Awesome video. So much to remember. And those that say "oh it's just a laser...how hard can it be? Why do you charge what you do??" Well, they just don't know .
Thanks Steve, I was just trying to work out some veneer inlays. 8 separate pieces of veneer into one inlayed cut-out. As my trial was not to my satisfaction, now I no why you have just saved me a load of work. Cheers Ian
I have talked about kerf in a lot of my videos. But I had not shown exactly where to enter the value in Lightburn. I was receiving that question a lot in the last couple of weeks. So, I made this short video to cover the basics on kerf and Lightburn.
I basically understood kerf but when you used the carpenter cutting the piece of wood on the line examples, that really hit home for me. Why did you only reference diode lasers? I have a CO2.
@HoboWithWood Thanks. Another question, on one of your videos, you referenced not caring for the XTool. What small portable laser (that will engrave wood and metal) do you recommend?
No need to. If you could, it would only have a positive outcome when cutting straight lines, like cutting a box with tabs. You can get the same result by turning your design so that all the lines are cut at 45 degree angle. No straight lines. ruclips.net/video/4tjwCeIa1rs/видео.html
You can't put 10lbs of crap in a 5lb bag. But if you need the 10lbs, you get a bigger bag. If a smaller box is out of the question to get a "perfect" kerf, then you get a larger piece of material.
Was thinking about this subject this morning. What if you bought a file from testy, let's save the Lord's prayer wood cross. You have no idea on what laser it was designed for. Maybe it was a 30w diode and you just bought a new 70w diode. What do you do now because I would think that you would have a real mess on your hands?
The design should not have any kerf from a previous designer. You set the kerf in you layers settings. Should you open a Lightburn file and go to the laser settings and see it already has a kerf value in it. Ignore it. Delete it. Set your kerf settings. The kerf settings have nothing to do with the actual design. It simply tells the laser module where to travel in relation to the design.
Kerf is important when cutting finger joints or tabs and slots. In cutting the individual letters out of the cross kerf does not matter. Where it would matter would be in the tabs along the bottom having to fit into the slots in the base. If you want a tight friction fit, then you have to worry about kerf. As a woodworker I want a little space between the pieces for a place for the glue. Each brand and type of laser has a different kerf. So, you need to test the kerf for each type of material and for each power setting. CO2 lasers have a round kerf where diode lasers are rectangular. Which means that the kerf for a vertical cut is different than the kerf for a horizontal cut on a diode laser.
Awesome video. So much to remember. And those that say "oh it's just a laser...how hard can it be? Why do you charge what you do??" Well, they just don't know .
Great job explaining kerf. Those of us that do woodworking already understand. It took me a while to realize that kerf applies to lasers too.
Thanks Steve, I was just trying to work out some veneer inlays. 8 separate pieces of veneer into one inlayed cut-out. As my trial was not to my satisfaction, now I no why you have just saved me a load of work. Cheers Ian
Glad it helped.
It never hurts to remind us. thanks
I have talked about kerf in a lot of my videos. But I had not shown exactly where to enter the value in Lightburn. I was receiving that question a lot in the last couple of weeks. So, I made this short video to cover the basics on kerf and Lightburn.
I basically understood kerf but when you used the carpenter cutting the piece of wood on the line examples, that really hit home for me. Why did you only reference diode lasers? I have a CO2.
The shape of the spot is different between a C02 & a diode.
@HoboWithWood Thanks. Another question, on one of your videos, you referenced not caring for the XTool. What small portable laser (that will engrave wood and metal) do you recommend?
For a diode laser, I always wondered why LightBurn does not provide a space to enter the horizonal kerf and a place for the vertical kerf.
No need to. If you could, it would only have a positive outcome when cutting straight lines, like cutting a box with tabs. You can get the same result by turning your design so that all the lines are cut at 45 degree angle. No straight lines. ruclips.net/video/4tjwCeIa1rs/видео.html
@@HoboWithWood if you have 12x12 wood and a 11x11 box rotating it 45-degrees will not work.
You can't put 10lbs of crap in a 5lb bag. But if you need the 10lbs, you get a bigger bag. If a smaller box is out of the question to get a "perfect" kerf, then you get a larger piece of material.
Was thinking about this subject this morning. What if you bought a file from testy, let's save the Lord's prayer wood cross. You have no idea on what laser it was designed for.
Maybe it was a 30w diode and you just bought a new 70w diode. What do you do now because I would think that you would have a real mess on your hands?
The design should not have any kerf from a previous designer. You set the kerf in you layers settings. Should you open a Lightburn file and go to the laser settings and see it already has a kerf value in it. Ignore it. Delete it. Set your kerf settings. The kerf settings have nothing to do with the actual design. It simply tells the laser module where to travel in relation to the design.
Kerf is important when cutting finger joints or tabs and slots. In cutting the individual letters out of the cross kerf does not matter. Where it would matter would be in the tabs along the bottom having to fit into the slots in the base. If you want a tight friction fit, then you have to worry about kerf. As a woodworker I want a little space between the pieces for a place for the glue.
Each brand and type of laser has a different kerf. So, you need to test the kerf for each type of material and for each power setting. CO2 lasers have a round kerf where diode lasers are rectangular. Which means that the kerf for a vertical cut is different than the kerf for a horizontal cut on a diode laser.