Brian Tymchak
10-31-2009, 1:33 PM
Hi all,
First time poster in this forum. I've been lurking along for a while trying to absorb all I can about using a laser. The collective knowledge and experience of all of you that participate in this forum amazes me, as well as your willingness to help one another. Hopefully at some point I can contribute at the same level.
I have an idea for a product and am trying to figure out some aspects of building it. I have some questions that I hope someone on the forum might be able to help me with. I don't have a laser yet nor any experience with one. I'm hoping to get a better understanding of what my process would be before I sink the $$$ into the equipment.
The product will have a wood veneer ( .028" ) surface with inlay over a thin wood substrate, with overall thickness of about 1/4" or so. My current plan is to cut the inlay pieces with a laser. The final shape would also be cut from a larger sheet with a laser.
Here are my questions:
1. Are there considerations I should keep in mind about the adhesives I use in the product so that there are no issues, i.e. flames, when cutting with a laser? I've built a few initial prototypes using contact cement, although I don't know if it will be my final choice.
2. The inlay will consist of many small pieces of veneer. As an example, think of a 5 point star only about 1/8" wide point to point. I think I would need to use some sort of a vacuum table to keep the veneer flat during cutting. I’m wondering how to capture these small pieces as they are cut. Does anyone cut very small pieces like this on their laser? Would a vacuum system present problems with pieces this small? Wouldn't want the pieces getting sucked out the back of the cabinet... If I were to just tape a veneer sheet to a sacrificial piece of MDF, instead of using a vacuum table, would the small pieces remain in place where they are cut instead of flying away or into the path of the laser?
3. If my business plan holds up, I may need to cut thousands of those small veneer pieces of various shapes each week. Is a laser a good choice for this kind of volume cutting?
I would greatly appreciate any advice anyone can offer on these questions.
Thanks for your help,
Brian
First time poster in this forum. I've been lurking along for a while trying to absorb all I can about using a laser. The collective knowledge and experience of all of you that participate in this forum amazes me, as well as your willingness to help one another. Hopefully at some point I can contribute at the same level.
I have an idea for a product and am trying to figure out some aspects of building it. I have some questions that I hope someone on the forum might be able to help me with. I don't have a laser yet nor any experience with one. I'm hoping to get a better understanding of what my process would be before I sink the $$$ into the equipment.
The product will have a wood veneer ( .028" ) surface with inlay over a thin wood substrate, with overall thickness of about 1/4" or so. My current plan is to cut the inlay pieces with a laser. The final shape would also be cut from a larger sheet with a laser.
Here are my questions:
1. Are there considerations I should keep in mind about the adhesives I use in the product so that there are no issues, i.e. flames, when cutting with a laser? I've built a few initial prototypes using contact cement, although I don't know if it will be my final choice.
2. The inlay will consist of many small pieces of veneer. As an example, think of a 5 point star only about 1/8" wide point to point. I think I would need to use some sort of a vacuum table to keep the veneer flat during cutting. I’m wondering how to capture these small pieces as they are cut. Does anyone cut very small pieces like this on their laser? Would a vacuum system present problems with pieces this small? Wouldn't want the pieces getting sucked out the back of the cabinet... If I were to just tape a veneer sheet to a sacrificial piece of MDF, instead of using a vacuum table, would the small pieces remain in place where they are cut instead of flying away or into the path of the laser?
3. If my business plan holds up, I may need to cut thousands of those small veneer pieces of various shapes each week. Is a laser a good choice for this kind of volume cutting?
I would greatly appreciate any advice anyone can offer on these questions.
Thanks for your help,
Brian