common feed rates

[WolfPackEng]

I am in the process of designing my own laser cutter and i was chasing information on common feed rates for different laser power. At the moment i am considering an 80W chinese CO2 laser.

Can anyone give me a rough idea on the feed rates for some of these matterials:

• 5mm acrylic
• 2.5mm acrylic
• fabric
• 3ply poard
• 5mm particle board

I imagine that the thicker acrlics could be quite slow but fabrics would cut very quickly. Does anyone have experience with these.

[zax15uk]

If you plan to engrave (raster) it will be important to keep the inertia down, as you will want fast speeds in the scanning direction. I would recommend at least 100mm/s (~250ipm) for both axis, and if you plan to do much engraving I would double it for the scanning axis.

On the slow speed end for thicker vector cutting you will want to be able to run at slow speeds, target 2mm/s.

Your actual cutting / engraving speeds will vary depending on the material and power it can take without excess damage - but the above should give you some idea of parameters. I am sure Tweakie will have some good advice, and check out Bart's forum (buildlog.net - CNC Laser Buildlogs).

Zax.

[WolfPackEng]

200mmSec doesnt sound too bad. I was planning on a maximum speed of 1000mmSec+

I am considering a fairly large build at 2X1.5M with ball screws and servo drives. Hopefully that should give me the power and precision i want.