R30 Won't Cut Through Paper Backing on Acrylic

Community Laser Talk
1

I recently bought an Atomstack R30 V2 laser for my A10 Pro and I noticed that it will engrave acrylic just fine without the paper backing, but it won’t actually engrave well WITH the paper backing on like my original diode laser will. To do that, I have to engrave at very low speeds and then it more melts the plastic instead of engraving it. Is this to be expected?

I have been engraving acrylic for a while with the original diode laser and it cuts through the paper which I use as a mask to then paint the engraving. With the R30, it doesn’t do that. Why is that?

2

If this is the machine:

Then these bullet points are relevant:

  • Born for Metal & Plastic Engraving
  • Suitable for fast and fine metal engraving, as well as non-metallic materials such as varnished wood furniture, ABS, and plastic

The key difference is the wavelength: materials absorb and reflect infrared light differently than they do near-UV light.

So 1 µm IR light bounces off a layer of paper that absorbs 445 nm UV light just fine. :grin:

Which is why you could use the protective paper as a paint mask: UV(-ish) light burned the paper, but pretty much bounced off the plastic.

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3

Hi,

I’m also thinking of upgrading my Atomstack A10 Pro with the Atomstack R30 V2 laser unit.
But I’m confused that they are talking so much about metal engravings.
I mainly want to use the laser for cutting woood or MDF.

So is the R30 a good choice for that?`

AtomStack R30 V2 Verbesserter Infrarot-Lasermodul-Ersatzgravurkopf zum Gravieren von Metall und Kunststoff

Best,
Michael

4

No, because the R30 laser produces 1 µm IR light with a wavelength weakly absorbed by organic materials.

An “ordinary” blue-light laser diode will cut wood, although it seems good cuts in 3 mm sheets will require multiple passes with careful attention to the details.

A CO₂ laser will be more suited to the task, because its 10.6 µm IR light is strongly absorbed by organic materials.

Choose the right hammer for the job …

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5

Thanks a lot for the explanation.
Any recommendations how to upgrade the Atomstack with a stronger laser before buying a Co2 laser?

6

I found these laser units… But they have 24V and my A10 has 12V…
AtomStack M150 33W Lasermodul 6-Diodenkern

7

Opinion: Upgrading a consumer-grade machine with a larger = heavier laser head rarely ends well.

Some problems:

  • Larger head → less working area
  • Heavier head → lower acceleration & slower speeds
  • More weight → more wobble
  • Slower speeds → worse engraving despite higher power

As a rule of thumb, the machine’s original area / speed / acceleration settings will not work well with the upgraded laser head. Finding new = slower values requires considerable effort that most folks do not expect.

Start a new discussion thread: describe what you have and what you want to accomplish. Other folks will have better suggestions.

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