Cutting and engraving different types of wood

[fantasy2]

Currently I only have experience with 3mm Birch ply, 6mm poplar ply and 3mm MDF. My chinese 60Watt CO2 laser cuts this at 10mm/sec, 85% power.

Does anyone have experience with the harder wood types like walnut, cherry, peach, oak etc? Does it cut and engrave nicely?

[Alexis Martial]

You should be able to engrave these harder wood without any problems.
Will probably requires a little bit more power thus in your case lower speed/higher resolution.

Actually the "harden" is not the main criteria.
Oily woods are more difficult to engrave or cut nicely since they tend to burn.

The degree of dryness is also a key criteria. The more the wood is dry the better the results.

Some classic advices:
- you can clean the engraved part using bleach, this should allow you to remove most of the black marks if it's not a full-blown burn
- you can reduce the side burn by preapplying masking tape, double-side tape etc based on what you have avail. Also required if you intend to post-paint the engraved part
- you can try various level of air assist [ensure your air assist is free of oil and wood dust !]
- you can play with the focus distance and min power. This can be used for example to have slightly beveled edges on your engraving.

For cutting, it will probably be a little bit more difficult due to the limited power of your laser, you will probably reach a max of below 6mm. I would recommend to avoid multiple pass since the 1st pass create charcoal that tend to burn at the next pass...

Hope this helps.

____________
Alexis Martial
Plixo, Laser Cutting and Engraving Services

[MaryB]

Red oak cuts nicely at 100% power and 5 for speed on my Full Spectrum 60 watt laser. Some edge charring but red oak is full of sap.

[fantasy2]

Ahh oke, so checking how oily or wet a certain wood is explains why cutting goes well or bad. Thanks! Sounds like a good guideline.

[EXLASer]

Please see attached 4mm wood cutting sample EXLAS made/
Another youtube video for laser cut 20mm wood,nice and clean edge!
we recommand our customer use a higher PSI comprosser to blow the wood when cutting..

exlas_laser_cutter_Email mike(at)xyz-tech(dot)com - YouTube

exlas_laser_cutter_Email mike(at)xyz-tech(dot)com - YouTube

Mike
mike@xyz-tech.com
support@xyz-tech.com

[bpoulin]

I've tried cutting wood that thick and end up burning. How much PSI is recommended for cutting thick MDF?