Chinese Laser not cutting

[Rob Preston]

Any ideas appreciated guys ?
Trying to cut 3mm MDF but all it is doing is leaving a thick line and not cutting right through ? i am using RDWORKS8.0 software but having no joy

thanks

[Roy Nielsen]

A thick line first leads me to thinking that you are out of focus. Try raising or lowering your bed.

[Rob Preston]

Thank you Roy, i have tried raising and lowering but no joy. Any ideas on what settings i could use ?

[Richard Rumancik]

My first thought was the same Roy's - something seems wrong with the optics. Your experiment suggests it is not a focus problem. But if you are getting a wide line I have my doubts that a different power/speed setting is going to cure this.

I would suggest that you experiment until you can scribe a line that is only .006" wide or less (I don't know which lens you have installed.) Never mind about cutting through at the moment. (If you can't scribe a thin line you have to find out why.)

The other possibility I can think of is that the adhesive in the mdf just isn't laserable and you are just charring the material. In such a case you could get a wide char line. If you start at 90% power and drop the speed, you will find the best setting yourself pretty quickly. But it is possible that the material just isn't suitable for laser cutting.

[Bill George]

Any ideas appreciated guys ?
Trying to cut 3mm MDF but all it is doing is leaving a thick line and not cutting right through ? i am using RDWORKS8.0 software but having no joy
thanks

Maybe you posted but I missed, your machine ? and its a CO2 laser with how much power available? Is it Vector cutting for sure or is it trying to Engrave the line? Are you able to Cut other materials?

[Rob Preston]

Thank you Richard and Bill, it will not cut anything I have tried Mdf and Ash ? It is the Pro Co2 from eBay. Not sure Bill about vector or engrave the line , can you select which one you want on the software ? I am able to engrave onto any material but just can't cut ?

Thank you

[Wilbur Harris]

Not familiar at all with the software you're using but - yes. Figure out how to tell the software to cut (color a line or something) and set the cut power/speed to whatever will get through the material. Somebody else will need to tell you how to do that but I think that's the ticket.

Have you cut material before this problem?

[Bill George]

Thank you Richard and Bill, it will not cut anything I have tried Mdf and Ash ? It is the Pro Co2 from eBay. Not sure Bill about vector or engrave the line , can you select which one you want on the software ? I am able to engrave onto any material but just can't cut ?

Thank you

Once again, how much power or wattage is the machine rated for? There a at least a couple hundred or more eBay sold Chinese lasers. Do some searching on here to read up about engraving vs cutting or Vector cutting. Lots to learn.

[Bert Kemp]

how many watts tube can we get a screen shot of your software settings

Thank you Richard and Bill, it will not cut anything I have tried Mdf and Ash ? It is the Pro Co2 from eBay. Not sure Bill about vector or engrave the line , can you select which one you want on the software ? I am able to engrave onto any material but just can't cut ?

Thank you

[Rob Preston]

This is the link to the machine here :
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PRO-CO2-EN...item4d2007c063
I have not cut anything so far as it just wont go right through the wood ?

[Bert Kemp]

50 watt should have no problem cutting upto 1/4 mdf , ply , ash ect ect we need to find the focus point and the right cut setting need screen shot or someone familiar with your software

[Bert Kemp]

look at this manual http://nuke.astrolabi.com/Portals/0/...ftware%202.pdf

[Bill George]

50 watt should have no problem cutting upto 1/4 mdf , ply , ash ect ect we need to find the focus point and the right cut setting need screen shot or someone familiar with your software

Bert he does not know the difference between cutting (vector) or engraving (raster) . He needs to understand which is which before he can decide on what the correct focus should be. I agree he should have no problems vector cutting any of the above with his 50 watt machine. Assuming the mirrors and lens are correctly aligned.

[Jerome Stanek]

First is there a lens in it and what focal length is it? He says that it is giving him a big spot and not cutting so I would check the lens.

[Bert Kemp]

Bill maybe I don't understand how a laser focus's I was under the impression that the focal distance is the same for both raster and vector. Maybe I been doing this all wrong but I use the same gauge and focus at the same distance no matter what I'm doing.

Bert he does not know the difference between cutting (vector) or engraving (raster) . He needs to understand which is which before he can decide on what the correct focus should be. I agree he should have no problems vector cutting any of the above with his 50 watt machine. Assuming the mirrors and lens are correctly aligned.