shell laminate

[Nigel Morgan]

Hello,

Any tips on laser cutting shell laminate would be welcome, power and speed, adhesive to bond with, protective tape etc

Nigel

[Bruce Volden]

Nigel,

I attempted to start an "Inlay Techniques" link a while back but it didn't get off the ground and I can't find it any more.
I love inlay utilizing shell laminates, MOP, paua et al. I am self taught and will try to help you. #1) if you are using this material to inlay there are a few tricks; if for example you are going to inlay a square / rectangle do not "cut" using a square / rectangle. By this I mean use lines and not a "box" due to the fact when the laser changes directions you essentially get a double burn @ the corners! #2) Wear a mask when dealing with shell. #3) I've had good luck with CNA (super glue) for bonding, be conservative with the application though. #4) I try not to get too intricate with the shell, I'm old and shaky and thin areas break!!!?? :)>
Let me know if you've more questions. Bruce

[Nigel Morgan]

Thanks for the advice, what power settings do you use to vector cut?

Cheers

Nigel

[Jerry Allen]

Nigel,
I use 12% speed, 100% power on a 25W Mercury. Your speed should be interpolated and tested for your machine's power (even if it is the same power). Do some tests straddling the power setting you first use. I'm referring to abalone and mother of pearl laminate here, not raw shell. Raw shell thickness varies greatly.

[Bruce Volden]

Nigel,


When you said shell laminate, I am assuming it's the 5" X 9" sheets which are very thin (.01 - .02 ?). Power seting on my 25W is 10-20 with a speed of 12, cuts it fine. Bruce

[Jerry Allen]

Bruce, yes that's what I meant. Thickness is between .015 and .016. There's no way I could cut at 12 speed with 10-20 power. I get a nice clean cut at 12s/100p. My Excel test setting sheet definitely says 100% power. Next time I cut some I'll try lowering the power and report, but that seems really low.

[Nigel Morgan]

Hi All,

I got it sorted, I have a Helix 45W, I did it using 40/40/2500.

Cheers

Nigel

[Jerry Allen]

Bruce,
I tried your settings and it just did not work for me. Some spots scored to the back but not enough to weed the pieces. And I could probably cut my power to 60-80, but the MOP seems to need a little more power in spots than the abalone. I don't like to have to snap it out since I occasionally lose a fragile corner. I cut a bunch of inlay today at 13s/100p and will probably stick with that even if I could lower the power some. I also cut some 1/4" birch ply at 1.6s/100p with no problems, so I am pretty sure I'm not losing power somewhere.

[Bruce Volden]

Jerry,

If I use a higher power setting I seem to experience more "burn" ie, it appears more material is vaporized than necessary. I started out using 25 for power and 30 speed and it seemed too much, thus I started throttling down my power. I'm using an 11+ yr old LMI machine for most cutting, although I do prefer the Epilog for acrylic due to the drivers variable frequency factor. The LMI doesn't offer that option!! The old LMI does a much better job than the Epilog on raster engraving. Bruce

[Jerry Allen]

Bruce,
Interesting that there is that much difference. I get a fine line regardless of power setting. Lowering my speed below 12 starts widening the line and doing a little scorching. What are the settings for some of the other materials you cut?