I did some cutting tests with aircraft plywood from local supplier and with some solid pine. Results are little bit puzzling. I hope someone could give me some tips.
My K40 is pretty much stock. I replaced table with something that is more correct level and I also added (really underpowered) air assist. I ran few 20mm lines and sawed material at mid point to see how deep laser really cuts with each power level.
For some reason after 20% there is very little change with cutting depth. Any ideas why this is happening and how to improve results? More powerful air assist help to push burn residues out?
I did these tests because this plywood seems to be really difficult to cut and i assume it has something to do with glue used between layers.
Hi Jansa, I had a similar result when I was cutting cast acrylic, anything over 30% either was the same depth or less up to 80%. I was cutting through 3 mm acrylic at 80% (15mA) @ 5 mm/s and then a few days later it couldn’t do it even after three passes. I found that my back mirror in the tube had burnt. If you have a milli-amp meter make sure you are not going over 15mA.
Also, your focus doesn’t look right.
Be aware that the potentiometer % values are completely off! Most machines reach the maximum recommended tube current (15-18mA) at max. 40-50% setting. If you use it with more power, the tube will degrade very quickly.