Questions before buying a LS3020

[unravelled]

I've pretty much convinced myself to buy a 3020, but I'd like to know a little more about what it can do. Apologies if I've missed the information somwhere, I have looked, honest. I see a lot of references to using acrylic, but what sort of thickness can it cut? I primarily want to use the cutter for modelmaking, so would it be suitable for Styrene (Plasticard) & PETG Clear Glazing Sheet?
Finally, what about CDs? I was wondering about the possibilities of cutting these with a LS3020 for a project. I can imagine the aluminium layer in real cds might be an issue, but I believe some writeable/rewriteables may not have this layer. Has anybody tried, if not, is it likely to be harmful to themachine.

Looking forward to buying and contributing

Thanks

Dave

[Daven]

This is fastly becoming a Dave club!

I was told 4mm was the thickness the 3020 would cut and it certainly does with laser ply wood! I have not used plastic so not sure about the hazards of Styrene (Plasticard) & PETG Clear Glazing Sheet but I did read that CD's give off hazardous fumes so without very good extraction I would avoid!

There is a good guide here

In fact it says polycarbonate IS hazardous and I think CD's are made from polycarbonate!

Dave

[unravelled]

A useful link, now printed for later reference. It should cut all I really want, the CD idea was an afterthought. Now I need to think of something else to do with all the old cds.

Thanks

Dave

[Spooky]

Another Dave

Heya my friend, as Dave N says CD's can be cut but the fumes aren't very nice. Not overly harmful but the smell is aweful The frequency of laser radiation isn't reflected by mirrors so you can indeed cut Acrylic mirrors from the shiny side without problems.

Styrenes can be cut but are often low quality material and tend to *gloop* at the cut edge, extruded Acrylic can be used instead and is well suited to the model of laser you are looking at buying

PETG again can be cut but costs a LOT more than cast or extruded acrylic so isn't very good economy (unless your in the glazing business)

best wishes

Dave

[unravelled]

I can see a lot of experimentation ahead. The reason I was asking about styrene and PETG is that they are the materials I would traditionally have used. As the laser cutting opens up a variety of choices which probably weren't ideal for hand crafting, I see there's a lot to learn. It's going to be fun, I hope.

One other material I was thinking of using is foam board. As a paper and polystyrene sandwich I guess it should be OK, but are there likely to be any problems?

Thanks

Dave

[Spooky]

Foam board as in mount board?

Only problem I have encountered with that is the power required to burn through the card layer is too high for the foam layer and causes it to shrink

Also always ensure that the foam is NOT PVC foam, PVC / Poly Vynal Chloride gives off chlorine gas when exposed to laser radiation. This will destroy your machine and kill you in pretty short order.

Lasers are fun and what you say about a learning curve is very true

best wishes

Dave