Advice needed

[Dave Varble]

hello all,
I've been a lurker here off and on for a while now, but I think this is my first post, so here it goes...
I work for a archetectual molding company that has a small jewelry box shop. The jewelry boxes are finger joint boxes that are cut with the laser. I have been in charge of taking care of the laser for about 2 1/2 yrs.
It has come time to possibly get a new laser. I need some opinions on what kind, and what size, laser we need. We need to production cut box sides from solid cherry at approximately 1/4" thick. Other things we do with the laser are engravings and cutting 5/16 thick acrylic for knife templates.
We currently are using a Vytech laser with a 100 watt Coherent CO2 laser. Our bed size is 32 X 42 (I think). If you have any input, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Dave

[James Stokes]

Go back over the past posts here. This same basic question has been asked once a week for the last 4 years. Do you have any specific questions?

[Frank Corker]

I thought I could feel someone lurking in the background.... I have to agree with James on this one, many people have discussed this before. Wood cutting with laser can be a bit of a dirty business because of the charring. Most of the engravers here probably don't have as much power as you have already with their lasers so if you are encountering problems cutting with what you have then you are looking at the wrong type of tools.

Solid wood generally cuts neatly but anything that has been 'made' such as plywoods have inherrent flaws due to the glue/bonding between the layers. Lasers don't always cut through them in one pass because of that. It sometimes results in more than one cut having to be made, this means more charring and not necessarily the best finish that can be had.

It might be better to consider a scroll saw or a woodworking power tools that would make neater finishes. Jewellery boxes will have to be neat, anything that looks rough will never get bought, the laser would be extremely good at decorating it however and in my opinion it could do that with flying colours.

As for recommending which machine, everyone has their own opinions on which company is the best, sometimes through the back up service they provide, some the quality of the machine. You need to explore using the search facility situated at the top of the page, then specify laser section to help you find your answers.

.....and stop lurking, it causes chafing!