommend that you not use any heat related cutting devices". I wonder why? It's under the hot wire topic.

[Mike Null]

Carl

The laser power is 75 watts. I think the disclaimer is due to flaming.

[Larry Bratton]

I know a guy that made loads of money over the years selling foam letters and numbers. It cuts like butter in the laser. You can also paint it with latex paint and install it with liquid nail. If you wanted to face it with something like vinyl, try reflective. The stuff I use is either acrylic or polyester. I put it on acrylic all the time. I simply cover the area my letters are in and then cut them.
The material he uses is plain ole Dow Styrofoam insulation board..cheapppp. Be sure and use the blue variety, otherwise birds like it and will destroy your letters. Sign Foam is a different product from this. I believe there has been a thread in here on laser cutting that too.

[Andy Joe]

I have cut sign foam, (not sure what weight but its pretty dense, and the sign guy i do it for uses it for outdoor signs) for Dolphen sign and design in Ne. He has a website if u want to look at the out come. I have cut 1" before. I cut slow to make sure i cut all the way through, and with alot of air at nozzle or i get a fire. U get a black edge but he was able to paint it still. I set my focal point at 1/8" istead of my standard 1/4" otherwise my letters get a slant to the edge. I have had him put the vinyal right on top of the foam in one big sheet and cut them both out at same time so he didnt have to do any algining but i have never done it on 1" thick material. I find if i cut vynial with too much power it burns away close to my cut line. I have also cut sand blasting masks for him leaving the clear protective material uncut and just cuting the masking portion. I have also cut magnets and vynialed acylic letters for him the same way. He covers a sheet the size we need to fit the nested letters in with vynial and then i cut it out on laser and he has woodgrain looking letters made out of acrylic with vynial all ready applied. We have painted and hardcoated foam as well and then cut it. Hope this helps some

[Andy Joe]

Ohh maybe i forgot some stuff. The laser im using is a kern 150w hse, i use the long tube for the lens, i think it takes the lens from being 1.5" away from the nozzle to 3" away from the nozzle. I keep my air knife psi around 10 and my nozzle psi around 40. I cut at .08 ips at full power on 1" think foam. Not sure the brand, the sign guy i was talking about always supplys it. Its a bash color and is the denses foam i have seen. I cut my focal height betweeen nozzle and substrate at half the standard seperation so 1/8" instead of 1/4". I dont have any warpage in the sides of the material. I also speed up the inside corners and slow down the outside curves to make sure i burn through on outside curves and dont burn up on inside corners otherwise i get a big warpage. I also change my pulsing frequency so it pulses faster then when i cut wood (dont remeber the setting, i save all the settings so i just look up foam 1" thick and load it then run) I have cut alot of things now that Kern said i couldnt. Im not sure if it was toxin relase they were afraid of or something else. I run alot of gantry 3d etchings in the sign foam as well. Then the guy hard coats it in brass and uses them for signs. And i have no problem cutting vynial by itself or when on another substrate as long as its not above 1/4" thick. Other wises the edges of your cut burn back some. What i did do once was cut the vynial on 1" thick foam without cutting the foam, then went back over the top to cut the foam. I got alot less burn back on the vynial but it still didnt look as good as the 1/4" did.