Cutting such material too slowly causes the wood to be obscured by this deposit, which slows down the cutting even more, and the wood near laser's operating area becomes hot and dark. When processing, a carbon-like deposit is created that is black and brittle. The hardness of the wood, and - in case of plywood - adhesives make such materials less than a perfect choice for cutting with LED lasers. Other types of material are solid wood, and hard plywood, for example, used in the construction of window frames. Similar guidelines apply to aviation plywood. Some variants of balsa are cheaper but may contain splinters of harder wood that are more difficult to cut with a CNC laser. When selecting material suitable for laser cutting or engraving, you should check its uniformity. Laser cutting these materials is least problematic, and the process is highly repeatable, since the wood has no knags, and has a foam-like, homogenous structure. Plywood is made of two layers of slightly harder wood, and a filler - usually balsa. Materials that are easiest to cut with a laser are balsa and aviation plywood.
Properties of the Material Influence Wood Laser Engraving and Cutting OutcomeĬutting and engraving wood using a CNC laser depends on the type of wood, its hardness, as well as other parameters like humidity, or texture. PLH3D-15W has the same beam spot size as the PLH3D-6W-XF+ with the uSpot Lens Upgrade, but three times as high power density.įor laser cutting wood and wood-based materials, choose the laser head with the highest available power. It is a three-laser-diodes laser head that uses precision-grade lenses and has the highest optical power density. This is a massive difference, especially in terms of engraving time, while the larger pixel size (and lower resolution) will be noticeable only from a distance closer than 1-2 meters.ġ5 W laser head is our flagship product. The effective resolution is 600圆00 pixels (360 thousand points in total) while working with 0.1 mm pixel would result in a 9kk pixel image (3000x3000). For example, it can quickly produce a 30x30 cm image built from half-millimeter pixels. Also, less powerful CNC laser needs more time to complete engraving, because high-resolution images are made of a larger number of thinner lines, and enlarging the spot size (pixel) means a slower movement of the head.Ħ W laser head is less precise, but in exchange enables faster operation thanks to larger pixel size. However, such a level of precision requires a machine that is not only very accurate but also has rigidity suitable for operating speeds that guarantee high repeatability of the trace after the head changes its direction of movement. 2 W laser can work with a size of the spot of light as small as 0.1 mm, which enables wood engraving of very small details.
The more expensive 6-watt laser can engrave images with large pixels, and can be used where 2-watt version cannot, like cutting hard leather, or marking stainless steel or titanium. Less powerful, 2 W laser is not only cheaper but also allows for more precision laser engraving on wood. When buying a blue laser for cutting and engraving on wood, you often need to decide about its power. Before you Start Laser Engraving and Cutting WoodĬhoosing the power of the CNC Engraving Laser - 2 W, 6 W or 15 W?