Max cutting thickness

[Axeman]

Got a question for you folks who have the higher end lasers (100+ W) setups.

Is it possible to cut a 3 inch thick piece of foam? I'm wondering what kind of lens you'd need to accomplish this. Does airflow and angle of cut really start to cause issues at that point? I only have a 40W with limited space on the bed so I can't experiment very far with this.

I'd love to know if any of you have experience with this. It's EPS foam by the way, the type you insulate with. "Styrofoam" is what it's commonly called, the fluffy white stuff, not the hard blue stuff.

[Techgraphix]

Although styrofoam does melt much further than you want, it is possible BUT you need a lens with a real big focaldistance to cut 3 inches thick..
I doubt if your machine has enough Z-height to place 3" foam and a ~8 inch lens....
And besides that, i won't recomandize to cut materials like Styrofoam, not even the 2mm PolyMethymethacryl (PMMA) or PolyCarbonate (PC) which do react the same..
So i would say: cut it with a hotwire instead, You will get much smoother cuts too..

Kees

[Tech_Marco]

Yes it will work. I saw an sample of 5" soft foam well cut by a laser. I believed that it was doing by a 152mm focus lens
For 3", you may try my new 127.4mm focus lens (will be posted soon)

But make sure you have good exhaust system because the smoke is terrible and it is poison.


Marco