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Bill George
03-31-2014, 7:26 PM
I have my machine on order a 35 Watt G.Weike, now I am wondering if I should have gone to the 50 Watt model from Automation Technology instead? What I want to do is engrave 1/4 inch (6 mm) and 3/8 inch (9 mm) cast Acrylic. Cutting maybe optional. Only for hobby use right now, and maybe sometime in the distant future a retirement income.

Scott Shepherd
03-31-2014, 7:45 PM
Acrylic doesn't take much power to engrave. The thickness is irrelevant.

Joe Pelonio
03-31-2014, 10:43 PM
If you are cutting 1/4" it will be slow, and I doubt you could cut 3/8". My 45 watt cuts 1/4" on speed 8, 3/8" requires 2 passes on speed 4. For any engraving you are just fine.

Lucy Lee
04-01-2014, 4:02 AM
Hi Bill,
If 6mm or 9mm acrylic, would suggest big power



I have my machine on order a 35 Watt G.Weike, now I am wondering if I should have gone to the 50 Watt model from Automation Technology instead? What I want to do is engrave 1/4 inch (6 mm) and 3/8 inch (9 mm) cast Acrylic. Cutting maybe optional. Only for hobby use right now, and maybe sometime in the distant future a retirement income.

michael reimer
04-02-2014, 4:25 AM
Lucy,

Will your 80W cut 9mm? If so what speed and power?

Mike

David Somers
04-02-2014, 10:33 AM
Bill,

In another thread today that discussed smoky residue on cut acrylic there was a discussion about a technique used to make a number of lighter, repeated cuts on the items until you cut through rather than powering through in one swoop. Admittedly, this was to avoid having to clean the acrylic, but might that technique help a lower powered laser cut acrylic that would normally be too thick? Here is the URL to the thread.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?216088-Cleaning-cut-plastic-acrylic

Also, any chance you could just contact G Weike and change the order? Or is it already enroute? If enroute, could you order a larger tube and appropriate power supply and then either return the original or sell them here? Just thoughts.

Hope this works out well for you.

Dave

Bill George
04-02-2014, 12:02 PM
Dave it is coming from a good Vender who advertises here. Instead of the 50 which he does not have on hand, he has offered a 60 Watt ( G. Weike) for a very good price. The only thing holding me on the decision was it was heavier and had the bump out on the right side which would make it less portable. I think it has the bump but have not seen a current new model picture?
Otherwise I guess common sense would say bigger is better. Also not sure if the 60 W has the pass thru doors for oversized projects which my designing wife already has plans for using on a project.

Lee DeRaud
04-02-2014, 4:09 PM
A (slightly contrarian) data point: I regularly cut 1/4" acrylic with a 25W laser. Is it slow? Yes. It's certainly not the right tool for production work, but plenty good enough for hobby use.
As an experiment, I once tried 3/8"...actually two thicknesses of 0.2 GE acrylic taped together. And it worked fine. Really slow, but with pretty good edge quality and the side benefit of welding the two pieces together at the cut. Again, not something suitable for the time pressure of a production run, but that's not what I do.
(Oh, and just for the record, I don't use air assist either. I always get a kick out of reading here that something I do routinely is "impossible". :cool:)
286290

Bill George
04-02-2014, 4:40 PM
So Lee, what do you have for a laser? This is suppose to be another hobby for me, not a major investment but now my wife is thinking of ideas to use the laser.

I already have a shop and some fun hobbies, but this is how it goes.

I think I have enough ammo, if not I can make more.

Lee DeRaud
04-02-2014, 5:15 PM
So Lee, what do you have for a laser?I've got a ULS Versalaser VL200...bought it in early 2005 as a retirement present for myself.

Bill George
04-03-2014, 7:46 AM
So now I am wondering about the advantage of a 60 over a 35 watt model? Does more power just mean faster or will the 60 do better engraving granite, marble, tile, wood and acrylic as well as cutting heavier acrylic and wood?

Scott Shepherd
04-03-2014, 8:09 AM
Does more power just mean faster or will the 60 do better engraving granite, marble, tile, wood and acrylic as well as cutting heavier acrylic and wood?

Yes, that's what it means.

Keith Upton
04-03-2014, 9:18 AM
If you can afford the extra power, I would say get it. I bought my laser back in Dec, a 60w, and I already wish I had more power (mainly to just speed things up).


A (slightly contrarian) data point: I regularly cut 1/4" acrylic with a 25W laser. Is it slow? Yes. It's certainly not the right tool for production work, but plenty good enough for hobby use.
As an experiment, I once tried 3/8"...actually two thicknesses of 0.2 GE acrylic taped together. And it worked fine. Really slow, but with pretty good edge quality and the side benefit of welding the two pieces together at the cut. Again, not something suitable for the time pressure of a production run, but that's not what I do.
(Oh, and just for the record, I don't use air assist either. I always get a kick out of reading here that something I do routinely is "impossible". :cool:)
286290

Sorry to go off topic, but Lee, is that a game of some sort? Looks kind of cool.

Bill George
04-03-2014, 9:50 AM
I have been considering a G.Weike LG500 Desktop in a 60 Watt model. Table size 20x12 but I can't seem to find out online or otherwise... for sure anyway, IF it has a pass thru door system to do longer projects. I think the one with the factory base can because the fan and outlet are down below and the Desk model has the pass thru area filled with the fan and etc?

Same question to Lee, Is it a game you designed???

Lee DeRaud
04-03-2014, 10:05 AM
Does more power just mean faster or will the 60 do better engraving granite, marble, tile, wood and acrylic as well as cutting heavier acrylic and wood?It will engrave wood (and maybe tile) faster depending on the wood, won't help a bit for granite or marble which don't require much power.
It will cut almost everything faster, most things thicker, and for (some) wood, with less charring. How much that speed is worth to you, well, that's up to you. For most of the stuff I do, the time spent on the laser is a small fraction of the total design/make cycle.

Lee DeRaud
04-03-2014, 10:07 AM
Same question to Lee, Is it a game you designed???The game of cribbage has been around for centuries, but yes, that board is one of my designs.

David Somers
04-03-2014, 10:12 AM
That is a nice design Lee! Pretty work!

Dave

Keith Upton
04-03-2014, 10:33 AM
The game of cribbage has been around for centuries, but yes, that board is one of my designs.

Thanks, that's a nice design.

Lee DeRaud
04-03-2014, 10:54 AM
Also not sure if the 60 W has the pass thru doors for oversized projects which my designing wife already has plans for using on a project.As with all tools, Murphy's Law says the desired projects will outgrow the capacity in one direction or another.
I suspect she already has things in mind that are wider than the doors.

Bill George
04-03-2014, 1:13 PM
As with all tools, Murphy's Law says the desired projects will outgrow the capacity in one direction or another.
I suspect she already has things in mind that are wider than the doors.

Well I think its related to our upcoming kitchen remodel. Her idea is to take a pattern and laser and repeat on a long trim board. I have a pretty decent shop with some roller stands that could be used for infeed / outfeed tables to accomplish the job. So far the Storm 500 35 watt machine has the only documented thru doors, the LG500 Desk model in 60 watt I can not verify. The LG500 floor model seems to have them installed. Maybe I need to get that model instead?

I have done the same trick with my CNC router, making smaller pieces that fit together for a larger project.