new laser engraver

[Rick Larson]

Hi I just found this site boy what a great one. I just bought a epilog 36. It is sitll in the box in my garage. I have so many question. Seem like thier is lots to learn. One thing is how so you know if tile is laserable? And is all plastic Laserable? Thanks keep up the great work.

[Dave Fifield]

Hi Rick, welcome to the forum. You will find everything there is to know about laser engraving from the people here. You should spend a few (lots, actually) hours reading through the archives - you will learn an awful lot doing that, and then not ask stuff that's been covered before.

What laser did you get? What power? Mine's a 45W Epilog 36EXT. It's a wonderful piece of gear!

The best way to find out if a tile (or almost any other material for that matter) is laserable, is to try it and see!!

NO, YOU CANNOT LASER ALL PLASTICS!!!! Be warned, if you laser PVC, it will produce toxic chlorine gas that will ruin your laser's mirrors. It's not too healthy for your lungs either. With plastics, it's a case of if you don't know EXACTLY what you have, DON'T LASER IT! Get the MDS sheet for the material in hand to check out exactly what it's made of before you even think about lasering it.

HTH,
Dave F.

[Mike Null]

Rick
Welcome to the laser forum on SMC.

If you want to find out something you can post it here or use the search feature which will brings up many previous threads on your topic.

For applications you'll find this site helpful.

http://synrad.com/search_apps/application_briefs/12-2.htm

[Rick Larson]

Thanks Guys. I have been on this site for three night now and am learing a lot. I have a Epilog 36ext75. The factory rep will be hear next week for training. Now that I have been on this site it seem a long time. Keep up the good work and I will be reading.

[Joshua Gillum]

Hi Rick, welcome to the forum. You will find everything there is to know about laser engraving from the people here. You should spend a few (lots, actually) hours reading through the archives - you will learn an awful lot doing that, and then not ask stuff that's been covered before.

What laser did you get? What power? Mine's a 45W Epilog 36EXT. It's a wonderful piece of gear!

The best way to find out if a tile (or almost any other material for that matter) is laserable, is to try it and see!!

NO, YOU CANNOT LASER ALL PLASTICS!!!! Be warned, if you laser PVC, it will produce toxic chlorine gas that will ruin your laser's mirrors. It's not too healthy for your lungs either. With plastics, it's a case of if you don't know EXACTLY what you have, DON'T LASER IT! Get the MDS sheet for the material in hand to check out exactly what it's made of before you even think about lasering it.

HTH,
Dave F.

Can you post other materials that also might pose a risk? Is polycarbonate ok and otheres like that?

[Darren Null]

By coincidence, I'm knocking up a flyer and have a tile image in front of me. Dark colours work best, as with a lot of materials, and you have to remember to use a 'negative' image, as the burn comes out white. You have to nuke them hard to get into the glaze, so tiles are slow, and may be uneconomic, depending on the usage and the customer's expectations.
http://cambs.com/etch/tile.jpg
As well as ***NO PVC!!!***, you also have to be cautious with shiny materials, as the reflections can cause unwanted effects. Like fires. And holes in the machine's lid.

EDIT: Reasonably close supervision is required with materials that may catch fire in your machine- you have to be there and alert enough to put out a fire before it trashes your machine. As to materials, here's my story so far, which isn't a complete list by any means (I'm a relative newbie)...just stuff that I personally have had a go at:

denim; wood; glass*; marble*; granite*; tile*; biscuits; bread; acrylic; slate; cake icing; cotton*; mirror (from the back! remember to flip the image!); paint (you paint your object and then laser the paint off to your design, so the material underneath shows through); paper; card; rubber; stones from the beach*; mobile phones; laptops; corian...all sorts of things.
Dark colours work best for the asterisked (*) materials. Most fabrics cut OK, but only denim and other heavyweight dark cotton has taken a design so far.

Other safety: Keep a CO2 fire extinguisher close. If your machine has a pass-through, buy safety goggles and wear them at all times that the machine is burning and the doors are open.

[Lisa Walter]

Hi I just found this site boy what a great one. I just bought a epilog 36. It is sitll in the box in my garage. I have so many question. Seem like thier is lots to learn. One thing is how so you know if tile is laserable? And is all plastic Laserable? Thanks keep up the great work.


Hi Rick! Welcome! I am new here also. I bought an Epilog Legend 36 EXT 30 Watt. My laser salesman said for what I want a 30 watt should do just fine :) I have been lurking here and reading as much as I can. I hope you have good luck with your laser and lots of sales :)

Lisa

[Larry Bratton]

Hi I just found this site boy what a great one. I just bought a epilog 36. It is sitll in the box in my garage. I have so many question. Seem like thier is lots to learn. One thing is how so you know if tile is laserable? And is all plastic Laserable? Thanks keep up the great work.
Rick:
Congratulations on the 36 Epilog 75watt! Wow-fine piece of hardware there. I have an Epilog 36 40 watt. (drooling over the 75). All advice given here is usually right on target. Welcome to the forum!

[Sandra Force]

Polycarb is very safe and not likely to catch fire. Plexiglass, acrylic, plywood, balsacore and a few other things are likely to catch fire if cut slow and hot, (you need to to get it done in one pass). Most things are fine with engraving. I keep a couple of squirt bottles of water around to put out fires. Have better luck with that than with fire extinguisers. I have had to good fires and still been back up and running before the end of the day.

REMEMBER - never walk away when cutting plexiglass, plywood, or thick acrylic. Learn what your machine sounds like when running right and lots of times you can tell a problem by the change in sound.