forum.cncdrive.com

by **3d0g** » Sun Aug 11, 2019 2:19 am

Sub-surface Laser Engraving won't work with CO2 lasers as acrylic is totally opaque at 10.6 μm. The machines that can do it use 530nm pulsed lasers with servo controlled focus for the depth. They typically run around $20K or more.

Frequency is something to keep in mind when building your own engraver too. There's dirt-cheap solid state lasers up to like 10W on eBay. While they'll work great for wood, they're useless on acrylic and glass as the 400-500nm beam passes right through. CO2 really is the workhorse because its infrared beam is compatible with so many materials and you get a lot of power for the $$$. Think my last 80W tube cost me $320 shipped from China.

by **Tweakie.CNC** » Sun Aug 11, 2019 5:26 am

Vmax549 wrote:Have any of you guys tried internal 3d engraving in acrylic . I always thought that those were the coolest things.

(;-) TP

@TP I think it requires a pretty sophisticated laser (two laser beams and collision path) and not something that could be done with the wavelength of a CO2 laser but yes they are certainly cool.

@3d0g Very nice illuminated sign - I am certainly extremely impressed with the performance of UCCNC and the Laser Engrave plugin.

Tweakie.

by **Tweakie.CNC** » Sun Aug 11, 2019 11:12 am

One more on cardboard (150mm x 120mm).

Tweakie.

by **cncdrive** » Wed Aug 14, 2019 3:22 am

The pictures look good, and good to hear that you are happy with the UCCNC...

by **Tweakie.CNC** » Thu Aug 15, 2019 11:21 am

About 5 years ago I developed a method for laser creating the etching mask for the (simple) prototype, surface mount, printed circuit boards which I make. The process involves laser fusing toner directly onto the surface of the copper clad board and then etching away the exposed copper in the normal way. The big advantage, to me, is that the necessary ‘solder paste mask’ can be laser produced from the same artwork and it speeds up the overall prototype process.

I have always used a Mach3 raster process and currently this cannot be done with Mach4 so I was delighted to discover that the UCCNC Laser Engraving plugin does the job perfectly and I attach a picture of the result.

Tweakie.