Hi Everyone,
I am new to laser cutting and still trying to work things out. I bought a 50W CO2 laser cutter to cut electronic enclosures for my business. I had success cutting my first enclosure at 60% power, 10mm/s (see photos). Cutting the second with the same settings did not come close to cutting through the (roughly 2.5mm thick) material. I then upped the power to 80% and ended up with a charred mess. Upon further tries I have been unable to cut through.
Does anyone have any clues as to what may have changed?
Hi Bernd, thanks for the input. I thought a similar thing, so I cleaned the mirrors and lenses, and checked alignment. Same result. Here’s where the head scratching really starts. I tried the same settings and pattern on a sheet of acrylic (see photos) and an ABS enclosure, and the results are perfect. When I back to trying to cut the original polycarbonate enclosure… still not cutting.
From what I’ve seen, thin polycarb sheets cut well, but anything more than a millimeter (-ish) doesn’t work. The lead illustration in that article seems to show a very thin molded form with laser-cut holes.
It may be a case of my 60 W laser not having enough mojo or the piddly assist air not having enough whoosh, but AFAICT 3 mm polycarb is on my “do not cut” list.
As you’ve probably already discovered, polycarb releases terrible fumes:
Thanks for the input. I ended up just engraving the centre point and drilling the holes with a step drill. It was surprisingly quick and easy with all the points marked.
