Laser cutter

[malik aldabagh]

Good evening!

i was wondering if it is possible to use the laser cutter to cut out of wood a heated bed platform for my 3D printer. I have the sketches ready. I'm using Solidworks but i don't know how to use the laser cutter. The dimensions of the platform is about 19inX18in. Is there any specific wood required for the laser cutter? Thickness of the wood? is the quality of wood from home depot good enough? i went there but  i noticed that some wood pieces (0.25in thickness)  is warped and contain moisture, is that OK? Thanks!

Malik Aldabbagh

[Kevin Baldor]

The laser cutter can work with wood of varying thickness up to half of an inch (or so I'm told. I've never seen it work with something quite that thick) depending on the wood. Slower cuts with higher power will often get you through darker/thicker wood but at some point it just won't make it through.

I've had mixed results with plywood. Voids and knots, which are usually only present in the middle plys if at all in nicer plywood (and thus impossible to detect until it's too late) are particularly bad for the laser cutter because the speed and power required to get through them is different from that required for the rest of the cuts..

Baltic birch plywood is generally used for such applications because of its dimensional stability and low (depending on grade) voids and knots. I've had pretty good luck with Baltic birch that I got from Woodcraft up to a quarter inch.

Sent from my iPad

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[Don Smeller]

Malik,

I will be at 10Bit Thursday evening, 6 to 9.  I can teach you how to use the laser cutter and the associated software.

Rather than plywood, think in terms of MDF.  It’s flatter & more homogeneous.   1/4” will cut OK if we program it to cut 2 times.

Don Smeller

On Aug 3, 2016, at 10:45 PM, 10BitWorks on behalf of Malik Aldabbagh <sa-hack...@googlegroups.com> wrote: