Anyone have material test results done using 40 W laser
Any idea whether the basswood plywood numbers would be good for birch plywood? Birch is much less expensive in the States than basswood.
Sorry for not being clear, I meant self tests on other material.
Example I did my test on MDF 4mm for cutting aiming to find lower laser powers to avoid black markings.
Best was 500 @ 70% power.
No problem, I thought so.
But the link got some clicks, so it is in the right place.
I do cutting and engraving tests on every new material (but have no 20/40w laser yet).
Cutting:
Engraving:
There are a few other “snapmaker laser test” available on thingiverse, check it out .
Attention about the power level, maybe adjust it and post a remix.
Basswood is a nice consistent grained wood that is easy to work with and considered ‘soft’. Birch is ‘fairly’ consistent but is a hardwood; but lots softer than oak or walnut. Every piece of plywood I’ve tried all behave slightly differently for cutting. Engraving is a little more consistent between them. I’m running the 20w laser. A lot of the problems come from the number of layers and the glues used. You can start with the basswood settings by thickness, but you might need to test each different plywood to get the best cut without excessive charring. I made up a simple test model, consisting of a vertical and horizontal line with varying speed and power settings to test with. There are differences between with grain and across grain also, even with plywood!
I don’t think there’s any setting for MDF where you SK t get charring. The Snapmaker MDF seems to be the worst example material. I’ve tried with all sorts of settings with/out air assist. Nothing helps.