Noobie help required! Hi,

CAD & CAM Tool Chain LaserWeb/CNCWeb
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Noobie help required!

Hi, just got a little 500mw blue diode laser which I attach to my cr20 3D printer, it works fine but I would like to know what are the best practices for cutting things and what kind of things I could cut with this little laser? Having spent £38 on it I’m now aware that it seems to be a little underpowered to do a lot of engraving and cutting.

For cutting, is it better to make several passes at a high speed or one very slow low pass? What gives neatest cut? Is there a risk when you cut very slowly that the paper / wood might catch fire?

Finally one last question, when I engraved something on birch plywood my little boy got hold of it and immediately smudged the picture because of the carbon, what do you do to avoid that? Is that because my burn rate was too slow?

Many thanks for helping a noobie!

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Jester 500mw is indeed very weak. Usually replicating other experience is very difficult and only by testing yourself you will get the answer. What’s very important for cutting is always change the depth as you need multiple passes to cut.
Never leave the laser unattended and to prevent overburn put some masking tape on top

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Thanks for the tips!