Hello and Thank you in advance for taking the time to read and respond to my questions. I have a 100w ebay laser with Ruida controls.
I know this question has been asked by those with different Watt lasers of both similar and different branding.
Through your experience, what have been your best settings to cut 1/8 birch plywood? Looking to get the best cut with the least amount of charring or discoloration.
What is a good speed and power setting for cut when you just want to leave an outline and not actually cut through. The picture attached will give you an idea of the line im trying to leave.
Why are the lines not connecting in the picture attached? Would it be a speed or minimal power setting option? Is there a good number to set your minimal power setting to?
Once again, thank you. Iook forward to hearing your answers and maybe seeing some examples. Ive made my own power scale which seems to cut fine, (a little dark on edges) but cuts clean. When i try to cut something with a more intricate design, it doesnt always punch through clean. Also, does elevating the material off the honeycomb have an effect on cut outcome?
My experience with my 40 watt laser and plywood is - laser cutting as fast as possible with as little power as possible and a lot of air. I don’t use the honeycomb bed because of the reflections on the back of the workpieces and insufficient ventilation. (my suction may just not be strong enough)
For engraving lines basically the same applies to my setup.
With as fast as possible I mean when engraving, approx. 15-20% below the speed at which the machine no longer drives correctly, the timing belt skips or the braking distance becomes too long when changing direction.
When cutting, the material and my 40W set the limits on my machine. With the last 3mm birch plywood delivered, I was able to cut with 750-800 mm / min at 16 mA, but if the wood has weatherproof (often dark) glue, it works significantly more slowly. Engraving on birch plywood works with up to 1500 mm / min and approx. 4-6 mA, but I have a better feeling at approx. 1000-1200 mm / min.
But that is very different from machine to machine!
Why the lines are not closed …, it would probably be helpful if we could see your settings in LeightBurn. What does the preview look like?
… I forgot to say, clean mirrors and lens and just focus point is very important to me especially because my machine is not so powerful, I can not afford to throw valuable Watt out. - you do not have this problem.
For #3, it looks like min power was set too low - CO2 tubes have a firing threshold, and if you set Min Power lower than that, the tube won’t fire. It’s usually about 10% of the tube wattage, so for a 100w machine, the ballpark would be 10% power. (That will vary quite a bit though)
