I am very new to lasers and am building a CNC laser cutter for balsa.
Can anyone please provide definitive information of balsa cutting with the blue NUMB44 6W laser or any other 445nm laser diode?
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I am very new to lasers and am building a CNC laser cutter for balsa.
Can anyone please provide definitive information of balsa cutting with the blue NUMB44 6W laser or any other 445nm laser diode?
Hmmm... I would think that the raw Balsa would ignite and catch fire.
I haven't tested it so... I'm not 100% sure.
Jerry
... look here, especially at the "Elk-bows" in post #6, made from poplar- and balsa-plywood - http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...-for-Christmas
I'm mostly using 2W or 3,5W diodes for their better/smaller focus - the 6W-diode has a bigger emitter with lower energy density, so not this efficient than the 3.5W diode.
If you want finer cuts and have enough time (for more passes), the 2W-diode will be even better.
One point is fuming - when cutting with full power, the plasma and fumes will burn and contaminate the borders and surface - here I'm using pretty short pulsed PWM and/or coating the surface with adhesive sheets of paper or masking tape, which I'll remove afterwards ...
Viktor
That's good to know Viktor...
Jerry
... if you're looking for more infos than accumulated here in the "445nm"-section, then you can read through the RepRap-lasercutter-subforum -- http://forums.reprap.org/list.php?133
Viktor