So we get a lot of questions on whether the lasers can cut acrylic…\u00a0 The answer is YES!\u00a0 Now the 2.8W laser has enough power at manufacturers specified current to cut through acrylic with enough speed to make it worth it!<\/p>\n
The sample in the video and the pictures is from our optical acrylic shielding (we had defect pieces laying around the lab) so we decided to give it try.\u00a0 Depending on the material, you might need to adjust the speed or power to get the process you want.\u00a0 Many customers say it works great on different kinds of acrylic from opaque black, blue, and brown to semi transparent like the shielding we have.<\/p>\n
The parameters for our test were:<\/p>\n
| Material:<\/td>\n | 1\/8″ semi-transparent acrylic<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Driver Current:<\/td>\n | 1.3 amps<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Approx Power:<\/td>\n | 1.6 W- 1.8W<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Speed:<\/td>\n | 120 mm\/min<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| # of passes:<\/td>\n | 3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Z change per pass:<\/td>\n | – 1 mm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n Cutting the thicker pieces like the 1\/8″ acrylic requires that you change the Z depth for each pass to make sure the focus stays on the cut zone.\u00a0 Start with focusing to the top of the material.\u00a0 Then, divide the thickness by the number of passes and change the Z depth down by this number on each subsequent pass.\u00a0 For example:\u00a0 a 3mm sheet (~1\/8″) will have the first pass at 0 Z (focus).\u00a0 Then the second pass\u00a0 would be at -1mm and the third pass would be at -2mm.\u00a0 This allows for the laser to have the focus be precisely at the cutting level for each pass.<\/p>\n You can increase the power a bit more and get it to go faster and less passes but we like to run things at a minimum level to show the “worst case” scenario when trying out new processes.<\/p>\n The video shows an extra pass which just cut through the sacrificial layer underneath.\u00a0 We left it in the video because it is kind of neat looking with the reflections in the acrylic.\u00a0 We repeated the star with just 3 passes and it worked fine…<\/p>\n As always, make sure you use adequate laser safety gear when operating any high power laser.<\/p>\n **update 1\/2019 – The new shielding we ship is a reflective shielding and not absorptive, so it will not cut easy anymore.\u00a0 These videos are of the older shielding we shipped in 2014.***<\/p>\n Check out the video! |