Report

On the Endurance Laser Engraving Test № Е-С-1 Made on Various Materials in a «Sapphire»

Laboratory on 13.05.2015

1. Design of the Laser plotter:

• The frame of the plotter is made of metal construction set units. Electronics is connected separately and is not included into the plotter box.
• Tec specs and description of the plotter:
• • – Number of axes                     – double axial plotter;
  • – Operational field                  – “X”=450mm, “Y”=550mm.
  • – Plotter size                            – 500mm x 500mm x 600mm
  • – Axis “X” drive – screw
  • – Axis “Y” drive – screw
  • Working accuracy                     – 0,5mm
• A laser head block with a powerful blue laser diode is used as an engraving tool.
  • Power 12V.
  • Specter: blue and dark blue.
  • Capacity up to 2Wt
• A special controller connected via USB to a PC for downloading into the program controller for different modes of laser engraving is used. The controller software is in Russian. It is possible to change engraving program parameters without PC connection.

2. Beam focus adjustment. For security reasons goggles with red-orange glasses were used. Beam focus adjustment was done by laser lens rotation. We found the lens position at a very low power (2-3%), when the brightness of the observed beam unexpectedly and sharply increases. (Focusing by means of focal length evaluation in a smoke-logged air was not performed.) The optimal focal length for engraving is 150 mm.

3. Materials used for engraving.

• Cardboard (thick paper).
• Thick cardboard.
• Board
• Wood strip.
• Laminate.
• Acryl.
• Leather (of cattle).
• Unpainted mat metal.
• Painted metal.

4. Results.

Burning through time:

Engraving time of a drawing 10х10 cm with density of ~70% (Micky Mouse’s head on a video):

5. Conclusion.

• Laser cutter. The tested laser can cut wood up to 5 mm thick.
• Laser engraving. The laser is good enough to engrave various materials of wooden origin. It can also engrave plastic, such as acryl, polystyrene, PVC, Plexiglas.

We used makeBlock 3d www.makeblock.cc