I am trying to etch off the paint but continue to have problems… Please help, what am I doing wrong?
What am I doing wrong?
I have been trying to laser a flag but am failing miserably… This time the paint bubbled up when the laser was trying to cut it, plus it didn’t cut all the way through, it is only a 6mm board!!!
I am using Sande Plywood (6mm thick) sanded/coated with polycrylic x2 then sprayed black with Rustoleum satin black.
I have a Longer B1 20-24watt diode laser, using Lightburn
Fill settings for etching the paint off is: 6000 mm/min at 35%
Cut setting is 250 mm/min at 100% and it did NOT cut all the way through.
This laser is easily supposed to cut a 6mm board but even at 250mm/min at 100% it didn’t go through!
I had to look up Sande Plywood, but it is absolutely the wrong stuff for cutting with a diode laser: many dense layers with waterproof glue.
Manufacturer claims require absolutely ideal conditions on a sunny day with a stiff tailwind. In particular, the “board” they’re using will be the lightest possible material and may not even be plywood.
Cutting that much plywood dumps enough heat into the wood to boil the thick acrylic / paint layer. You might get better results with laser-friendly plywood, but cutting the outer shape with a saw or router will be faster and cleaner.
The Material Test results doesn’t show any visible graduation, so even the lowest power level seems too high.
Do that again with power levels from 2% up through 30% and speeds from 1000 to 6000 mm/min: the upper left block (high speed / low power should be untouched and the lower right block (low speed / high power) should be torched. Then pick a nice spot in the middle of the good-looking region to get plenty of speed / power headroom on all sides.
