Cutting Delrin with Laser, How much Power?

[Bill George]

Got a little project going on in the shop, wondering what it takes to cut Delrin - Acetal .250 (6mm) Thick? I have a 40 watt CO2 laser.

[Rich Harman]

Power and speed settings are similar to acrylic. I only occasionally cut Delrin but when I do I just treat it the same as an equal thickness acrylic.

[Bill George]

Thanks Rich, that means a slow process for my 40 watt unit. Making a trip lever for a mini dozer bucket. Long story but my fun shop fabrication project for the year.

[Andrew Holloway]

Power and speed settings are similar to acrylic. I only occasionally cut Delrin but when I do I just treat it the same as an equal thickness acrylic.

Really? Wow!
I have been fighting will Delrin over the last couple of days. I find it melts very easily.

I cut 6mm acrylic at 100% power, 1.2% speed - perfect finish every time.

After a lot of testing, to get 6mm Delrin it to cut cleanly, I used 27% power, 1.5% speed and a whopping 60 passes.

What am I doing wrong?

[Rich Harman]

What am I doing wrong?

Holy cow, 60 passes??! There are different types and grades of acetal resin that people will refer to as Delrin so that could be part of it. And are you absolutely sure it's Delrin and not some UHMWPE?

I could be remembering my settings wrong, what I remember best is to not take a wiff of the fumes. ;-) I've only cut 1/8" and 3/8" Delrin, when I did so I started with the same settings as I use for acrylic. I don't recall having to deviate much from the initial settings.

It does not cut as cleanly as acrylic, I always have a bit of melt that makes a raised edge but otherwise the cut was pretty good. I also have a pretty strong blast of air assist when cutting it.

[Rich Harman]

A Google search for "laser settings delrin" reveals a couple links to some good threads in this forum. Here is what Andrew Zen said;


Well, turning down the frequency to 500-1000 and aiming half way into 1/4" Delrin worked like a charm. When I aimed the laser at the surface, the flames were much larger. S20 P100 for a 100W did the trick. Had huge angels in the cut, so there was a lot of diffraction in the laser beam.

The laser bits "Laser Settings" page has cutting Delrin listed as 25% slower cutting than the same thickness acrylic.

[Andrew Holloway]

Thanks for the feedback.
I'll have another go at it. The focus and frequency changes seem like they might make all the difference.

[Allan Rabanales]

I know that this is an old thread, but maybe this might be helpful to someone.

I have been successful in cutting 3/8 thick delrin using 2 Speed, 25 Power and 500 Frequency. I focus only about 1-2mm into the material. Works the best for me so far and it only takes one pass on my 40 watt.