One more time with 1/4" plywood

[Glenn Corser]

I know that this has been covered a lot but I'm frustrated and figure someone will take quick pity on me. I've spent way too much time this weekend messing with 1/4" Lowes plywood. Some cuts, some doesn't. I'm using a 60 watt ULS with a 2.5" lens. I gave up using the vector table and have been cutting it on some old marble tile. I position the focal point of the lens about .1" into the wood and that seems to be working somewhat consistently. Is it me or are you guys having the same problems?

[Leigh Costello]

I had a lot of trouble cutting 1/4" plywood at first. I now use only Baltic Birch plywood. Seems to be less waste which makes up for the price difference.

[Carol VanArnam]

Glen, what are you using the 1/4 plywood for?

I ask because baltic birch is really good but alsok has it's own problems. If you can get away with mdf core with wood on each side it is really nice to cut. It comes in 1/4" stock. I use a lot of it. When it burns the edges it comes out looking pretty nice.

[Allan Wright]

Before I got my laser, I had my kits cut by another R/C aircraft maker with a laser. One of the things we found was that the GLUE in the plywood has more to do with how the laser cuts than the wood does. If the plywood uses a black glue - forget it, it won't cut (and this was with a 60-watt Universal). Changing to a plywood with a natural/brown color glue made cutting the plywood easy.

So, try a different brand of ply. We got ours from a local hardwoods distributor.

[Neal Schlee]

Phenolic based glues in plywood do not laser cut well. Phenolic glues are used mainly in exterior grade ply, although this is not always the case.

Neal

[Mike Hood]

Before I got my laser, I had my kits cut by another R/C aircraft maker with a laser. One of the things we found was that the GLUE in the plywood has more to do with how the laser cuts than the wood does. If the plywood uses a black glue - forget it, it won't cut (and this was with a 60-watt Universal). Changing to a plywood with a natural/brown color glue made cutting the plywood easy.

So, try a different brand of ply. We got ours from a local hardwoods distributor.

I cut tons of it here for a local UAV designer and it REALLY depends on the quality. Cheap Lowes 1/4" birch ply is a bear to cut reliably. The less glue the better. :)

[Glenn Corser]

Thanks guys. I have a pretty good supplier in town of Baltic Birch and other non-big box lumber. I just was having a hard time convincing myself that there was that much of a difference between their 1/4" plywood and the big-box stuff. I will go over tomorrow and get some so that I can kill the 4th like I did this past weekend.

[Marc Myer]

I've been working with all the 1/4" ply I can find around here, and nothing's been great. The best so far has been birch ply, but I end up with little spots where it doesn't cut all the way through. I'm guessing it's made with threads of stainless steel. :rolleyes: