hello! I am 100% NEW at all of this. I got a 3000MW blue laser and I have been watching the lightburn tutorials. Went to go cut my first piece(a basic square) and the machine turns on, moves but no matter what settings I put it doesn’t even put a scratch on the acrylic. I know the laser itself is working because at some point here or there it will get stuck on and will burn a hole.
I tried watching a bunch of videos but I am still lost since I do not fully understand the terminology just yet. HELP PLEASE!
What kind and color of acrylic are you trying to cut? Diode lasers generally are incapable of cutting or even engraving anything but black acrylic. There are methods you can use to do a surface engraving on certain other colors but cutting is pretty much a non-starter.
If you’re just starting out with lasers I’d suggest cutting your teeth on easier projects such as engraving to paper or unfinished wood.
Its clear 1/4 inch acrylic, but that’s the thing the laser won’t even scratch the surface. I even placed a piece of cardboard under it to see if it would do anything to it and it did not. But at one point it stayed on at the end of a shape and it burnt a hole in the acrylic so I know the laser can work. just something with my settings or program wise isn’t clicking it seems.
Clear acrylic is basically optically invisible to the wavelength of light generated by the diode laser so will not cut. The cardboard may not have been burned because of diffraction from the acrylic or because of lack of focus but if the cardboard was being illuminated through the acrylic that means the acrylic is not burning.
Did this occur over the cardboard when the laser was lingering there? You could be heating the cardboard which then transfers heat to the acrylic or are you saying you burned a hole entirely through the acrylic? If so, please upload a picture here.
Can you confirm that the laser is working well on other materials? You may want to exercise the laser on known working materials to get a better feel for hot it performs.
The acrylic has the protective coating on it so it doesn’t look clear when cutting. So I don’t believe that is the issue. again it is not burning even a piece of cardboard on it own. No acrylic was involved in testing it on cardboard.
There’s scant information on that site about the engraver. Sounds like the brand is Universal Engraver.
Please take these steps:
save the file in LightBurn of the square you tested the burn on cardboard. Attach that file to a message. This will help indicate if there’s something wrong from a design perspective
Go to Edit->Device Settings and take a screenshot of that whole screen.
Go to the Console tab on the right side of the UI and type these commands one at a time. Then copy the full output and paste into a reply here.
3a) $I
3b) $$
ahhh I must of missed that when I was purchasing it. I was hoping to engraver/cut items to be used for silicone molds, possibly other items later down the road but solely wanted to make items for molds.
Is this what you were planning with the acrylic or would you use a different material?
What would be the thickness of the material that you would need to cut?
And any idea the level of depth you would need for the engraving detail portion?
yes I was hoping to cut the acrylic shape out but also be able to engrave for more detailed pieces. I am attaching a photo of a blank i purchased from someone and used it as my master to make my silicone mold. depth isn’t as important but it must have a gloss finish, can’t use wood because of the texture of the material.
Okay. There’s a good bit of detail in the engraving. As discussed earlier you won’t be able to do this with clear acrylic using a diode laser. Stronger diode lasers (>5W output) probably could do this with black acrylic but your unit would struggle with this. You might be able to get an engraving but the cut is unlikely. One option could be to upgrade the laser module if black acrylic is an option.
If wood is not an option are there other opaque materials that could be used as a substitute?
If the sample in the photo you sent was created with a laser it was likely a CO2 laser that was used. Entry level models can be had for less than $1K but may need an upgraded control board to be used with Lightburn. Higher end models have really no upper bound in terms of cost.
The color of the acrylic doesn’t matter really, but being able to cut and engrave are a must. What would I be looking for or where to upgrade the laser module? Im not sure of another substitute for acrylic ill have to do some research on that.
You might want to connect with the seller to see if they’d upgrade your laser module for a reasonable price or offer a replacement. From their site it looks like they offer a 15000 mw (15W input → about 4W output) that might do the job but I’m not familiar with this company’s products.
Alternatively, you could buy a replacement laser module from a 3rd company but you’d have to handle the mounting and connection yourself. I’ve not dealt with these companies but JTech and NEJE are often referenced for replacements. I’ve heard good things about JTech support and the opposite about NEJE.
Keep in mind that even with the upgrade acrylic cutting won’t be ideal as it could take multiple passes and long times. I’d suggest you consider the CO2 route if you have the facility for it. But keeping in mind that the learning curve will be higher and there are more things to fuss with like water cooling.
