Endurance Laser 8W CNC Tests Video 1

This is the second follow up video covering various tests I ran using the Endurance 8Watt Laser I adapted and installed on my Home Made CNC Router. In this video I cover things like cutting Acrylic, Wood, etc plus marking and engraving Wood, Stainless Steel, Anodized Aluminium etc. I hope you find this video informative.
PLEASE NOTE: In my video I refer to one of the materials as Vinyl, in fact it is not it was Acetal or also known as Delrin (POM). Under no circumstances should you cut Vinyl such as old Vinyl Records. Cutting Vinyl gives of chlorine gas that can be very dangerous, this gas also corrodes metals such as your machine parts. A Viewer provided the following excellent link to what materials you can and especially should not cut with a laser.
This is a great resource about what not to cut, etc. www.atxhackersp...

[@brew0498]

Thanks for the GREAT video, very informative and detailed!

[@jamesharmer7686]

100mm per minute? Could I ask what software you were using because I use lightburn and it is measured in mm per second. It could be the reason why I have been getting poor cutting with the same laser as you. I have been cutting in 20 passes, I thought there was something wrong with my setup.
Regards the laser not going right through to the back, what did you have underneath? Was there a space between your waste board and the bottom surface of the balsa wood? I found if I had an air gap, it cuts through alot easier. Air gets in and helps the material burn I guess. Also I think if you have your material on a waste board, the coolness of the waste board cools the material and stops it burning well.
Great video thanks you have given me a new insight to where I have been going wrong.

[@hamrx8]

Hi. First I use Vectric Aspire software and MACH3 to drive my CNC Router. I have an aluminium plate that sits on top of my routers spoil board and space the work piece off that surface with spacers that are usually 3mm strips of aluminium positioned at points that the laser will not be touching. Also using air assist when cutting wood is of great help. This provides a cleaner burn and clears the smoke away from fogging the laser beam path to the work piece. Also if you are cutting 3 ply or any ply wood get a type that is specified suitable for laser cutting. With may types you purchase from your local store the problem is the type of glue that is used bonding the layers of wood that makes it very hard for the laser to cut through. A common issue many people have. To find the best materials for laser work find a supplier of commercial laser machines as they often also sell appropriate materials such as laserable ply etc.

[@TubeDaLube]

Great video,thank you 👍

[@ayesha199]

Great Video, thanks for sharing! Did you use air assist and adjust z-axis height whilst you were cutting?

[@hamrx8]

Thanks. No Air Assist. I don't have that yet. I always reset the Z-Axis height to the material surface for each test but never re adjusted it during the cut. I tried that once on the 6mm acrylic after a couple of passed setting Z lower by 2mm and it made no difference on that occasion. I didn't peruse that approach any further, probably because I will probably never want to cut through 6mm. That's more for conventional routing. Cheers