Estimating Laser Time

[Andy Leviss]

Hey gang,
Does anybody have a rough way to estimate laser time for simple cuts
(no engraving) on plexi? A friend's got a project, and we're trying to
estimate what the cutting cost is going to end up being...

TIA,
Andy

[Herbert Hoover]

Can you calculate your perimeter? That would be the biggest variable
in the equation.

[Andy Leviss]

Yeah, is there a rough inch/seconds number? It's actually all perimeter, so pretty easy.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

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[Herbert Hoover]

Yes, it's all perimeter, but do you have a number for that in inches/feet? (i.e. if you're cutting a 2 inch box with six flat sides (no dovetails) having four sides each, that's 6 x 4 x 2 or 4 feet of perimeter to cut.)

The laser speed and power are adjusted to accommodate different materials and thicknesses. The speed setting in the manual for 1/4 inch plexi is 7% for clear (The PDF manual is at Epiloglaser.com. Ours is the 35watt Mini). That doesn't translate into an inches per foot number, but we could experiment with it once we know the following:

a) what the material is (colored, opaque, or clear acrylic/plexi)

b) how thick your material is

c) the total length of your vector lines in your design file

We can also run your file at the suggested settings without the cutting laser on (a dry run of sorts). That will give a pretty accurate time.

Herb

[Norman Savitt]

Sensei Herb:

Do you happen to know if the laser was purchased prior to April 1, 2010?
There are 2 manuals for this model, take a look at:  http://epiloglaser.com/laser_manuals.htm

Evidently there was a major revision in this model at that time.

thanks!
Best,

Norman


--
Norman Savitt

norman...@gmail.com

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[Max Henstell]

Our laser is a few years old at this point.