Source for Aluminium Honeycomb?

[buildsomething]

I am building a 60W CO2 cutting laser but am stumped right now for a reasonable cost of aluminium honeycomb. My cutting area is 12" x 48" and I would be happy with 4 pieces 12" x 12" x 1" thick if I could get it. Only reason for the size is that its cheaper to ship smaller pieces than larger ones.

Any ideas where I could get this at a reasonable cost?

Richard

[bisjoe]

Last time I replaced mine, the 12"x24" 1/2" thick was just $30 from Epilog. (Just the honeycomb, not the frame it goes in)

[pedroman]

3/4" Aluminum 24" X 48" $78.12 SKU 9635K65

That is probably the easiest place.

Pete

[buildsomething]

Thanks for the info guys.

I have also found a place that sells the honeycomb aluminium in expanded as well as unexpanded form which becomes really easy to ship or send through the mail.
Here is their website. They are located in NY state.
http://www.honeycommcore.com/home.html

Richard

[jinu117]

How do you plan to use it? I've been in need of vacuum table for my engraver and been pondering how to make one using aluminum honey comb

[buildsomething]

My plan is to support the honeycomb on a mesh of 1/4" steel rods with the vacuum / exhaust below that....this way the smoke / small debris can flow down through the honeycomb, around the rods and finally out the exhaust. This will also hold the material in place. If you are engraving only, the honeycomb would not be required since you are not shooting through. I would just use a flat plate with holes in it and draw the fumes away through side ports located along the side of the work area.
My laser cutter is specifically designed for cutting balsa and light plywood used in RC aircraft. Because I know the sizes of the material that I will be cutting...ie 3" x 36" / 4" x 48" etc., the areas that are not being used during cutting will be covered up by 1/6" sheets of aluminium. This will dramatically improve the vacuum draw in the area needed to remove smoke and debris.
I hope that I have answered your question.
Richard

[jinu117]

It does answer my question nicely... and thank you.
I myself do some cutting... neoprene in this case which makes a lot of small soothes toward bottom of cut. I have thought of something, wouldn't it be easier to just fabricate small pan under honeycomb attaching to side of honey comb seal the gaps on edges using something than putting all those rods? I believe I will order some from mcmaster and get working on it myself as well Thanks.

[buildsomething]

The rods are not a big deal and you don't need a lot of them. Just to get the honeycomb off the bottom so that the air can flow down and around them. Space the rods 4" apart and 90 degrees to each other. You don't need to have them 1/4" in diam....use 3/16" or 1/8"....use what ever you have.
Hope this helps.
Richard

[salewis]

I've got a small supply of the 24x24x5/8(?) honeycomb. I got more than I'll need for my laser cutter. EMail/PM if interested.

Stan