Hi guys, I just bought and set up a K40 laser cutter from eBay.

Lasers
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1

Hi guys, I just bought and set up a K40 laser cutter from eBay. I’m sure I have it properly set up, the water is being circulated properly, and I’ve even added an air assist nozzle. However, at full power and a speed of 40mm/s, it still takes two full passes to cut through 3mm plywood. Is this normal?

2

Sounds reasonable enough …

Cutting is varied with

Product type
Height focus
Speed
Alignment
Tube life

Also look to get an even spread with alignment over the 300x210mm as it’s annoying to have some bits cut and some not .

YouTube to find alignment and ramp tests .

Joe

3

40 mm/s is way too fast for cutting 3mm plywood with a K40. You need to be more around 10 mm/s.

4

Also avoid running at full power as much as possible as it shortens the tube life. The power out put of these machines isn’t linear and the data indicates that the power output starts flattening out after 50%. So it’s recommend to try keeping max to 50% or less as much as possible.

5

Thanks guys, that’s good info.