It didn't occur to me that you didn't have a lasercutter yet, but if you are at the stage of contemplating purchasing one, you might wonder whether you are better off with a CNC router. Those engrave as well, and infilling is definitely no problem.
dirtyhanfri said:Finally I ordered one of those small laser engravers, 5W, 445nm light, which seems to be better to anodized aluminium I read somewhere.
dirtyhanfri said:I've seen also an interesting way to etch pcb's, instead using photosensitive boards and UV exposure boxes, some people cover the copper with regular spray black paint and burns the design with the laser, then etch it as usual.
dirtyhanfri said:I see lot of advantages over isolation milling, which is not efficient actually,
dirtyhanfri said:the main problem would be to keep proper alignment to drill and cut in the CNC router, nothing you can't overcome with some clever fixture system...
Any experience on this?
rock soderstrom said:Interesting topic! Please keep us informed!
Gold said:Wow, that's very reasonably priced compared to a engraving spindle setup.
I guess I never considered it because I wanted machining capabilities. Now a few years on I've figured out ways to do a lot of the drilling by hand. I could mark everything out with the laser cutter and drill what I need to drill by hand. Hmm.
dirtyhanfri said:I'll open a new thread with the whole process as I think it goes further than this topic
There are several reasons why you don’t want to cut or engrave some types of materials. A few make a gooey mess that you’ll regret even trying. Others make a horrendous odor. Some hackerspaces will even charge you extra if you stink up the place (aka: malodorous material charge.) Some tend to catch on fire. Yikes.
But that’s not the worst of it. Some types of plastic release potentially deadly hydrogen chloride gas. It’s bad for the optics, it’s wreaks havoc on the electronics and mechanics of the machine, and could do a really good job of messing up your lungs forever. In the video after the break, you can see the flame test for such plastics in action at the NYC Resistor as they test several common items using nothing more than a blow torch and some copper wire. In short, if the flame test produces a green flame, do not put it in the laser.
dirtyhanfri said:I'm not sure if it will fully replace the engrave capabilities of my router. It just removes a thin layer from the surface.
Finishing and resolution seems better than traditional engraving.
I have done all Panels in this Thread using a 50W CO2 Laser:Rocinante said:Id love to see some examples guys. Even your sh*t practice work. I've been intrigued by this for awhile now and I'm excited you took the leap.
[silent:arts] said:I have done all Panels in this Thread using a 50W CO2 Laser:
https://groupdiy.com/index.php?topic=66411.0
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