rescreaching laser cutters and engavers

[Charles Hense]

Okay I have a question here, I have asked the diffent makers of the these machines and they all give the same answer as to cutting depth for thier lasers, its the same as in their specs.

I am looking for a real life answer to this question here it is.

I am looking for a laser to help speed up some of my hobby tasks in making scratch built building for my Model railroad and also to help in making small parts for my crafts that I sell at craft shows. Now for the model railroad I belive they will work just fine cutting the 1/8 think lumber, but my craft show stuff some of my peices are up to 1 inch think and I use hardwoods like oak and maple alot.


What I am looking for the craft show stuff is to make my cuts the same piece after piece so I can speed up the assblemy process, I get close but with my wood working tools but if I stop and change to so something else I cannot always get set back up correctly and then my jib is off sometimes up to a 1/8 of a inch depending on how many interuptions.

so can you tell me will these lasers cut lumber up to 1 to 2 inchs thick, I dont mind if its slow going I am looking more for accuracy then speed.

Charles Hense

[Shaddy Dedmore]

Wow, 1" to 2"? For the amount of money available at a craft show, that's not going to happen with a laser (we're talking a lot of watts, more that 100 for sure, and we're talking 100,000 dollars, probably at a minimum).

the lower wattage CO2 lasers can do the 1/8" though. But if you're looking for one thing to do everything, you'll probably be happier with a CNC router Like Shopbot (http://www.shopbottools.com/). under 10,000 for those.

Good luck
Shaddy

[Joe Pelonio]

Wow, 1" to 2"? For the amount of money available at a craft show, that's not going to happen with a laser (we're talking a lot of watts, more that 100 for sure, and we're talking 100,000 dollars, probably at a minimum).

the lower wattage CO2 lasers can do the 1/8" though. But if you're looking for one thing to do everything, you'll probably be happier with a CNC router Like Shopbot (http://www.shopbottools.com/). under 10,000 for those.

Good luck
Shaddy
Correct, I know a guy with a 120 watt laser, he can only cut 3/4" wood and paid $80,000 for it.

[Mike Mackenzie]

Charles,

In order to cut that thickness you would need at least 200 watts. Although I have cut 1 1/4" with 120 watts. The problem is not so much the power as it is the focus range and the accuracy of the cuts you want to achieve.

In order to get through that thickness you would want to use at least a 4" focal Len's, now what that does is enlarges the spot size, by making the spot larger you sacrifice power. The other issue is the angle of the cut this may be more of a reason to go to a CNC versus the laser the pc I cut varied about 0.10 to 0.15 from the front to the back.

The other big issue with laser is the burning when cutting thicker woods it creates flame so air assist is necessary and even with it you will get some charring on the edges.

For the money you would spend on a laser system to do that, you could have 8 CNC's doing it cleaner, faster and more accurate in regards to the edges.

There are laser systems that will work if you want to investigate I would recommend looking at the Beam Dynamics system.

[Linda Tetreault]

Also, google Route-A-Bout, it's a small cnc router, looks interesting.

Linda

[Lee DeRaud]

Also, google Route-A-Bout, it's a small cnc router, looks interesting.Is that outfit actually still in business? The website is full of broken links and notes like: "We are working on new software that will be windows based for Win95/98/NT...", which makes me think it hasn't been updated for several years.

[Michael McDuffie]

Make patterns with a laser or look into rotary engravers such as this one from New Hermes. (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=272517)

Then fire up your new pin router from Grizzly. (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=272517)

My 70 watt Epilog will do 1/2" wood but I wouldn't want to chrage for it. Too nasty and unpredictable.

Michael

[Linda Tetreault]

Lee, You may be right, I found it on scrollsaws.com, I did a little research on it a couple of years ago & then decided to go the laser route. If it's out of business I guess I made the right decision. It was bound to happen sooner or later (the right decision)!!:o

[Dave Fifield]

Charles,

You might want to give http://www.shopbottools.com a look. These guys are definately in business and have a great product by all accounts.

Dave F.

[Michael McDuffie]

Charles,

You might want to give http://www.shopbottools.com a look. These guys are definately in business and have a great product by all accounts.

Dave F.

I've seen the shopbot at the Tacoma Dome woodworking show.

WAY cool. I want one.

Chris DeHut is working on building a CNC router at Woodworking at Home. (http://www.woodworkingathome.com/index.html)
He says it should come in around $2000.

[Ed Lang]

I have a 50W ULS and cut 1/2" just fine with my 2.0 lense. For anything larger I use the ShopBot. Nice equipment and great support from the folks in Durham!

I believe that Keith Outten and myself are the only two ShopBot owners here on SMC. Keith has had his longer than I have had mine. He does more signs and I do more craft and furniture items.

Pictures of the laser and ShopBot are located at
http://www.kc4ylx.smugmug.com
If you would like to take a peek.

[Guy Hilliard]

Ed, et al;

I also run a ShopBot and Laser (40W ULS X660).

Guy Hilliard
HTTP://Sawdust-and-noise.tripod.com

[Charles Hense]

Thanks guys for the responses, I just knew them sales people were lieing thur thier teeth when they told me no problem cutting up to 6 inchs.

most of the my work would be for the model railroad buildings which would be 1/8' or less in thickness. But for the craftshow stuff I make highly detailed wooden toys. They sell pretty good but looking to get more indential parts when doing mass production then I don't waste so much time finetuning the parts to fit together.

anyway Iwill look into the shop bots, and see if they will work also.

still thinking of getting the laser for modelrailing building making.

[Michael McDuffie]

Even if a lower powered laser won't cut the thick stuff, it will give you very accurate and very consistant cut lines for your band and scroll saws.

Using the laser to make patterns from 1/4" ply and then pattern routing with a vacuum setup holding the blank to the pattern will make parts as fast or faster than the laser could. It's also a safer way to make small parts as you can attach a handle or grip to the pattern and keep fingers away from cutters.

Michael

[Joe Pelonio]

Thanks guys for the responses, I just knew them sales people were lieing thur thier teeth when they told me no problem cutting up to 6 inchs.

Maybe just a misunderstanding? It could be that you remembered them saying that you could engrave material up to 6" thick, which normally you can. For example a box will fit inside to engrave the top. I hate to think they would make that kind of a misrepresentation about cutting depth.