Acrylic Settings

[Joe Baker]

What settings should i use to engrave acrykic? Have a Laserpro C180 30w

[Garrett Nors]

Many people will tell you to test your own custom settings until you get it right...lasers are not all created equal (even if they're the same make/model).

I would guess you can start at around 100s 50p at 600 DPI.

[Joe Baker]

I had one test piece and wanted to get some advice so i could get it right. It worked. Looks very nice. Thanks!!!

[Frank Corker]

Hi Joe, I've just had a look at the Epilog handbook, for a 25 watt in acrylic they recommend 300 dpi at 100 speed to 95 power. 400dpi 100 speed to 85 power and 600 dpi 100 speed to 75 power.

There is no listing for a 30 in my book but on a 35 in acrylic
they recommend 300 dpi 100 speed at 75 power. 400dpi 100 speed to 65 power and 600 dpi 100 speed to 55.

You should really do yourself a big Big BIG favour and sacrafice a small piece of acrylic 12"/12" and engrave (300dpi at whatever speed) and underneath cut small circles. Then keep the piece and use it as a reference. It would be money well spent.

[Marc Myer]

I just read elsewhere that our lasers should not be run at 100% power to avoid undue stress on the tube. It says 90-95% is fine.

Have you heard of this?

[Rob Bosworth]

No. I do not think runing a laser at full power hurts it one bit. USE IT!!!

[Martin Reynolds]

On my Explorer, I found that running up to 99% only used about 70% of the laser's power. At 100%, I get a lot more cutting power as the laser is in continuous mode. However, the faster speed on lines over curves makes the speed settings tricky.

On engraving, I don't think that the laser will run in continuous mode.

[Roy Brewer]

I just read elsewhere that our lasers should not be run at 100% power to avoid undue stress on the tube.

Marc,
While not nearly as technical as Rob, I agree that there is nothing wrong with running your laser @ 100% power (But, I happen to know what laser you have.).

Several years back, however, there were tubes made by certain tube manufacturers that went into models with cooling fans that were insufficient for extremely long runs at 100% power. So the problem on these machines was not the 100% power but the overheating that tended to shorten the life of the tube.

[Marc Myer]

Great, another thing not to worry about!
Two and a half years of flawless performance, coupled with great advice from everyone.

[Robert Ray]

What settings should i use to engrave acrykic? Have a Laserpro C180 30w

I also have a 30W C180, and use the 1.5" lens. So far I have only engraved and cut 1/8" and thinner Acrylic.

For engraving great photos on 1/8" acrylic, I use True Image on the Advance tab, 100% speed, 50% power, 500ppi, and have Stucki Error Diffusion set under the Raster tab.

For cutting I use 8% speed, 100% power, 200ppi, and Enhanced Vector on the Advance tab.

Don't forget to experiment with the settings on the Advance and Raster tabs to learn what each can do for you.

-Robert Ray