Laser conversion shopbot

[George Elston]

I have recently been doing some prototype testing for a company that owns a shopbot CNC (not sure if this is the right forum anymore for this question). The actual work they need done is on 4 x 8 sheets and the owner believes that he can convert he shopbot to a laser head. Does anyone have any info on this? I need to know laser power, and cost to convert to give him some idea of the overhead he is looking at for initial investment and run time for each sheet. It's just cutting veneer but he has 7000 to cut. Any other ideas would be appreciated also.

Thanks

[Mike Hood]

I've seen a ShopBot with a laser head on it. Only way to go for cutting large sheets.

[Sandra Force]

I run a Kern 52"x100" 150w and do a lot of wood. Depending on the thickness of the material anything from a 50w to 150w will do the job. If the material is flat and same size and he can stack them he can do multiple sheets with a high powered laser. The downside is the laser is much more expensive. The hardest part I would think would be getting the software to control power, speed, and frequency of fire.