Laser Cutter Suggestions

[Oblarg]

Also of note:

Acrylic cuts the nicest, of the materials I've worked with, but it's brittle and structurally worthless so I wouldn't recommend building anything out of it.

Polycarb doesn't work at all, so don't even try that.

You can lasercut paper to make very nice templates.

[eli2410]

Originally Posted by MetalJacket

That is a really interesting idea that I hadn't considered before. Thanks!

Never done it, be interested to know how it works out. Kind of came up with it as I was reading this. Suggested it to Team 1997 yesterday when they came to see our laser. As they said "that would be much better than just looking at the drawing and saying 'that looks about right' and marking it with a 1/4" thick sharpie."

Originally Posted by Oblarg

Also of note:

Acrylic cuts the nicest, of the materials I've worked with, but it's brittle and structurally worthless so I wouldn't recommend building anything out of it.

Polycarb doesn't work at all, so don't even try that.

You can lasercut paper to make very nice templates.

Agree on that, though make sure you have some ventilation when you cut or engrave anything besides paper (turned our ventilation on the other day as I was about to cut paper, paper went into the ventilation system). If engraving something that's clear, mirror the image you are engraving, so that when it is facing the right way, that side is smooth. Also, clean stuff such as acrylic, glass, metal (before cermark), etc. before you engrave it. We found out that, by looking at other websites, people suggest Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner specifically for it. Don't know why everyone is so specific, but it works well. We use the concentrate at full strength and haven't had a problem.