I was experimenting today with cutting painted mdf.

I was experimenting today with cutting painted mdf. What I found out is that it takes much more power to cut through 6mm painted mdf than plain 6 mm mdf. My guess as to why would be the reflective nature of the hammered copper color pait I used. On plain mdf my 60W laser can cut through in 1 pass at 10mm/s On the painted it took 2 passes at 10mm/s. So the next piece I ran the first pass at 30mm/s which cut through the paint layer, then I ran the 2nd pass at 10mm/s and it cut through. All cuts were at 90% power.

If your paint is only on one side, you could also try to turn the painted side downwards (to prohibit reflection).

Thanks Claudio, I will try that today.