Easiest wood to cut with 30w laser

[James A. Wolfe]

As a complete neophyte to this whole process, I have learned a great deal by lurking here. I am thinking about a project involving a large number of cut wooden pieces and my laser struggles to get through 1/4" maple, oak or walnut, generally requiring 2 or 3 passes and resulting in quite a bit of charring. I made a couple of the boxes and baskets from plans here and they worked out OK but since the finished pieces in this project will be colored, wood grain and color are of lesser importance. Can I use another wood with better results?
Thanx,
Jim

[Lee DeRaud]

Don't know what to tell you...my 25W handles 1/4" maple and walnut, no problem. Oak is a bit harder, but usually works ok: it's just not as consistent as the others.

The ones that really cause it trouble are exotics like rosewood, probably because of the oil.

[James A. Wolfe]

Lee,
What brand of laser do you use. I have a feeling that I may have an issue with this laser. I bought a used Universal Versalaser that was upgraded to 30 watts but it seems like I'm not getting the power I'd expected.

Jim

[Keith Outten]

James,

I have a 35 watt Epilog and can cut 1/4" walnut at 10% speed and 100% power in one pass. Last year when my CO2 tube was failing the power dropped to half of my machines capacity. Contact your Universal tech to see if they have a diagnostic tool or meter. Epilog sent me a set of plaques with directions to engrave mine and compare the two.

.

[Lee DeRaud]

Lee,
What brand of laser do you use. I have a feeling that I may have an issue with this laser. I bought a used Universal Versalaser that was upgraded to 30 watts but it seems like I'm not getting the power I'd expected.I've got a standard 25W Versalaser...settings for 1/4" walnut are 100P/1.2S, for what it's worth.