[Lasercutter] Acetate Sheets

[Brendan Sleight]

Hi All,

Golly gosh I am bad at soldering, but good at swearing.

Is acetate sheets ok to use on the laser cutter ?
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetate

The aim is to make a solder paste stencil, for applying solder paste to a PCB then adding SMD.  I would prefer acetate over Kapton film (or paper) as I would like the stencil to be reusable and I can also cut a jig for the stencil and PCB at the same time (but in a different material)

Similar previous discussion:- https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/london-hack-space/TjcE6z-jXEA But does not give OK to use Acetate sheets on new Silvertail and this material is not listed on the allowed list.

Thanks for any pointers.

Regards,
Brendan

http://www.meatandnetworking.com/tutorials/creating-svg-files-worth-of-creating-solder-stencils-from-kicad/
https://wiki.london.hackspace.org.uk/view/Silvertail_A0_Laser_Cutter#Allowed

Cheap OHP sheets - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10-A4-Acetate-Sheets-TRANSPARENCY-OHP-ACETATE-FILM-WOW-/140745869805?roken=cUgayN

Expensive Mylar sheets -
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/A4-Mylar-Sheets-Laser-Safe-For-Making-Stencils-Models-Crafts-/181648699786?roken=cUgayN

Similar Question - https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/cammakespace/QO1arx6z2BQ
Paper Stencils! - https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/cam-pcb-makers/VmUeaVuUKCI
Kapton - https://learn.adafruit.com/smt-manufacturing/laser-cut-stencils

[Brendan Sleight]

If Stainless steel bad, ( https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/london-hack-space/3uVXDL0StLw ) Is acetate ok ?
Sorry to bump my own thread with a Mailing List Cliché. (double bad), but the wiki suggests asking....
   "You should only be cutting materials on the Allowed list, if you want to cut a material which is not on this list, contact one of the maintainers and get them to OK it first."
   https://wiki.london.hackspace.org.uk/view/Mailing_List_Clich%C3%A9s#Can_I_cut_X_on_the_laser_cutter.3F

I am happy to do the chlorine test, but do not have the most experience when it comes to the cutter and want to be extra cautious.

[Russ Garrett]

Acetate should be fine - it's meant to cut well although I haven't
tried it and we don't have any parameters for it. Start it at
speed=100, power=20 and see how it goes.

Russ

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[Brendan Sleight]

On Friday, 22 May 2015 10:25:14 UTC+1, Russ Garrett wrote:

Acetate should be fine - it's meant to cut well although I haven't
tried it and we don't have any parameters for it. Start it at
speed=100, power=20 and see how it goes.

Thanks Russ - it worked.
  http://i.imgur.com/X3EGRFG.jpg

To get the fine pitch, I used speed=150, power = 17 for 0.1mm thick
 Added to the wiki: https://wiki.london.hackspace.org.uk/view/Silvertail_A0_Laser_Cutter/Cutting_Parameters#Acetate_Sheets

[Charles Yarnold]

Speed should not go over 100, we start to see issues with the machine if it tries to do this with cutting. I would suggest trying an engrave next time, in my experience it works much better than cutting for fine pitch stencils. (sorry I didn't reply earlier)

Sol

[DSSlocksmiths]

Quick question: what power are the actual cuts at? I ask because the top of the page says it is an 80W machine, & the bottom says 90/100W?

[Russ Garrett]

The power we run at is around 85W (it's based on the recommended tube
current which is not directly proportional to power). The tube is
rated to a maximum of 100W at a reduced lifetime, and we ran it at
something like 125W for a short time when we were setting it up.

As it's actually a name-brand tube (Reci Z2/S2 I believe) we have the
benefit of a datasheet for it.

We set the power limit on the controller as 100% being the (long-life)
rated tube current, so any power numbers are a percentage relative to
that.

Russ

On 27 May 2015 at 00:22, DSSlocksmiths

<yt...@discreetsecuritysolutions.com> wrote:
> Quick question: what power are the actual cuts at? I ask because the top of the page says it is an 80W machine, & the bottom says 90/100W?
>

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