[SPEEDRE]

I have'nt played with Lasers since high scool science fair, some 50 yrs ago. L.O.L.
I'm curious, how many watts would be needed to cut up to 0.250" thick plywood?
I'm thinking of adding one to my cnc router

[cinematic2]

100W DC or 70-80 RF. And DRY plywood. Not waterproof.

[wmgeorge]

100W DC or 70-80 RF. And DRY plywood. Not waterproof.

l can cut 5 - 6 mm all (.250 inches) day with my 40w co2 machine all day. Glass tube DC.

[Dean448]

Many people post the desire for or plan to put a cutting laser on a router.
This is totally possible if it weren't for the amount of smoke produced by the cut. Unless you plan to fully enclose the machine, or run it outdoors, it's just not feasible. Do the math at 0.3 wide by 6 deep by the length of cut all turns into smoke. Same math goes for 40 or 100w. Look into buying or building a machine, you'll find many uses for it.


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[wmgeorge]

Many people post the desire for or plan to put a cutting laser on a router.
This is totally possible if it weren't for the amount of smoke produced by the cut. Unless you plan to fully enclose the machine, or run it outdoors, it's just not feasible. Do the math at 0.3 wide by 6 deep by the length of cut all turns into smoke. Same math goes for 40 or 100w. Look into buying or building a machine, you'll find many uses for it.


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My exhaust fan takes care of the smoke created on mine. My kerf is only .005 wide when cutting 1/4 inch plywood. Since they do not make a affordable 30 / 40 watt diode laser yet, any co2 laser would need to use flying optics like a commercial laser, only out in the open and so dangerous. If the OP would
like to spend, say $100,000 he could have a large format Kern Laser.

[Zootalaws]

My exhaust fan takes care of the smoke created on mine. My kerf is only .005 wide when cutting 1/4 inch plywood. Since they do not make a affordable 30 / 40 watt diode laser yet, any co2 laser would need to use flying optics like a commercial laser, only out in the open and so dangerous. If the OP would
like to spend, say $100,000 he could have a large format Kern Laser.

You can't cut ply/mdf/wood with a diode laser - wrong frequency.

Im not sure what you think is cheap - a 500W diode laser for ~$500 seems pretty good to me.

[wmgeorge]

You can't cut ply/mdf/wood with a diode laser - wrong frequency.

Im not sure what you think is cheap - a 500W diode laser for ~$500 seems pretty good to me.

LOL you mean mW not Watts. FYI I had a blue light diode it cut 3 mm ply just fine. I have a co2 and fiber laser machines right now. what do you own??

[Zootalaws]

LOL you mean mW not Watts. FYI I had a blue light diode it cut 3 mm ply just fine. I have a co2 and fiber laser machines right now. what do you own??

No, watts. Look it up. Stacking diode 'bars' gets you a ****tonne of power.

https://www.alibaba.com/product-deta...32921.html?s=p

How many passes did it take to cut 3mm? What speed? 10mm/s?

How well do you think that diode will cut 22mm?

The length of CO2 lasers is around 10,000nm, diodes are typically less than 2000nm and the shorter the wavelength, the less suitable it is to cutting organics.

Of course you can cut anything if you hack away at it long enough. Using your logic my Swiss Army knife can fell a redwood, so I must be a lumberjack.

[wmgeorge]

I do not know where your getting your info from? I do not own a diode laser now????

[Zootalaws]

I do not know where your getting your info from? I do not own a diode laser now????

From you, and my experience of seeing a 3W diode cut ply: "FYI I had a blue light diode it cut 3 mm ply just fine"

[wmgeorge]

From you, and my experience of seeing a 3W diode cut ply: "FYI I had a blue light diode it cut 3 mm ply just fine"

When I get time I will post the video I made of my 5 watt diode laser I had a year or so ago cutting and engraving 3 mm ply. IF you take the time to read you will note that no where did I say it cut 22 mm ply.

Let me know when you get your 500 watt diode laser working :banana:

[Zootalaws]

When I get time I will post the video I made of my 5 watt diode laser I had a year or so ago cutting and engraving 3 mm ply. IF you take the time to read you will note that no where did I say it cut 22 mm ply.

Let me know when you get your 500 watt diode laser working :banana:

I don't have, nor need, a 500W laser. You're just being obstreperous.

While you can cut 3mm ply with a blue laser diode, its laborious. The OP asked what was a suitable laser to cut 1/4" ply, your answer is "I can cut 3mm ply with a blue laser diode" - 1/4" is 6.5mm. It would take many, many, many passes to cut 6.5mm.

It's like your neighbour asked you what machine was suitable to dig out a swimming pool and you replied "I dug a hole with a teaspoon once" - of course it's possible, just not the right tool for the job.

I would have thought that, rather than throw in non-information, extol the virtues of your 40W CO2 laser, a much more appropriate tool than a 5W diode

[wmgeorge]

Mr. Zoo if you read the message for content I posted it says... l can cut 5 - 6 mm all (.250 inches) day with my 40w co2 machine all day. Glass tube DC.

This was my reply to the statement you made about a 500 Watt diode laser which does not exist.... yet. And diode lasers can not cut wood.

LOL you mean mW not Watts. FYI I had a blue light diode it cut 3 mm ply just fine. I have a co2 and fiber laser machines right now. what do you own??

In your haste to provide answers..... you get it wrong. Then you come up with some ridiculous comparisons :nono:.

[brian257]

You seem to be getting a lot of replies, but few that are useful to you. As another stated, a 40W CO2 laser will cut 1/4" plywood fine. How much you need to cut and what speed is acceptable to you might make you want to up the size. If just cutting smaller pieces and production speeds is not a problem I would recommend a Chinese K40 machine with a Lightobject DSP conversion. Recommend you go to LightObject and look around and check their forums also.

[wmgeorge]

Brian I think the OP wanted to fit his CNC router with a laser to cut 1/4 inch plywood.