Laser bed cuttable area

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Dane Barnes

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Jul 5, 2011, 11:02:25 AM7/5/11
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Hi NYC Resistor-
 
I had a few quick questions about the laser for file setup:
 
What is the exact cuttable dimension of the laser - 12" x 24", or something less?
 
What size should I cut the acrylic to fit in the bed?  (12" x 24" again?)
 
When I create the PDF file, the cut lines need to be .1 point so they read "hairline", correct?
 
Thanks.
 
-Dane Barnes
Bronx, NY

Herbert Hoover

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Jul 5, 2011, 11:10:06 AM7/5/11
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Hey Dane,

12x24 fits perfectly on the bed. You should allow a "safety" of about
1/8" all around, so the cuttable dimensions are closer to 11.75" x
23.75"

Set your line width in Illustrator to [0.01 pt] for Corel Draw to
recognize it as hairline. The laser will cut as large as [0.25 pt]
line. Larger than that and the laser will raster it.

best,
Herb

Dane Barnes

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Jul 5, 2011, 11:12:47 AM7/5/11
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Perfect, thank you Herb.
 
Dane

Dane Barnes

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Jul 6, 2011, 10:24:56 AM7/6/11
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One more quick question:  Can you lasercut sytrene?
 
 
Dane Barnes

hoover...@verizon.net

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Jul 6, 2011, 10:31:11 AM7/6/11
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No. At cut temperature, it releases bad fumes.
From: Dane Barnes <barne...@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 06 Jul 2011 10:24:56 -0400
Subject: Re: Laser bed cuttable area

Dane Barnes

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Jul 6, 2011, 11:03:35 AM7/6/11
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Ah, I see, thank you for your help.  I'm trying to come up with some thin, white, flexible materials I can use to laser cut for making lamp shades.  What about polypropylene?  Melamine?  Vinyl?  Any other ideas?
Dane Barnes

Ranjit Bhatnagar

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Jul 6, 2011, 11:20:54 AM7/6/11
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Some of us have had good luck making lampshades with Delrin (also called acetal), which is stronger and more flexible than acrylic when it's thin.

-r.

Dane Barnes

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Jul 6, 2011, 11:30:02 AM7/6/11
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Cool, thanks.  Where do you buy it?  I assume it needs to be about 1/16" thick.  I don't see it on US Plastics...

Dane Barnes

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Jul 6, 2011, 11:42:41 AM7/6/11
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Anyone know if polypropylene can  be laser cut?
 
Dane Barnes

Ranjit Bhatnagar

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Jul 6, 2011, 11:43:32 AM7/6/11
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McMaster-Carr <http://www.mcmaster.com/> carries Delrin.

-ranjit

Dane Barnes

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Jul 6, 2011, 11:46:24 AM7/6/11
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Thank you Ranjit.

hoover...@verizon.net

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Jul 6, 2011, 12:14:49 PM7/6/11
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Check the Epilog site (epiloglaser.com) for materials recommendations, but anything with chlorine is bad. That includes vinyl.

We flame test materials to determine if they have toxic elements so if you cannot find information on the material online, get a small sample to burn test.

Lasering bad materials voids our warranty and possibly the operator's warranty too, so we like to be sure about a material's composition before we cut it.

Best,
Herb
From: Dane Barnes <barne...@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 06 Jul 2011 11:03:35 -0400

Dane Barnes

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Jul 6, 2011, 1:04:01 PM7/6/11
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I just purchased some samples of delrin, mylar, and acrylic, and I pretty sure they're all ok.  Now it's a matter of which works best.  Thanks again for all the help.
 
Dane

Dane Barnes

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Jul 7, 2011, 4:13:40 PM7/7/11
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I just received my Delin (acetol) from McMaster-Carr and it was just what I was looking for.  Thanks for all the help lazzzorers.
 
Dane

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