Due to current market conditions, we have suspended online orders.
Due to current market conditions, we have suspended online orders.
ability of a small diode laser to cut or engrave depends on many factors but the basic principle is that the laser must transfer enough power to the target to reach the burning temperature. Important factors are:
Surface adsorption by target (matt black is best).
Thermal conductivity of the target - if the target conducts too well e.g. metal, the heat is dispersed rapidly. For a material to be engraved or cut he target must adsorb laser energy more rapidly than it loses it in order to heat up.
The amount of laser energy per unit area of the target (the laser needs to be focused to a small point on the target rather than a big spot).
The power of the laser.
Commercial Laser Engravers
Most ‘small’ commercial laser cutters and engravers use a CO2 laser, typically with a power of 20-40W (20,000- 40,000mW). A 20W CO2 laser can typically cut 3mm plywood and 8mm acrylic easily at full power and will run at ~5-10% power (1-2W) to engrave wood, cut paper etc.
CO2 lasers are commonly used simply because they are the cheapest way to generate laser light at these power levels.
The power output of common semi-conductor lasers (laser diodes) is much lower and the cost of laser diodes increases above a couple of watts to the point where they are no longer economic to use compared to a CO2 laser.
It is however possible to use laser diodes to engrave wood, cut thin paper, balsa wood and pattern resist layers for PCB etching. Reducing the cutting/ engraving speed is often required.
Laser Diode Performance
Laser diodes are produced commercially to have lifetimes of thousands of hours at their rated power. Often experimenters will run these diodes at higher powers (e.g. +50%) and still get lifetimes of at least tens and sometimes hundreds of hours. The exact results vary from diode to diode and depend on a stable driver and adequate cooling.
Can be used for carving, cutting. Can cut wood
