According to my laser manufacturer's sales blurb, wood is the most commonly used material for vector cutting.
If that is so, then am I alone in getting the following results ?
I have conducted hundreds of tests on many types of wood based materials - plywood, medium density fibreboard (mdf), hardboard and cardboard, with thicknesses ranging from 0.6mm to 6mm.
The majority of these materials leave a loose, sooty deposit (charring ?) on the cut edge. Handling the cut pieces leaves black marks on the end user's hands which is clearly unnaceptable. Even some materials sold as suitable for laser cutting don't cut cleanly.
The settings of the laser system driver software, the focus distance, the use of air assist, the use of nitrogen assist, the use of a honeycomb grid, other means of supporting the material and increasing the extraction air flow rate all have had little or no effect on the results found.
The species of wood(s) used to manufacture the product only seem to affect the effective cutting speed, presumably because they have different densities and different amounts of natural resins.
The type and amount of glue (adhesive) and/or resin used in the manufacture of the materials tested is the only thing which seems to make any significant difference to the amount of soot produced.
Before I ramble on about the different types of glue, speed of cut, etc. does anyone else have any thoughts on this subject ?
As I am from the UK, some of the terminology used to describe the materials may be different to that used in the US.