Laser-Cut Wood Tips – Bright Bear Laser Works (2024)

FAQs

What watt laser do you need to cut wood? ›

For hobby and professional use, you'll be looking within the range of 30 to 120 W. Any wattage power will be able to mark, engrave, or cut wood. Choosing a higher power wattage simply means that the machine can cut thicker or denser wood faster.

Balsa wood is a material that is ideally suited to processing with laser. The laser beam makes it possible to cut and engrave extremely filigree details in the material in one work step. Due to its very low density, this wood can be cut quickly and chiplessly with a very low laser power of 30 to 100 Watts.

CO2 lasers are great for working on wood because you can vary the power settings, and they have quite a few capabilities that can make cutting wood pleasant and easy. It's important to note that you'll get an edge burn when you put a laser to wood.

Thickness: Generally, a 40W to 45W CO2 laser like the Muse Core or 3D autofocus can cut up to ¼ “ thick wood, while a laser such as the P-Series PS24 or Muse Titan with a 90W Tube can cut up to ½” thick wood.

60W Laser. You can typically cut up to 8mm acrylic, up to 8mm soft woods using a 60w laser.

The 20W diode laser cuts wood pieces quickly, saving you a lot of time. It improves working efficiency.

Your project should be finish sanded and sealed before laser engraving. Sealing is necessary to prevent smoke staining of the wood, unless this is an effect you desire. After engraving, you may LIGHTLY sand the surface and then apply your final finish coats which will also seal the engraving.

Includes the new 7W PRO laser with integrated optics to have the best power density of all diode lasers. Engrave on wood, leather, acrylics, and many other materials! Cut thin and non dense woods like Balsa, Basswood, and thin plywood! Cut many types other materials like foam and acrylics!

ELI NP hosts the most powerful laser in the world with a power of 10 PW.

Polycarbonate is a poor choice for laser cutting. ABS Emits cyanide gas and tends to melt ABS does not cut well in a laser cutter. It tends to melt rather than vaporize, and has a higher chance of catching on fire and leaving behind melted gooey deposits on the vector cutting grid.

What Cannot be cut by laser? ›

Materials you should not process with a laser

Leather and artificial leather that contains chromium (VI) Carbon fibers (Carbon) Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) Polyvinyl butyrale (PVB)

Highest Class Laser Tube

The 100W laser tube can cut plywood as thick as 20mm and create high-resolution engravings.

A 4,000-watt laser can process up to 1.0-inch-thick carbon steel, and a 6,000-watt laser can process 1-5/8-inch-thick carbon steel. Oxygen always is used to process plate in this material thickness range.

Excellent for small-batch manufacturing (18" x 32" cut area), the Universal 150W is simple to use and can cut or engrave the following materials: wood (up to 1/2" thick) metal (marking only) acrylic (up to 1/2" thick)

First Three-Laser-Diode Engraving Laser Head

Boasting a real 15 W of optical power as well as a novel design, this compact laser head can process a wide range of wood-based materials, leather, textiles and plastics, summarized in the Blue CNC Laser Applications section below.

PLH3D-15W can cut or engrave wood; leather; textiles; plastics; and stainless, tool and carbon varieties of steel. Opt Lasers plans to develop 20-W and 30-W compact laser heads.

A 10 watt and 10 watt+ laser can easily cut wood, plywood and dark acrylic, up to 1/3'' thick with a few passes, but with white acrylic or plastic it might be a problem since the 445 nm wavelength beam will be more likely reflected from the acrylic surface and will be unable to cut at all.

Balsa wood has relatively low compressive strength and bending strength than many other kinds of wood. Because of its poor strength, it cannot be used for furniture, flooring, or large woodworking projects but is excellent for sculpting because of its workability.

Balsa wood is the "miracle material" of the hobby world. It has the best strength-to-weight ratio of any other readily available material. Not only is it known for its high strength and low density, it can be easily shaped, sanded, glued, and painted.

What Cricut blade Do I need to cut balsa wood? ›

Which Cricut Machines Cut Balsa Wood? The Cricut Maker cuts balsa wood quite well, and it's by far the fastest of the Knife Blade materials that I've cut. Some users have also successfully cut balsa wood using the Cricut Explore and the Deep Cut Blade. For the Explore, there is no setting for cutting balsa wood.

In fact, balsa wood is often considered the strongest wood for its weight in the world. Pound for pound it is stronger in some respects than pine, hickory, or even oak.

Gorilla Glue

The glue foams while it dries and penetrates the balsa wood to create a better and stronger hold than average glues. This glue has a unique quality of using water to dry instead of an absence of water like other glues.

The main difference between basswood and balsa is that basswood offers a little more durability and is less prone to warping. Basswood also has tinier wood pores. Therefore, it doesn't absorb moisture as readily as balsa. This property allows basswood to retain its shape and density better than balsa.

A slower scanning speed means that the laser beam remains longer over the same area. This increases the amount of energy in that area, allowing you to engrave deeper and faster.

Antiquing: This paint-like process is very simple yet effective if you want to just touch up your engraving and make it a bit darker in order for it to stand out. The jeweler simply rubs the antiquing formula over the engraving, and lets it fill in the carving.

It may come as an eye-opener to some. But wet wood is actually much easier to cut than dry wood. With dry wood lacking moisture content, more friction is created as the chainsaw chain comes into contact with the wood fibers. This friction results in the chain slowing down.

1. Australian Buloke – 5,060 IBF. An ironwood tree that is native to Australia, this wood comes from a species of tree occurring across most of Eastern and Southern Australia. Known as the hardest wood in the world, this particular type has a Janka hardness of 5,060 lbf.

The general rule of thumb is:

For wood and soft materials aim for 3 – 6 teeth in the workpiece. For metals and harder materials aim for 6 – 24 teeth in the workpiece.

A 5 - 5.5 - 5.6 watt (5000 - 5500 - 5600 mw) laser can cut up to 3-6 mm (1/4'') of wood and plywood (with multi passes and sometimes require additional blowout).

What can you cut with a 14w laser? ›

Cut wood like birch plywood, MDF, and pine! Cut many types other materials like foam and acrylics! MAKE incredible objects for projects or production.

It can also work on material with up to 4" thickness. SP's 60 - 100W CO₂ laser are powerful enough to cut and engrave on wood like balsa, alder, cherry, poplar, cedar, pine, oak, walnut, mahogany, maple, birch, basswood, laser plywood, MDF, and more.

Let's be super clear: There is no limit on the strongest laser you can legally own in the United States. However, under federal law as governed by the FDA, any laser above 5 mW must comply with FDA/CDRH laser product requirements for labels, safety features, quality control and more.

As a general rule, green lasers are 532nm are 5-7X brighter than any other laser color, at the same power. Whether blue, red, purple/violet, or a light color like yellow, green is the best at strength for visibility.

RED Lasers

All Z-Bolt® red laser pointers emit the highest power 635nm laser light, projecting a brilliant red laser beam dot. No comparison to cheaper 645~650nm red lasers, the Z-Bolt® 635nm laser pointers are two to three times as bright.

Lasers have been shown to cut biologic tissue such as bone, fascia, or soft tissue with high precision and less thermal strain to adjacent tissue than mechanical bone drilling techniques and good or even superior postoperative wound healing (20, 21, 23, 24).

"Mid-infrared lasers with long wavelengths cut by burning. That is, they heat up the tissue to the point where the chemical bonds holding it together break down. Because they automatically cauterize the cuts that they make, infrared lasers are used frequently for surgery in areas where there is a lot of bleeding."

Visible laser light can be blocked by anything that also blocks conventional light, such as a solid curtain, a wall, or even a sheet of paper.

Lasers can harm the skin via photochemical or thermal burns. Depending on the wavelength, the beam may penetrate both the epidermis and the dermis.

PET film is thermoplastic polyester that can be laser cut, marked, and engraved. The chemical name for PET is polyethylene terephthalate. PET Film laser cutting can be done with either a 9.3 or 10.6 micron wavelength CO₂ laser.

Can I laser cut MDF? ›

With laser technology, you can quickly cut MDF in thicknesses of up to 15 mm in a good quality. The high fiber density makes the material particularly suitable for laser cutting.

Next Wave Automation's 7 Watt Solid State Laser Module boasts enough power to engrave wood, leather, and acrylics as well as the ability to cut thin soft materials like balsa, basswood, foam, paper, and fabric.

A 10 watt and 10 watt+ laser can easily cut wood, plywood and dark acrylic, up to 1/3'' thick with a few passes, but with white acrylic or plastic it might be a problem since the 445 nm wavelength beam will be more likely reflected from the acrylic surface and will be unable to cut at all.

First Three-Laser-Diode Engraving Laser Head

Boasting a real 15 W of optical power as well as a novel design, this compact laser head can process a wide range of wood-based materials, leather, textiles and plastics, summarized in the Blue CNC Laser Applications section below.

Highest Class Laser Tube

The 100W laser tube can cut plywood as thick as 20mm and create high-resolution engravings.

A 5 milliwatt laser: a distraction 2 miles away

It is a potential eye hazard from the pointer to about 52 feet. It is a temporary flashblindness hazard from the pointer, out to about 260 feet.

An 80 watt laser can cut plywood up to 1/2 inch thick. Make sure to use a high pressure source of air to knock out all of the charring during the cutting process so the laser can work efficiently.

Excellent for small-batch manufacturing (18" x 32" cut area), the Universal 150W is simple to use and can cut or engrave the following materials: wood (up to 1/2" thick) metal (marking only) acrylic (up to 1/2" thick)

The 10W laser is rated for laser-cutting materials like Pinewood, plywood, beechwood, walnut, bamboo, MDF, black and red acrylic, leather, fabric, canvas, corrugated fiberboard, and cardboard.

What can a 15w laser cut? ›

It is possible to engrave on most organic materials, such as wood, plastic, leather, and also painted metal. The cutting capabilities are a lot more limited, including mostly paper, thin fabric, and veneer wood. However, the primary use case for this kind of laser is probably engraving on wood.