Can anyone tell me what is the minimum power required to cut one sheet of paper - lets say typical inkjet printer paper, at about 1metre/sec, and what would be a suitable laser type to do it with.
Many thanks for any suggestions and/or links.
John

These guys:

http://www.parallax-tech.com/faq.htm

http://www.parallax-tech.com/cutting.htm

point out that you can cut cloth with 25 watts

and sandpaper at 100watts (which is just plain overkill, my laser is engraving metal at about 10 watts right now while I'm writing this).

here's synrad talking about engraving wood at 60 watts

http://www.synrad.com/search_apps/application_briefs/69-2.htm

These guys will blather on about cutting wood:

http://www.epiloglaser.com/wood_engraving_tips.htm

I think you could do it easily with 25 watts. You'd need a nitrogen gas assist to reduce charring.

owen

Thanks Owen. I think there is enough info there for me to calculate what I need to know.