Baltic Birch for laser cutter

[Pete Prodoehl]

We've had really good luck cutting 1/8" (3mm) Baltic Birch plywood with the laser cutter.

Woodcraft sells it for about $1.60 for a 12"x12" sheet, and shipping is fairly cheap.

So besides Mike, jason, and I, does anyone else want some sheets?

If so, just let me know how many you want (at $1.60 per sheet) and I'll order a bunch.

If you don't want to commit, I may buy a bunch myself and leave it at the space for people, and just ask that you pay for it as you use it.

Who wants in?

Pete

[Shane]

I'd like a couple pieces. Won't have the money until next weekend,
though.

[Ben Nelson]

I'd like some please. (at least 2 sheets)

-Ben Nelson

On Feb 5, 6:54 pm, Pete Prodoehl <ras...@gmail.com> wrote:

[jason gessner]

i'll take a dozen sheets, please.  Even with the large number of passes i had to do on saturday, i'm sure we'll dial in it and get it consistent soon enough.

-jason

--

-jason

[Tom Gondek]

How many passes does it take to cut?  A 25watt laser should cut 1/8 ply with no problem.

 

Tom

[jason gessner]

well, on saturday i ran through with 14 passes and still wasn't done.  We cleaned a bunch of soot and gunk off the mirrors (and by we i of course mean the other, more spectacularly bearded jason).  Some tweaking and profiling is in order, i think.

-jason

--

-jason

[Tom Gondek]

hmmmmm that’s not right.  Full power and slowest speed should cut that in one pass.

[jason gessner]

well, we had it on 4%, not 0.4%, so maybe that was it.  :)  We'll do some experimenting.

-jason

--

-jason

[Pete Prodoehl]

In one of my first tests I nearly cut through the first time, but it burned the wood way too much (and flame was bad) so I upped the speed, and then I cut through with maybe a dozen passes, and then with Mike's glasses it was probably a dozen or so (which makes me think 14 isn't too far off.)

But yeah, Mike or Jason H. needs to chime in, as I thought they were doing it last Tues with just a few passes. Maybe it gets gunked up and we need to regularly clean it though... and we should all learn how.


Pete

[Tom Gralewicz]

One of the things the manual suggests for cutting material is to apply masking to the material and wet the masking down.  I'm not sure what they mean by masking but I did some experiments with a damp paper towel and it worked remarkably well.  You need something else on the wood so it doesn't warp, but I would try painters tape at least and see how it works.

Tom

--
Tom Gralewicz
Miller Electronics Recycling
(414) 380-1716
www.deadcomputers.com

[Have Blue]

I actually vaguely recall doing this long ago at the trophy shop when
laser etching glass - I seem to remember something about using a damp
piece of tissue paper to cover the area to be etched, so Tom's
suggestion is definitely on the right track.

[Tom Gondek]

I use transfer tape – basically a big roll of low tack masking tape.  This protect the surface and is very easy to remove.

 

Tom

 

 

From: Tom Gralewicz

Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2012 8:51 AM

To: milwaukee...@googlegroups.com

Subject: Re: [MakerSpace] Re: Baltic Birch for laser cutter

 

[Have Blue]

I assume blue painters tape (also low-tack) would do the trick as
well, and you can find it in 2" wide rolls at any home improvement
store.

[Tom Gondek]

I think it would, the advantage of transfer tape is it come in rolls 12"
wide, all the way up to 48"..... its great when you need to protect a whole
piece in the laser. I cut my material to 12" by 24" and then apply the tape
as one piece. The only disadvantage of masking / painters tape is the
overlap. That adds another layer (extra thickness and sometime the adhesive
is harder to cut), and can be a problem on really fine work, but it should
work for most applications.

I have accounts at some of the shops around town, so if someone wants a roll
of transfer tape, they can go out to New Berlin and pick up a roll under my
account.

Tom

[Mike Massie]

I'm in for a bunch (DM'ed to Pete) and "Bearded Jason" needs to become a thing around the shop.

[Tom Gralewicz]

I'll pitch in for a roll of masking.

On Tue, Feb 7, 2012 at 10:24 AM, Mike Massie <mi...@michaelmassie.com> wrote:

I'm in for a bunch (DM'ed to Pete) and "Bearded Jason" needs to become a thing around the shop.

[Jason Hilleshiem]

I have a roll I can bring in, No need to buy it.

"Bearded Jason"

[Kevin Bastyr]

We should get this new moniker right - the email read "spectacularly bearded jason" as "bearded jason" isn't sufficient to distinguish.

[jason gessner]

i am "weakly bearded jason".

-jason

--

-jason

[Pete Prodoehl]

OK, here's what I have for a group purchase of 1/8" (3mm) Baltic Birch plywood for the laser cutter:

Shane - 2
Ben Nelson - 2
jason gessner - 12
Mike Massie - 12

The price is $1.60 per sheet. (The sheets are 12" x 12")

Oh, I may buy some extra sheets in case someone needs more, and I'll just sell them for the $2.00 instead of $1.60 to cover the cost of shipping. (Or if anyone wants to chip in for shipping, feel free... I think it'll only be $10.)

I'll wait until Monday to place the order in case anyone listed wants to change their numbers, or anyone else wants in.


Pete




Pete

[Shane]

Up mine to 4 pieces, please.

[Adam Cohen]

I'll take 4

[Pete Prodoehl]

OK, I've got a list of everyone who replied to this thread...

Since we have a meeting tonight (that I will miss) can someone make one last mention of the buy tonight and point people to this thread? (It's been added to the agenda.)

I'll then place the order tomorrow.

thanks!

Pete

[Garrett Rodrigues]

I'll take 4 too.

[Garrett Rodrigues]

Think this was supposed to go to the list...

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Norberto Silva <silv...@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, Feb 21, 2012 at 7:48 PM
Subject: Re: Baltic Birch for laser cutter
To: Garrett Rodrigues <grodr...@gmail.com>


I take $10 worth of wood (WoW).

[Michael Warnock]

I'll take 12. Thanks Pete! I'll do my best to be at the next meeting
to give you the cash.

~Michael

[Pete Prodoehl]

OK, here's the list I have:

Shane - 4

Ben Nelson - 2
jason gessner - 12
Mike Massie - 12

Adam - 4
Garrett - 4
Michael Warnock - 12

One slight wrinkle in the plan... Kevin mentioned last night that with
the new panel saw we could buy 4"x8" sheets of plywood from Bliffert
Lumber (south side) and cut them down to 12"x12" for like 1/5 the price.
Tom then said that Alpine Plywood (north side) might also be a local
supplier.

So here's the deal... if anyone wants to back out of this order and deal
with getting the Baltic Birch locally, and transporting it, and cutting
it down to a size that will fit in the laser cutter, please do! I'm fine
paying for the convenience of delivery of pre-cut sheet to my door and
not dealing with getting large sheets to the space and cutting them.

So again, if you want out, let me know... otherwise I'll place the order
tonight.

Pete

[Kevin Bastyr]

The price locally is not as compelling as I guessed it would be: $29 / 5' x 5' sheet of 1/4 Baltic Birch ($1.16/sq ft).