Cutting multiple sheets of plywood

[JRHartly]

Hello,

I finally purchased a used 3020Pro a few months back, my first laser, very happy with HPC.

However, the time has come to upgrade to a bigger bed, and I have the LS 1290 PRO in mind. My question is can this machine cut multiple pieces of plywood in one pass? I use 3mm birch and was wondering if I stack 4 of these (so a total stack of 12mm of plywood) would it cut with the 80watt laser tube option?

Thanks

JR

[Tom]

Hi JR
I'd only cut one at a time
if you stack all the gunk will go onto the sheet below and make a mess
12mm birch would be a bit much for the laser to cut


Tom

[JRHartly]

Hello Tom,

Thanks for the reply. If I were to use a 150 watt laser and applied masking tape to the back and front of each sheet would that mitigate the "gunk"?

[Tom]

That i don't know
Have you tried it on your 3020 with masking tape and a couple of sheets

Masking tape would be a pain to take off on small parts

[Daven]

Getting it to lay completely flat with no gaps between the sheets would be nearly impossible.

The speed of a 150w laser cutting 1 sheet of 3mm well compared to cleaning 4 sheets worth is easier I would guess even if it was possible .

The other aspect to think of is the kerf - the top parts are going to be bigger than the bottom which may be an issue if the accuracy of the parts are important.

Best
Dave

[Spooky]

It won't work JR, the outgassing between the sheets will cause problems, (the gas liberated is flamable)

The inverse square law usually applies, if you double the thickness you don't double the time to cut, it's nearer 3x longer. I've tried multiple sheet on a 1290 with a 180 watt tube and it doesn't end well

Only way to do it would be to glue the sheets together first but that would negate the point of cutting multiple sheets.

At 3mm you get a golden brown edge, at 6mm very dark brown, at 9mm black and charred (unless you use HPC LitePlys)

nice idea, sadly won't work though

cheers

Dave

[JRHartly]

Thank you for the advice guys.

[Chris]

i have had this thought before but with 1mm mount board. doesnt work lol. but i like your productive thinking!

[keithwright]

Hi

As you have to slow the machine down to cut multiply sheets or us very high power you might not save much time.