[Robert413]

I’m new to CNC laser engraving / cutting and I have a TON of questions, all of which have likely already been answered somewhere else. But since the last few days of trolling through previous threads has more or less left my head spinning, I’m just going to ask for some info and advice one thread at a time.

First, a little background: I recently bought a cheap piece-of-junk 40 watt Chinese CO2 laser engraver. In spite of its many minor problems, glitches, and technical issues, not to mention unholy abomination that is Moshidraw, I’m actually rather pleased with it. And I think I have discovered a niche product I can make with it.

Without going into too much detail, the material I’ve been working with comes out quite well with two passes engraving at 16-18 cm/s at the full power of my 40 watt laser. The substrate I’m working with is somewhat heat sensitive, and a single pass at half the speed deposits too much energy into the material. Two passes allows it to cool slightly.

Now what I’d LIKE to do is use a more powerful laser tube and engrave at a higher speed. I am ASSUMING that using an 80 watt laser at a rate of 32-36 cm/s will produce the same results, or a 120 watt at 48 cm/s. But I have also heard it said that higher wattage CO2 lasers are better suited for cutting than engraving. Logically it makes sense that higher power and higher speed would have an identical effect as lower power and lower speed, but I’m not sure if there are some outside effects of influences that I am missing.

So, my first handful of questions: Can I just increase laser power and engraving speed linearly and get the same effects? Is there some threshold where laser power becomes less suitable for engraving? What is the maximum speed one can engrave at with reasonable quality results (let’s say for argument’s sake, somewhere around 300dpi resolution.) And does anyone have any experience with engraving at high speeds?

Thanks for the help!

[Robert413]

No responses? Nothing at all? No comments that if your engraver moves at high speeds the mirrors get jittery and ruin the resolution? Or that the size of the focal point of the laser changes as you increase the power of the laser? Or that higher power lasers perhaps do not cycle on and off as quickly and smoothly as lower powered lasers? I’m just assuming that there’s SOMETHING I’m not accounting for in my assumptions…