Thicker materials are a PITA. Should I buy that 50mm lens?

[Chris]

In regard to this lens: http://hpclaser.co.uk/index.php?main_pa ... ucts_id=12

does this mean i can cut materials upto 50mm thick or am i totally misunderstanding what the 50mm means?

[Chris]

Doing some more Reading and a shorter focal length means more precise but can't cut as thick?

[Lightnin]

way off ... sorry

50mm is the focal length (distance from lens to material to be cut), not the thickness it will cut.

would be nice ! lol

There will be a sweet spot depending on machine and what you are cutting.
50-63.5mm is quite common as an average for consistent results

[Chris]

Yeah my reading after I posted that lead me to that conclusion but i thought id leave the question up for other people who might think the same.

Really struggling with 5mm mdf. Took me about 3 passes on full power speed 10 to cut, and even then it wasn't fully cut in all places

[Daven]

What MDF? And what machine/tube you using?

[Chris]

i didnt know that there were types of mdf? i got it from b&q...
35w laser ls3020

[Daven]

Yeah the best to use is Laser quality (sometimes called Medite who is a manufacture of MDF).

On a 35w 5mm is about the max but you need to up the air assist and try not to do it in multiple passes (the carbon from the previous cut masks the 2nd etc.) The edge would not be as clean as a higher power machine either

Best
Dave

[Tom]

Hi Chris
It could be any MDF from B&Q one week it will cut the next it will just charr up

Tom

[Chris]

im not going to beat myself up too much about it - i just had a request for some thicker items - i dont normally cut that thick.
good point about the carbon though ill keep that in mind for future reference.

cheers for the info guys ill make sure i try and find a better supplier of mdf if i need in the future