Setting to Cut Foam-Core Poster board? 1600mw laser

[golden]

Has anybody used the 1600mw laser to cut foam-core poster board? Brand new to this and not even sure how to experiment …

[xchrisd]

If you search for “cut foam” there will be many hits.
Have a look at this for safety:

Snapmaker 2 cutting with laser

Make sure you’re not trying to cut these materials that should never be laser cut. [image] Depron and some other foams are safe. However The assumption made in that document is that the laser being operated is physically capable of interacting with the material being cut. The diode laser wavelength being used on the snapmaker does not strongly interact with all types of foam.

[golden]

Thank you; I’ve done multiple searches and none of them answer the actual question: what settings? X passes at Y mm/min, Z% power. I understand concerns about fumes and have good ventilation…

[xchrisd]

Laser work is a lot of trail and error.

I would start with 100% power and 100mm/min with the 1.6W Laser.
A bit equivalent to the 40W, 45% at 900mm/min:

Cutting foam with the Laser

Hi I am trying today cutting PE foam with the 40W laser modul. After some tries I figured out the key numbers to get a could cut without losing dimensions due to too much heat. Speed 900 mm/min and power 45% will cut PE foam thickness 20mm. I bought the foam at Lasersheets.de PE hard foam 20mm [image] [image]

Unfortunately you did not share the product but you have to try it yourself anyway.

I suggest to use a laser filter to get rid of harmful things.

[golden]

Thanks, I’ll just grab a scrap and play around. It’s not foam, it’s foam-core poster board–heavy paper, foam, then another sheet of heavy paper.

[golden]

Just thought I’d report back–no joy. I varied the speeds and #passes (up to 15). All it did was cut through the cardstock surface and then about 1/16" into the foam regardless of settings.

[xchrisd]

Did you try a stepdown depth?

[insomniac_designer]

So I did some quick tests on my machine with the 1.6w laser. I used 5.4mm (.21in) thick foamboard with black cardstock on the top and bottom. I had zero issues with cutting.

Below are some photos of my tests. I tested at 75mm per minute at 100% power and two passes as well as 120mm per minute at 60% power and one pass. Both settings cut all the way through, in fact 100% power with two passes was complete overkill. The test with 60% power at one pass running at 120mm per minute gave cleaner results as the foam melted less.

100% power 2 passes (left), 60% power 1 pass (right)

As to why you’re having issues I can’t be sure. The white cardstock on your foamboard shouldn’t be a problem as a I regularly cut through white photo paper and cardstock on my machine. Assuming nothing is wrong with your laser and firmware is up to date, the only thing that comes to mind is that the 1.6w laser doesn’t do particularly well with your specific foamboard type but is fine with others. Try to use another brand of foamboard and see if it helps.