Cutting 3" foam with CO2 laser

[Tech_Marco]

I received a request from a potential customer in Canada who wanted to know how good it would be by cutting thick(3") packing foam with laser. The foam is normal foam one can purchase on HomeDepot. The difference is that it is much thicker - 3". Plus, there is a layer of foil and we know that foil is made of aluminum that CO2 has less effect on it. Moreover, he want to cut it at speed of 100mm/s

After read through his email, the first thing that came to my mind was "longer focus lens" should be considered. Two things I was concerned the most: 1) the foil , 2) the high speed cutting

I asked the customer to send me some samples to try. You know what, instead of small package like those USPS Priority Mail box, he send me a big box sample of foam! The box is about 2.5ft x 3ft x 1.5ft. WoW, it must cost them a bit because it is from Canada!

Ok, I opened it and untied the foams. Yes, I did see some foam board with a layer of thin foil. But some thing surprised me a lot. Two of boad came with very thick aluminum board. I guess it is about 1mm ~ 1.5mm thick! Oh my goodness, how could a CO2 laser can handle it. The answer is "No!" Only fiber can handle 1mm or thicker aluminum.

Long story shorted, I did some tests on last Saturday. Guess what, with 80W power and a brand new 100mm focus lens, i could cut through the 3" foam with 30mm/s and the result wasn't looking good.

Will posted some images tomorrow. Plus, I'll try new technique to show you guys 'how to...'
Stay tuned


Marco

[Tech_Marco]

Update:

I found that the air pressure applied to the laser head played a big role on the outcome.
With lower air pressure like 5~10psi, it was easier to cut through the 3" foam . Well, everything has it's Pro and Cons. The draw back was that the cut has more slide or inclination than the sample cut with higher psi.

See pictures (left is 10psi, right is 40psi)

The good thing of having higher air pressure was more even cut. The draw back was that it didn't cut through the foam at the same speed and the same power.

Will continues more testing on a 130W laser tube on next week.

Have a nice weekend!

Marco