"Heaviest" Laserable Material

[Phil Brevick]

I'm trying to find out what would be the "Heaviest" (densest - most weight per square inch) material that can still be engraved and cut with a 60 watt laser. All suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Phil

[Mike Null]

I would suggest Ikon metal and Corian.

[Dan Hintz]

Acrylic is pretty darn dense,and since it acts like a waveguide to the laser, you can cut some surprisingly thick specimens. Ever tried to lift a 1" thick 4'x4' piece of acrylic? Can anyone say hernia?

[James Stokes]

With my Epilog I engraved 2" concrete corner stones weighing around 60 pounds each. I had to do my heigth adjustment before putting the stone on the table. It would not raise the table with the stone on there.

[Dan Hintz]

James,

I'de like to see you cut those things... ;-)

[James Stokes]

Fortunatly I have a wet saw for things like that. And to be perfectly honest I think all laser engravers should have a good wet saw.

[Phil Brevick]

Thanks for the responses so far.

I'll try the Corian & Ikon Metal (A little concerned with the sparks from one of the other posts on cutting the Ikon). I'm looking at making some small weights approximately 1/4" x 1/2" x 2 1/2". I've considered making a mold and pouring them, but if I can find something dense enough that I can just laser cut & engrave would sure go a lot quicker. I've checked some of the woods, but the denser ones seem to have a lot of "oil" content so cutting is more of an issue. I may go with acrylic and try to engrave a spot to attach a lead weight.

Thanks again to all!

Phil

[art baylor]

cast some lead in a plaster mold? Make a wax carving, cast it in plaster, one side open, melt the lead with torch (good ventilation), pore the lead, cool, dip it in urathane varnish or vinyl coating if your worried about contact.

art

[art baylor]

Or just cut them out of lead sheet or bar. Coat them.
Art

[Steve Clarkson]

Hey Art.....do you know of anything else you can melt (metal, that is) other than lead? I want to make a metal shape using a mold......

[Eric Allen]

Hey Art.....do you know of anything else you can melt (metal, that is) other than lead? I want to make a metal shape using a mold......

Bismuth is a low/no toxic lead substitute. I believe it melts about the same as lead. The best place to check would be a local gun shop, preferably something large that caters to reloaders. It's used as a no-tox replacement for lead pellets in shotgun shells.

[Dan Hintz]

It's not the cheapest solution, but no-flux solder can be picked up in 1-pound and 5-pound spools at your local Borg in the plumbing section. You'll have no issue melting it.

[Kevin Groenke]

McMaster has low temp casting alloys.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#metal-alloy...pounds/=496py2

I saw a demo of cuttlefish bone casting at a conference a couple years ago and thought about trying to engrave the mold with the laser. I never got around to it, but I still think it would work.

http://www.jewelryartistmagazine.com...onecasting.pdf

-kg