Has anyone been able to laser cut paper without leaving a burnt edge? I have a Rabbit 80 watt HX1290SE and whatever combination of power and speed I use I get a burnt edge. I can get it down to minimum but it’s always there. If I stack my cut sheets (which I cut one at a time) you can really see the burnt edge and it can be messy in that the carbon gets on your fingers and contaminates the white paper.
I always turn the sheet over, printed side down, as most of the burning occurs on the top side of the sheet. After cutting I apply 2” wide painters masking tape over the whole sheet and when I peel that off it picks up most of the carbon. I’ve also noticed that the amount of burning varies with different types of paper and the thicker the paper the more burning.
Since I plan on doing a lot of laser cutting of paper for some architectural origami structures I’d like to hear how other people deal with this problem.

Brian

Hi Brian,

I have a similar 80w laser from WK Laser. I have only cut paper a few times but with the focus set correctly and the air assist on, I don't get any burnt edges at all. I'm using a 2", or 54mm FL lens which puts the air cone pretty close to the material for better results. Maybe that's the difference.

Are you running air also? Are your lenses and mirrors due for a cleaning by any chance? Are you using more power than is necessary?

Sorry I can't be of more help.

Skip

Dear Skip:
You are very professional with laser machines and have lots of experience! Are you the dealer or user?
Alice

Dear Skip:
You are very professional with laser machines and have lots of experience! Are you the dealer or user?
Alice

Hello Alice,

Is this Alice from http://www.sukelaser.com/ ?

I'm not very professional and I have just enough experience with lasers to be dangerous. :-)

Skip

Brian,

Are you using air assist? If not, I suggest doing so. A reasonably strong gust of shop air should be adequate, but you can also try nitrogen for the nastiest of cases.

Brian,
I cut lots of paper, and tons of other stuff, with my 30 watt laser. I started with 100% speed and 5% power and just increased power by 5% until it cut. then I started 5% below that speed and increased by 1% until it cut. I use this method to determine power/speed for almost any material. Paper cuts very cleanly if you are using full speed and the least power necessary.

Gary

Dear Skip:
Yes,this is Alice from www.sukelaser.com

Dear Brian:
Did you use the air assist system when cutting? The air pump?
Alice
sukelaser@yahoo.com

Thank you all for your responses. Laser cutting is new for me and the documentation that came with my Chinese machine is poor - you get what you pay for, in this case practically no support. If I try to vector cut at a high speed as Gary suggested the cut lines are all jagged as the head shakes as it moves from one position to another. No doubt this is due to incorrect settings which I’ve fooled around with not knowing what I was doing until I had to slow the speed down considerably which it sounds like it increases the likelihood of singed edges. I will have to try to understand the settings; does anyone have one of these Rabbit lasers? I do have the air assist if you are referring to the stream of air that pushes smoke away from the line of laser cutting.
Brian

Brian,
If the head shakes at full speed then you have some big problems. I would get that resolved first. If that's "just the way it is" then I would find the speed that it stops shaking and use that as your "100%" level. Run at that speed and reduce power until you eliminate the charring. There will be a power setting that will accomplish that result, you just need to experiment until you find it.

Gary

80W laser power is not suitable to cut paper, it is too strong, and laser beam is too big. I suggest you use 40W or 25W laser to make it, at most 60W , i think, not 80W anyway, it will burn the paper/.

I cut this with my 80w LC6090 WK Laser. It is manila folder paper. It is a little thicker than standard copy paper, but no burning. I used a 54mm focal length lens, 25 power, 25 speed, and air assist. It can be done.

Skip

80W laser power is not suitable to cut paper, it is too strong, and laser beam is too big. I suggest you use 40W or 25W laser to make it, at most 60W , i think, not 80W anyway, it will burn the paper/.


That is only true on the Chinese lasers because they don't have the fine control of speed and power. Most other mainstream lasers are very suitable for paper

Brian,
I also use a 'Rabbit' for cutting / engraving with moderate success, let me know if I can help.
Laceturner

Paper cutting video , :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKXOcLvi8Kc&feature=channel_page

Is it possible to get that nice detail and fast speed on the Chinese glass tube lasers?

Is it possible to get that nice detail and fast speed on the Chinese glass tube lasers?

The above video by lamicron is of a Chinese glass tube laser, so the answer is yes.

Oh...in reading the threads on Chinese lasers, one begins to believe that they are totally useless. It's nice to see that they can do something so impressive. What are the specs on the laser used? Thanks.

Oh...in reading the threads on Chinese lasers, one begins to believe that they are totally useless. It's nice to see that they can do something so impressive. What are the specs on the laser used? Thanks.

It's really upset to hear such comments on Chinese Laser. Actually the lasers is much competitive in price and quality

If your goal is to cut a lot of product from paper, a galvanometer based system is the way to go. With high enough power, speeds of 300 Inches per Second are attainable (7.5 m/s).

Here is one of our customers using our flex pro

YouTube - Preco Flexpro Laser Cutting

This is a DIY sight im thinking thats a bit out of most people Price range.

This is a DIY sight im thinking thats a bit out of most people Price range.

While there is DIY content here, CNCZONE is anything but a dedicated DIY site. As for price range, you get what you pay for, it is kind of the old racing adage - the answer to the "how fast do you want to go?" question is "how much money do you have?" The technology does some really incredible things. Paper and many other non-metallics can be processed very efficiently and cleanly with high speed designs - there is a whole world out there.

Oh...in reading the threads on Chinese lasers, one begins to believe that they are totally useless. It's nice to see that they can do something so impressive.

They are not totally useless... But, if you want something for a business, that you need to have running immediately and making money, they are not the best way to go. If you are a hobbiest and have lots of time to fiddle around with the hardware to get it working, and lots of time to experiment with the software to get it working, then they are a great way to save money. I run a business and my laser has to be running all day, every day. I can't afford to take the time that it takes to get these lasers running and I can't afford to wait forever (practically) for repair/replacement parts when things go wrong. My tube has been going strong for almost three years, no power loss whatsoever. How long will a glass tube last? And how long to get it replaced? Yes, it's 1/4 the price that mine will be, but, you do get what you pay for...

Gary

OK OK OK

First off you are having a problem cutting paper:
Lower your power as low as your machine will go and still fire a beam. Second when you bring up your output commands (Layer, Test, Standalone if in CorelDraw or AutoCAD, or when using lasercut 5.0/ Right hand side of the screen when using LaserCut 5.1) select the colored layer that will be cutting, choose your apropiate speed, power, and overlap) then before confirming the command by selecting ok... you need to click on the button the is square and has dots in it (ex. [...]) This will bring up your advanced options. Lower your frequency from 20000 to about 500. This should help. If this does not make a difference, change your overlap. If you PM me I will give you my number and I'll help you out over the phone.

Gary, I hope you are talking about when buying direct from China and not just a chinese made machine in general. There IS A DIFFERENCE... In fact a happy medium. While still spending less than 1/2 what you payed for yours, a buyer can contact a QUALIFIED distributor with the knowledge, the supplies, the resources and the eagerness to assist, train, aid, and provide comfort for those wanting a quality experience with profitable results. I agree with you, people buy direct... you get what you get... If they are an informed buyer they won't have many problems going that route but they still will be lacking maybe in some cases. If they buy from, like I said, a QUALIFIED distributor, then they will probably end up getting more than what they pay for. I mean abnormalities happen wether it be US, CHINA, KOREAN, IRAQY (lol)... people just need to do their homework, and keep informed.



They are not totally useless... But, if you want something for a business, that you need to have running immediately and making money, they are not the best way to go. If you are a hobbiest and have lots of time to fiddle around with the hardware to get it working, and lots of time to experiment with the software to get it working, then they are a great way to save money. I run a business and my laser has to be running all day, every day. I can't afford to take the time that it takes to get these lasers running and I can't afford to wait forever (practically) for repair/replacement parts when things go wrong. My tube has been going strong for almost three years, no power loss whatsoever. How long will a glass tube last? And how long to get it replaced? Yes, it's 1/4 the price that mine will be, but, you do get what you pay for...

Gary

My cheap and small 35W desktop chinese machine cut paper very nice, in this case i used about 10W to cut 0,4 paperboard.
YouTube - Rick Laser Paper cutting co2 laser

OK OK OK

First off you are having a problem cutting paper:
Lower your power as low as your machine will go and still fire a beam. Second when you bring up your output commands (Layer, Test, Standalone if in CorelDraw or AutoCAD, or when using lasercut 5.0/ Right hand side of the screen when using LaserCut 5.1) select the colored layer that will be cutting, choose your apropiate speed, power, and overlap) then before confirming the command by selecting ok... you need to click on the button the is square and has dots in it (ex. [...]) This will bring up your advanced options. Lower your frequency from 20000 to about 500. This should help. If this does not make a difference, change your overlap. If you PM me I will give you my number and I'll help you out over the phone.

I have tried to change frequency in Lasercut but it doesn't make any difference. I'm trying to cut EVA foam but I get really dark edges.
How is your Lasercut set? My settings in preferences for Motion card for laser control is "Analog settings", when I set to "PWM" I get clear edges, but I cannot control power for engraving, seems like it is always set to highest power.
Anybody any suggestions?

thanx in advance