Retrofitting CNC XYZ table for laser

[eljainc]

Hello,

We recently built a CNC XYZ router table from scratch and it works wonderfully. Now we have an interest in adding a laser attachment for cutting. The main things we are cutting are plexiglass acrylic and possibly light duty aluminum.
What type of laser do we need for this? We are cutting mostly 1/4" acrylic, perhaps a max thickness of 1/2" acrylic, but that is more rare.

What costs/parts are required? Suppliers?

Thanks
Mike

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[Tweakie]

Hi Mike,

The CO2 lasers, 25 Watts and upwards will cut your acrylic but you need a lot more power to cut ally (even thin stuff) perhaps kW.
It all depends on how much you want to spend but I added a laser cutting head to my wood router and the results are pretty good. Take a look at my website for further details of this project. http://www.cooperman.talktalk.net/files/27.htm

Tweakie.