Using your laser as a line bender

[SimonMallas]

I was asked at a show if you could bend perspex with a laser? Not being one to shy away from a challenge, I quickly knock up a tall pin bed (which wasn't really needed!), placed the owl on it and set it out of focus. The results where really good, even though Id used too much power. Please follow the link below to see results.
Cheers Simon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e--ifPal ... e=youtu.be

[Daven]

I've seen that done before where the table was defocused quite a bit and it produced quite a good finish. Wonder how long a bend you can get up to?

Cheers

Dave

[Spooky]

Try using short lines Si instead of a continuous line...bit like a stitch effect.

best wishes

Dave

[SimonMallas]

Hi Dave,
Ya, it'll be interesting to see what kind of length you could do. It needs a bit of playing with to get the right FL and Power settings. This was set to "engrave" speed 400, power 40, scan gap 0.01 and FL of about 120mm. The power was too high and it cut a V groove, which worked really well giving a tight corner.

Cheers Simon

[PhillyDee]

Cool, I have a line bender I got cheap from eBay though .

I wish I had a better one, as I ad to modify this one to add stops. Not great since I don't have a mill yet.

[richardofswansea]

That's a great idea, I can see uses for that.

These people have used a similar technique to achieve some spectacular effects. Needs an automated Z axis:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arjRtCjI ... =endscreen

Richard