Innovation Workshop Wiki

User Tools

Site Tools

Trace: • laser_cutting_data
laser_cutting_data

Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

Link to this comparison view

Both sides previous revisionPrevious revision
Next revision		Previous revision
laser_cutting_data [2013/05/10 04:07] – davelaser_cutting_data [2025/02/05 21:35] (current) – bdincau
Line 1: Line 1:
 ===== CNSI Microfluidics Laser Cutting Data ===== ===== CNSI Microfluidics Laser Cutting Data =====
 +
 +====Material====
 +
 +Always check materials list BEFORE attempting to cut/engrave a material. If unsure contact IW Staff.
 +
 +__**Allowed Materials**__
 +
 +Plastics:
 +  * ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene)
 +  * Acrylic (also known as Plexiglas, Lucite, PMMA)
 +  * Delrin (POM, acetal) — **Must use nitrogen assist when cutting delrin**
 +  * Kapton tape (Polyimide)
 +  * Mylar (polyester)
 +  * Nylon (melts badly)
 +  * PDMS
 +  * PETG (polyethylene terephthalate glycol)
 +  * Polypropylene (PP) — melts somewhat
 +  * Styrene
 +  * Two-tone acrylic — top color different than core material
 +
 +Foam:
 +  * Depron foam (often used for RC planes)
 +  * EPM
 +  * Gator foam (foam core gets burned and eaten away compared to the top and bottom hard shell)
 +
 +Other:
 +  * Cloths (leather, suede, felt, hemp, cotton)
 +  * Magnetic Sheets
 +  * Papers
 +  * Rubbers(neoprene, etc supplier try: ​mcmaster.com​)
 +  * Woods(MDF, balsa, birch, poplar, red oak, cherry, holly, etc. supplier try: ​midwestproducts.com​)
 +
 +__Prohibited Material__
 +  * **Metals**​ (our laser cutters are not powerful enough nor setup to cut through metals and attempting to do so could damage the machine)
 +    * Metals (cannot be engraved however a certain type of paint/tape which chemically bonds with the metal may be used to mark materials)
 +  * **Polycarbonate**​ (PC, Lexan) — Lexan creates large amounts of fumes
 +  * **Teflon**​ (PTFE, Polytetrafluoroethylene) – cutting creates Fluorine gas
 +  * __**Any material containing chlorine**__
 +    * **PVC** (Cintra) — contains chlorine
 +    * **Vinyl** — contains chlorine
 +  ***HDPE​**: "milk bottle" plastic. It gets gooey, melts and catches on fire.
 +  ***Epoxy**
 +  ***Glass​** — you can engrave glass, but trying to cut it will cause cracking or breakage
 +  ***Fiberglass**
 +  ***Printed circuit board​** (FR4 and other material types)
 +  ***Carbon Fiber** 
  
  
Line 9: Line 55:
  
 ==== Cutting Parameters ==== ==== Cutting Parameters ====
 +=== Acrylic Sheet ===
  
 Cutting 1/8”, 100% power, 0.4 ipm, 2000 Hz, (Dave Bothman, 5/5/13 - clean cut)\\ Cutting 1/8”, 100% power, 0.4 ipm, 2000 Hz, (Dave Bothman, 5/5/13 - clean cut)\\
  
 Cutting 1/4”, 100% power, 0.15 ipm, 1000 Hz, z offset -.125, (Dave Bothman, 5/5/13 - clean cut)\\ Cutting 1/4”, 100% power, 0.15 ipm, 1000 Hz, z offset -.125, (Dave Bothman, 5/5/13 - clean cut)\\
 +
 +----
 +=== PDMS ===
  
 250um PDMS with mylar backing on back side and removed from front\\ 250um PDMS with mylar backing on back side and removed from front\\
Line 20: Line 69:
  
 ---- ----
 +
 +=== Double Sticky Tape ===
 +25% power, 3 ips
 +
 +----
 +Gore Teflon Foam 1/16"
 +15% power, 0.5% speed, 1000 Hz (DB 7/9/15)
 +
 +Silicone Rubber sheet, 1/8"
 +100% power, 0.1% speed, 2000 Hz - use Nitrogen gas (DB 7/9/15)
 +====Guideline Cutting Recipes====
 +
 +
 +===Acrylic===
 +
 +  - 1/8 acrylic
 +
 +|         ^ Color        ^ Power         ^ Speed  ^ PPI/Hz   ^ Passes  ^Air Assist   ^ Correction  ^ Z-Offset ^
 +^ Engrave    | Black          | 25        |20  |PPI |-  | on | 0  | 0 |
 +^ Cut        | Red | 25        |0.4 |Hz  | 1 | on | 10 | 0 |
 +^ Cut        | Blue          | 100       |0.4 |PPI | 1 | on | 10 | 0 |
 +   *Recipe from Dave
 +
 +  -1/10 acrylic
 +
 +|         ^ Color        ^ Power         ^ Speed  ^ PPI/Hz   ^ Passes  ^Air Assist   ^ Correction  ^ Z-Offset ^
 +^ Skip   | Black          | -        |-  |- |-  | on | -  | - |
 +^ Cut        | Red | 2        |0.1 |Hz  | 1 | Hz | 1 | 0 |
 +^ Cut        | Blue          | 15      |0.5 |Hz | 5 | Gas 1 | 0 | 0 |
 +   *Recipe from Vincent
 +
 +====Functional Engraving Recipes====
 +For users looking to cut acrylic at different depths, these different cut depths were tested at different power settings. Data courtesy of Ph.D. student Sanghun Jee on a Trotec 60W CO2 laser cutter. Thank you Sanghun!
 +
 +{| style=""
 +|+ 
 +!
 +Engraving Cut Thickness
 +!
 +Engraving Settings
 +|-
 +|
 +0 mm
 +|
 +0% power, 0% speed
 +|-
 +|
 +0.208 mm
 +|
 +50% power, 30% speed
 +|-
 +|
 +0.314 mm
 +|
 +60% power, 30% speed
 +|-
 +|
 +0.352 mm
 +|
 +70% power, 30% speed
 +|-
 +|
 +0.413 mm
 +|
 +80% power, 30% speed
 +|-
 +|
 +0.446 mm
 +|
 +90% power, 30% speed
 +|-
 +|
 +0.485 mm
 +|
 +100% power, 30% speed
 +|}
 +
 +For users who wish to engrave at different depths than those listed above, here is a graph and equation that may help out with making estimations of what laser power to use.
 +
 +{{functional_acrylic_engraving.jpg?direct&500}}
 +
 +----
 +
 +Scribing microscope slides for breaking -Dave Bothman - 16 Dec. 2015
 +  * Recipe: 100% power, 3% speed, 1000 Hz, 1 pass
 +  * Focus on top of slide
 +  * Place a paper towel wetted with water on glass in area to be cut
 +  * Cut through the paper
 +  * Break on scribed line
 +
 +
 +
 +
 +
 +
 +
 +
 +
 +
  
  
laser_cutting_data.1368158860.txt.gz · Last modified: 2013/05/10 04:07 by dave