Laser Cut 45 Degree Angle?

[LAZER GAL]

Hi- Im new to this site and new to lasers.

Got a problem that needs to be solved- Just bought a Laserpro 30w Spirit and want to make 4"x8" box but have been doing the corners with butt joints. Can the laser do 45 degree angles? I work with Photoshop, Corel and Illustrator. I was thinking if I were to do a rectangle box using the gradient tool with white edges out like 3D would that help. Has anyone ever tried this? Also working with 4mm MDF and thin veneer. If you have does anyone have the settings for this? With the butt joints it take 2 passes almost 15 minutes. setting is 100 power ppi 400 and speed of 1.5. light egde smoke burn. solved with medium adhesive tape covering the board. This is for one box.

LaserPro Manual includes nothing about settings for other types of material. Anyone got a basis? Hate having to call in for every little thing! Although their really nice.

Another question has anyone ever bought the book CorelDraw for lasers from LaserBits? If so is it worth it? Anything special about it.

Thanks for your help-Many more questions to follow:)

[Rodne Gold]

Don't bother trying to do 45 degree cuts , it's not a workable proposition.
Use a lighter inner core for your box , we can cut thru 6mm light density fibreboard with veneer both sides with a 25w mercury , havent tried it on my spirits yet.
There is no real book on settings , the best way to do these is to do it by trial and error. The reason there is no "setting" book is that your speed and source can be different to others , power is not just power , there are attributes like beam quality that affect engraving.
Best way is to make a test file with some text and a solid block as well as some cuts , for the engraving start out at 100% speed and vary power to 100% to get the optimal setting , if you at 100% power and you still have no results , then drop speed accordingly. Write it all down.
Do this test at top left and bottom right of the table , as power does vary over the table. Cutting is similar , cept power would probably be 100%
Any educational material is worth it , roy brewer evidently produces a very good Corel/laser CD.

[Ken Salisbury]

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[Gary Shoemake]

You have to experiment to get the settings down for your particular machine. This is a site that has some references that can be used as a starting point.
http://www.signwarehouse.com/engravers/pinnacle_m_power_speed.htm
These folks sell GCC lasers under their own brand name.

[Mike Mackenzie]

We have been able to cut 45 degree and other angles using the laser. The limitation will be the size of the part or the depth of field. What we did was to cut several ramps out of acrylic at the specific angle you want. We then glue them to a flat pc and place a stop to hold the material. Lay the material on the ramp and then cut a straight line. Basically you are placing the material at 45 degrees and cutting a straight line. Like I said you are extremely limited with this due to the focus range but for smaller projects it can be done.