Thunder laser cutting tips:How to cut smooth acrylics
Vložit
- čas přidán 25. 08. 2024
- Today we're going to talk about how to improve your cut smoothness when you're cutting acrylic and encounter a cut that isn't smooth.
For an even weaker blowing effect, it is recommended to use it with the 6mm nozzle in the toolbox.
1. Laser tube：80W glass tube
Blowing Intensity： Strong
Speed: 6mm/s
Power:50%
2. Laser tube：80W glass tube
Blowing Intensity： Week
Speed: 6mm/s
Power:50%
3. Laser tube：80W glass tube
Blowing Intensity： Week
Speed: 10mm/s
Power:90%
By slowing down and reducing blowing, you can cut smooth acrylic!
If you're interested in learning more about this topic, be sure to visit :
www.thunderlas...
for additional resources and information. Don't forget to like and subscribe to stay up-to-date with our latest videos!
Follow us for more info:
Facebook: / thunderlaser.official
Instagram: / thunderlaser.official
Pinterest: / thunderlaser_official
Linkedin: / thunderlaserofficial
Tiktok: / thunder.diy.design
Facebook Group: / thunderlaserfans
This is the most helpful acrylic cutting video by far. Thank you for making it!
Please do not think my comment is in any way critical of what is demonstrated here. The facts are essentially correct but it is rather misleading in that this demonstration is not universally applicable. I can see that the material is 8mm thick CAST acrylic and the lens is probably thei2" standard focal length. It appears that Thunder laser are demonstrating an accidental discovery of parameters for 8mm acrylic and the effect of air assist and speed on cut quality. Try this on 2 mm thick cast acrylic and it wont work.
Let me take a few second to describe the properties of CAST acrylic. It melts at 160 C and then boils/evaporates into acrylic "steam" at 200 C Imagine laser cutting a block of ice and you can then visualize that just behind the laser beam there will be a film liquid water on the kerf edges until the water freezes again.. That is exactly what happens to acrylic. Cutting is by evaporation and not by any chemical mechanism.. In the same way , provided the kerf wall is above 160 C there will be an acrylic self-leveling liquid film......unless you disturb it and accelerate cooling with full air assist. You will then get a non-transparent edge. as in test 1
Stop test 1 at 25 sec and note three things. the bottom of the cut is trailing behind the top (say 10 degrees), The first 2mm depth is very "disturbed" because of the air flow. the bottom of the cut is
rather "frilly"
Stop test 2 at 45 sec and because there is little air flow to disturb the top of the cut its clean. However although there is little or no air assist, note how powerfully the fumes are exiting the BOTTOM of the cut. Note also that for no change of speed or power. the "beam drag" angle has decreased (maybe 5 degrees?) and there is no "frilliness" to the bottom of the cut.
Stop test 3 at 1 min. The power and speed have both doubled but this cut is right on the edge of failure. The beam drag is back to about 10 degrees and there is a frilly bottom edge
The reason test 2 produces a flame burnished transparent edge is because this is thick acrylic and has to be cut slowly. Thus the the heat of "cutting" has a chance to build up in the kerf to keep it above 160 C for several mm behind the cut. You can often observe this film cooling and solidifying. If you cut 2mm thick cast acrylic you will run much faster and there will not be the heat retention in the kerf to create the self-leveling film. That is why you need to understand this this is not a universal solution.
The other interesting observation is the angle of the cut (beam drag). What causes that? Many suggest that the beam is being reflected by the acrylic surface, . That's not the way 10.6 micron light works . It ALWAYS wants to travel in a straight line. This is very easy to prove if you pause the cut. Now press the pulse button for about 1 second and observe how the beam does NOT reflect around the angled material but straightens the cut to 90 degrees. If THIS is a light beam cut then why the angled cut? Recall the observation in Test 2 about how powerful the fumes were exiting the BOTTOM of the cut. Well .only the first mm or so of cut is happening because of the laser beam . The superheated acrylic gas created within the kerf is flowing downwards and eroding (evaporating) the surface as it goes . Right at the bottom of the cut the frilly edge is caused by eddying gas.
One final interesting point is that this video only applies to CAST acrylic when the material is above 5mm thick. If you use EXTRUDED acrylic, although exactly the same chemical composition, it's mechanical properties and thermal conductivity are different to cast acrylic. Extruded acrylic is more than 10% more thermally conductive and that means it absorbs heat faster and therefore retains heat in the kerf wall much longer. Therefore you can use full air assist (or not) from the thinnest material and you will still achieve a crystal clear edge.
These are just a few interesting details about acrylic cutting. There is much more to know.
.
After 9 months ... Wtf is this
You're absolutely right I followed what you mentioned in this comment, and it worked on 2mm acrylic, I was trying since I built my machine, for more than a year I was trying with no success, and I even refused jobs needing polished acrylic edges 😥😥, now its working thanks alot buddie , not even one video was that specific, I learnt alot from videos for sure but about polished cut straight out of laser cutter , no video was useful , thank you friend 🤗🤗🤗❤️❤️❤️
I added a reminder cuz I'm not able to jump into your channel now, I have alot of work to do, but surely I will , it seem to be nice educative channel
This is how I explain the best settings on how to cut acrylic. The reason you don't run to much air is you don't want to cool the acrylic as it's boiling. Because if it cools to fast it hasn't enough time to flow and you get a rough edge, even on thicker acrylic eg 15mm. Adjust air down as low as possible to keep the lens clear of gasses and to possibly help stop a flare up occuring. This will help limit the amount of cool air entering the top of the cut and keep the hole cut area nice and smooth. Thicker cast acrylic is easier to get a flame polished edge than thinner acrylic as it retains the heat longer in the cut area
A good explanation with extruded acrylic also. You will always get a smoother cut edge with extruded because what you mentioned in the material difference to melting and vaporisation temps lower.
There is a lot of misinformation out there about laser cutting acrylic😊
On your channel, you have taught me a lot, thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Just question, is the laser can cut the clear acrylic without any painting on the side of acrylic ??
Can Co2 4KW Sheet Metal Laser Machine cut these kinds of materials?
thank you so so Mach for that information
is that CAST Acrylic or Extruded Acrylic?
I have a 100W laser and had a very very difficult time cutting 6mm CAST Acrylic.
…Is it possible that my maybe I need to change my Focal Length lens to make this work?
That's Cast Acrylic. Standart focal lens can be work
@@thunderlaser.official , Thank you for answering this. I also have an 80watt, and have been seeing people say the extruded leaves a more flame polished edge, which is what I want. But your 6mm speed with 50% power looked terrific, on cast? I can buy a 4x8 sheet of cast for only $10 more than extruded. Advice?
@@DecksNJ hello. you can send more details to our tech for help. tech@thunderlaser.com
Can you please explain weak and strong in numbers or values ??? How many psi (bar) is weak or strong ??
In general, when processing acrylic, I would choose an air volume of 0.1 PSI for weak blowing and 15 PSI for stronger blowing.
This is helpful tips I very like
Can you advise me how to engraving plywood 3mm nice and smooth?
@@dntvietnam You need enough air pressure to do the cutting, which generally uses an air compressor in this situation.😁
I reading about laser S9 this info "90W Effect Beam Shaping Technology: S9 uses the latest 5.5W beam shaping technology diode " and I don't know why the two deferent value of watt in this info ?
Am i able to get some help for cutting some christmas stuff? i am getting flashback and white smoke on my acrylic when im cutting it. i have air assist and im using an upgraded pump, not a compressor. I always get white smoke on my acrylic i can never cut like this
In fact, the use of an air pump can provide sufficient air assistance.
You can blunt the effects of flashbacks by giving your acrylic and platform a certain distance with a few gadgets.
As for the white smoke, I think it's because your acrylic is not good enough. Perhaps consider replacing the acrylic with one of higher purity.😀
Thank good Information
What is blow can you explain pls
With every machine you get a mini compressor unit that blows through an airline into and out the nozzle.
how to change the blow @@TylerHarney
@@prernabedmutha7730 On the Thunder Laser Nova 51 that I have there is Low and High air assist and in Lightburn in the layer setup screen you can enable or disable air assist. With air on it is High pressure and with air off in lightburn the Thunder Laser runs at low pressure.
I TRIED CUTTEIN CLEAR PLEX THIS WINTER. TH SURFACE IS GETING A FOR SEALED IN TO TH SURFACE DO YOU KNOW WHY?
This is a material issue. It's recommended to consider using a better quality material.
Thanks a lot!
😆❤
very usefull information, wich lens do you use? (focus distance)
I am using a standard 2-inch laser head with a 6mm focal length.
When I cut 1/4 acrylic I see lines on the flame polished edge any way to stop that? It looks like many lines spanning top to bottom it’s not a smooth edge . It only happens on the y axis
This may be due to your cutting speed is too fast, or the machine Y-axis jitter caused by, you can try to reduce the cutting speed and then check whether there is a problem with the hardware.
What is the thickness in rhr demo? Thanks
5mm
What air psi do you recommend I have the 35 100 or any special settings.. thank you!!
Thanks for the informations! But is there a way to prevent tiny raised edges while cutting extruded PMMA with a C02 laser? I'm cutting a 3mm sheet and the final piece turns out to be 3mm + the height of the raised edge (both sides!). I'm crafting a box and for finger joints is not the best because I have to manually polish every "male" with a metal spatula!
I think you can try increasing the air pressure for blowing.
@@thunderlaser.official thank you for the reply! So in your opinion is possibile to achieve perfect and smooth 90 degrees angles without raised edges?
@@matteoaprea1411 I believe it is possible to accomplish, but it will require some time to fine-tune the parameters.
I went to sight and just moved on real quick when I don't see any pricing.
I am using a 120w CO2 laser to cut PMMA, our aluminium grid tend to leave marks on the PMMA when the laser hit the grid, does the honeycomb grid works better ? Thanks :D
In fact, an aluminum blade cutting table produces the best results.
I only have a 10W Xtool M1, how can i cut Acrylic clean? More Passes and also Slow will it work? Thank you!
Not sure. M1 is diode laser, not good at cut acrylic
Thanks
Tried this on the bolt and at 90% power and 3mm/sec. not sure how hard the air is blowing but turned it down but still jagged edges. .23" thick cast acrylic clear.
I suggest you send the photo of the problem and more details to our tech email: tech@thunderlaser.com They will help you solve the problem.
Limit air this will help a great deal. Did you get it cutting more smooth since?
@@thelazerwhisperer Nice advice!!☺
Is it same result for acetate also?
Do you have any idea of the settings for Glowforge? Thanks in advance
It's the same
No its not the same, you cant lower the air pressure on a glowforge.
can you cut a beveled edge (using file with gradient color), will it be smooth with your settings?
No, cutting cannot use gradient color files. If you want to achieve smooth acrylic cutting, try reducing the speed and weakening the air blow.
See if this video will help you: czcams.com/video/YNfhXcAf9x4/video.html
How do you adjust the blowing strength on the thunder laser?
There are two independent valves on our machines to adjust the blowing strength.
You can check this:support.thunderlaserusa.com/support/solutions/articles/65000113461-how-to-adjust-the-dual-stage-air-assist
Can a laser be programmed to cut concave or wavy surfaces that have height variations...? Not engraving, cutting as in this video.
Generally, laser cutters are primarily used for cutting flat materials because the laser focus and power density can vary at different heights, which might affect the cutting quality. 😄
@@thunderlaser.official If the software can focus the beam at varying Z axis positions along the object as I've seen in laser engraving, why would this be an issue for cutting.
May I ask what setting would be for 3mm and 5mm with a 100w laser ?
For effect I would recommend a 100w machine using 8mm/s speed, 40%-50% of the power.
@@thunderlaser.official how about 9mm acrylic with 80W laser? can it cut?
@@nightowlstudio8238 You certainly can, in fact I have cut 15MM acrylic, with a very low speed and very high power, and a 4-inch laser head, the process he is easy to catch fire, when found on fire, press pause, wait for the fire to go out and then continue to cut on it!
@@thunderlaser.official how much air for cutting 1/4 acrylic on a 100 watt
Will this work with 40w lazer? Or even a CO2 I'm new but eager to learn so I can pick the right machine to cut wooden earrings and acrylic
of course
Could you please do the same tests and advice on polycarbonate? Does it behave the same?
Do not cut polycarbonate with your co2 laser. The burn is toxic.
polycarbonate must be cut with a CNC router. Highly toxic when lasered
@@TylerHarney @MoeReefs
Thank you both for the replies. I guess, that's why I have not seen examples of lasering it. I'm staying with acrylics.
Do you have any recommendations for the power/speed settings needed on a 55/60 watt laser cutter to get smooth edges on 3mm acrylic?
Did u get the answer to this, im looking into laser mac as well but not sure if 60w would be enough to cut 3mm acrylic cleanly since chinese seller always recommended 100w
U have 3mm and 10mm video of this clear acrylic?
Unfortunately, I don't have this, but the method of making it is the same, and 10mm acrylic requires more attention to the question of whether the material will burn.😀
@@thunderlaser.official owww okie dear thank u so much
hello! what air psi your using on the weak blowing?
Wait so your compressor doesn't have weak blowing and strong blowing settings.
In this test, what thickness of Acrylic was being cut?
The 5mm acrylic of this piece.
How can i buy this machine? What's the price of this machine?
You can visit our website: www.thunderlaser.com or contact us Sales@thunderlaser.com
What thickness was it? Looks like 6mm?
You are right
@@thunderlaser.official just wanted to say a huge thanks for the video too. Turned out my problem was far too much air assist. I’m getting beautiful cuts now.
@@MrBrettStar You are welcome
PARAMETERS?
Can your recommend a laser for cutting like that? (I don't mind affiliate links as long as they work). Thanks in advance!
Which machine model is this one?
Can you do it with the 60 watt 24 inch model?
this make by Nova35 80w. Nova24 60w also no problem.
@@thunderlaser.official would you use the same settings for Nova24 60Watt or adjust a bit?
Just like BBQ! Low and slow!
If you got $10,000+ to spend on a laser
weak*