Table of Contents
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
Material Vendors
Acrylic sheet, optically clear, from McMaster Carr: part number 8560K239
http://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/119/3558/=molz4w
Cutting Parameters
Acrylic Sheet
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)
PDMS
250um PDMS with mylar backing on back side and removed from front
Cutting 42% power, 2.0 1ps, 5000Hz (Peter Mage, 5/9/13 - some flash and soot - recipe needs to be refined)
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 |
-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 |
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!
| 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.
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