Hey guys! I am new to laser cutting. I know there are cutters like jets, or electrical ones. I want to build a laser cutter to cut wood that is 1-10mm thick. Can you suggest what lasers i can use, how powerfull they have to be and is there a difference to cutting wood or plastic pieces? Also are there some complete laser heads that i can buy, or do i have to build one on my own?
There are two basic types of lasers, Diode and CO2. (There are others but they are not used very much by the diy'ers). To cut wood you will need a CO2 laser and these are expensive and not something that you would normally build from scratch. Diode lasers are less expensive and are great for cutting paper and card stock as well as etching wood. These can be purchased for a few hundred dollars and are what most diy'ers start out with. There are several places where you can purchase the complete diode laser head assembly in various levels of power. Don.
Hello, to cut non-metal objects like plywood or acrylic you will need to setup a Co2 laser cutter / engraver machine within the 80w power range if you really need to cut 10mm thick material, if 6mm satisfy your needs maybe a lower power laser tube will do the job just fine, there is minimal differences cutting wood or acrylic, one is the power/speed mix and if air will be need it to prevent a spark flame situation, several other things like controller, water temperature control, "co2 laser tubes need water flowing inside of them" Air flow etc. take a look on this build K40 Cube Laser Cutter
