Hello friends, can you please help me. I am a Sculpfun S30 10 watt laser use. My laser cuts 3 mm white MDF at 400 speed in 4 rounds at 100% power. Am I doing something wrong?
I don’t want to run it at 100% power, but there is no other way. What should I do? Can you please help me?
I don’t know the machine in question, but if you’re not using air assist, try lowering the speed and confirming that the laser is properly focused.
Always be careful about the risk of fire!
I pump 1.5 bars of air. I bought a compressor for the device.
I don’t have a 10 watt machine but those numbers sound reasonable to me. I’m not sure if your MDF is the same type of material we have by the same name in the US. My understanding is that MDF in the EU is a generic term used for many types of laminated or engineered wood products. In the US, it’s basically compression molded sawdust with a resin binder/glue. It’s notoriously more difficult to laser cut than our “plywood”.
There are several possibilities that I know of for why this could happen.
For now, I concentrated on focusing the laser. The speed doesn’t seem out of adjustment to me but it may need to be reduced.
Factors that I remember quickly.
- Angle of the laser beam. If the angle is too large, the cutting depth reduces drastically. This type of laser is designed for engraving and not cutting, although it does so in thinner thicknesses.
- The laser power is not real. The advertised laser power may be the electrical power and not the power of the laser beam.
- The material has properties that make laser action difficult. These materials require more passes.
- The material is wet. Moisture dissipates the laser’s heat and does not cut as it should.
It has 10 watt laser output power.
1- What happens if I solve the angle problem this way?
- Should I lower the laser one step lower in the thickness of the MDF?
2 - Is humidity a big factor? The weather is a little rainy
Sounds about right to me. Solution get more powerful laser.
My 10 watt can do 3mm MDF 325/90 @ 2 passes…30lm air pump on full…
That’s absolutely what I would have expected. Nothing wrong with your laser. You should know that white materials are a no-go for lasers usually, and it’s no surprise for your laser having problems with this. If it only has a white top layer, then the first one or two passes are required to get through it, and then it starts cutting the MDF itself.