What is Laser Cutting?
Laser cutting is to be known as the process of cutting or engraving material with high powered laser beam by CNC machine.
How does it work?
When u allow a Laser beam to emit through a laser tube & current will pass through it, Then it reflects off mirrors points the beam through focal lens in machine head. The Lens then focus the laser beam towards the surface of flat sheet material, melting, vaporizing provided with the machine.
This melting & vaporization of material leaves behind the polished edges, requiring little to no finishing
By using the laser cutting , The amount of material removed by laser beam is very little as compared to blade or cutting edge. It is totally dependent on the type of material and the thickness of it, for most of the time it is negligible. Laser Cutting Services Offered to give different types of design or marking on different types of material
What can it do?
3 types of techniques is being used for co2 laser machine,
- Vector Cutting
- Vector Engraving
- Raster Engraving
Vector Cutting is the process of full cut material following the vector line in CAD.
Vector Engraving also known as “Kiss cuts” is a different level cutting , it is a surface level cut on to the material following the vector line. Which will create a outline on the surface, this is good for adding some details to the design of material
Another type technique is Raster Engraving, it is an infill engrave of a sealed vector shape, in this technique the laser works like an inkjet printer moving from side to side, turning the laser on and off very quickly and slowly moving the lineup,
This CO2 type laser cutting can through variety of materials, Different types of material cut by CO2 laser cutting includes very thin paper & textiles, plywood, MDF & upto 10mm acrylic plastic. & it also depend on the material quality you intend to use for laser cutting.
Let’s Discuss about some of the materials for laser cutting:
Acrylic:
It is a type of plastic material, which is most common for laser cutter. The substance called acrylic is actually derived from acrylic acid or related compound. Mostly often acrylic is known to be a glass, which is known as poly-methacrylate (PMMA). Acrylic is extruded into sheet of various thickness, color & transparency.
Acrylic is available in wide variety of colors & thickness, they are of light weight & you can also laminate the sheet easily.
The negative points of acrylic is, they are quiet expensive, brittle & easily scratched.
Wood:
The most common material for laser cutting is wood. Some of the people think that if wood will cut through laser it will catch flame. The laser need to blow air on the cutting area, this keeps the area cool & remove heat from the wood so that it doesn’t ignite.
Wood is relatively very cheap & easily available, But the negative point is while cutting wood by laser it burns the edges,
MDF:
Great product for the laser Cutting is MDF. Because it is manufactured & the more consistent material than wood is MDF. So performance of MDF Laser Cutting under the laser is more predictable than wood. MDF cuts well. MDF Engraving gives a more 'fuzzy' result.
MDF material is an inexpensive wood & it is a consistent material that always give predictable results every time
Metal:
Anodized Aluminum – It can be etched without any problem (Black color anodized aluminum gives the best contrast out of all of the anodized aluminum)
Brass:
Uncoated brass can not be used for etching as it gives lot of reflection. It need to be paint first before etching
Glass:
A very beautiful result can be seen on Glass that is etched on the laser By Glass Laser Cutting rocess. This includes bottles (both full and empty), drinking glasses, and plain flat glass.
Other Materials:
Many of the materials can be either cut or engraved with laser. If you want to try some other materials for laser cutting, here is some of the materials that can be used for laser cutting
- Whiteboard
- Cardstock
- Paper
- Fabric