Perhaps a silly question but what is the advantage of a 15w diode over a 3.5w diode.
I have a 3.5w… I often see others on here with 15w and they appear to be having the same issues I faced with cutting 3mm wood etc.
So what makes a more powerful laser more beneficial???
A 15W diode is input power not output. It will output approximately 3-5W, which is what you already have. The manufacturers are stating input power to make it sound better, and hope that you do not know the difference.
Makes sense… But does the same not apply to.my 3.5w laser… I.e. it’s input not output and I could therefore have a 1/2w laser???
Generally speaking, if the laser is rated from 0 to 5w it’s output power, from 5 to 7w, it’s usually output power, and higher than that is rating input power, but that’s not always true. The best thing to do is read the fine print. The highest rated single diode emitter was a Nichia, at 6.5w. I’m not sure if that’s still true, but it likely is.
This is good info…
… I’m happy mine is 3.5w… was indicated as ‘true power’ rather than some which were more powerful but quite opaque in their descriptions.
Mine also cuts 4mm ply (with air assist) so I cannot complain…
… Plus you guys have just saved me from buying ‘a more powerful’ laser.
Hi LH, when you say you also cut 4mm plywood, what exactly do you mean by that? Will you be so kind and show what you work with (in 4mm) and the associated settings ?, I would love to learn how to cut 4mm plywood with my 5.5 watt laser. Thanks in advance.
The ply I use is just hobby ply which is pre cut into 30x18 rectangles. 4mm thick.
I have not been clear enough with my wording, sorry for that. I would ask to show a picture with something you have cut in 4 mm (hoby) plywood because I am interested in your Lightburn parameters. I assume you use 100% power, but what speed and how many passes do you use to get a usable result, many thanks.
The link I gave to the other thread shows a letter ‘A’ I cut out from 4mm ply and confirms the settings I used.
… I had overlooked that, Thank you
I cut 1/4" ply often for use in RC airplanes with 5W laser. I set the parameters to 100% power, speed to 6.35mm/min (which is approx. 1/4" in/min) and 5 passes.
I then focus lens to the top of the material and run it. This cuts about half the thickness. I then refocus the lens to 1/8" (use a scarp piece of ply) and run it again.
Total of ten passes with two focus settings. Takes a while, especially if you are cutting multiple shapes, but hey it works.
If you add air assist you can easily speed that up.
I can do 100mm, 100% power and 4 passes to cut 4mm ply with my 3.5w diode but it needs very well directed air assist.
I forgot to mention the air assist. This was the piece the finally made it all work.
That’s a typo right …100mm?
100mm/minute, likely.
Yep 100mm/min
Apologies for the confusion
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