Team 254 Presents: Dropshot Technical Binder 2016

[NWChen]

How was your experience lasercutting a bellypan from 1/4" thick ABS? I've read that ABS tends to curl and melt rather than vaporize under a laser.

[Chris Mounts]

Originally Posted by NWChen

How was your experience lasercutting a bellypan from 1/4" thick ABS? I've read that ABS tends to curl and melt rather than vaporize under a laser.

Can't speak for 254 but we've used ABS for several years now. We love the material but you are correct on the challenges of laser cutting especially at 1/4". That does not stop us though. We just run at a real low cut speed and get pretty clean cuts. Some cleanup is required.

For reference we use a WKLaser LC1280 which is a 150 watt laser. Going real slow we can make it through 1/4" ABS in one pass. Thinner material cuts without an issue.

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by NWChen

How was your experience lasercutting a bellypan from 1/4" thick ABS? I've read that ABS tends to curl and melt rather than vaporize under a laser.

Not on 254, but lots of laser cut ABS parts on my robot this year, most from 1/4". It's not too hard to do, but it takes a little trial and error. Multiple passes, playing with the feed rate and power level, and making sure your air / ventilation is good are all good steps to try. After some tweaking (approximately 1 practice robot worth of parts tweaking) it was pretty easy to get a quick and consistent part out of the laser cutter. This made manipulator fabrication quick and easy for us.