Artist styrofoam laser cutting for prototyping?

[Gary Gilbert]

Does anyone know if artist sculpting styrofoam can be cut with the typical 35W laser cutter (e.g. Epilog).

Or, is there something that can be cut that is light also sculptable that can be cut?

My reason: My group designs cabinets and enclosures, and cutting the components for trial design and proof would probably save me about $3K per project. Seriously. Then I would build the unit with these cut foam/styrofoam components.

This alone could justify the purchase.

All of our design is done in CAD, which I would export each component seperately directly into Corel for cutting. I would then do some hand-carving to finish the pieces.

Also - is there a good material along those lines for 3D printing?

THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH!!!!!!!

Gary
Elkridge, MD

[Joe Pelonio]

It can be cut.

The thickness would matter, a laser makes a wider cut at the top than bottom so anything more than 1/4" could result in an unsatisfactory angle on the edges. The thicker the material the more the cut is angled. I've never tried to cut very thick styro but I suspect that by the time the beam hits the bottom of a thick piece it would start melting the top.

I've cut up to 1/4" "fun foam" as is used for crafts, it's a dense, spongy foam available at craft stores in bright colors, but it's probably not stiff enough for you and I doubt it could be carved.

A CNC Router eliminates that problem, and you could use "signfoam" or Gatorfoam (more expensive than styro). There the only problem is the radius from the bit on the inside corners of the cuts.

[Gary Gilbert]

Very good - thank you.

I'm looking at up to 1 inch thick only.

CNC won't be an option, however.
The laser can be used for dozens of things - which I can justify easily.

We actually have 6 industrial CNCs in our factory, but it's not that easy
to get to those - given they are production items. . . .

Thanks for the advice, though!
I greatly appreciate that you took the time to respond.

Gary

[Mike Mackenzie]

Gary,

We have cut 1" styro foam we used a 4" lens and very high conical air pressure and a strong downdraft cutting table.

What I mean by this is our exhaust system is strong and we pull all of the exhaust air from below the foam. This does two things it holds the material firmly and it pulls the cut material straight down. Using this with the high air pressure we are blowing the material down as well as pulling it through the material.

The walls were surprisingly straight denser foam works better but lighter foams may be doable with the proper set-up.

[Gary Gilbert]

Now, is this soft foam rubber, or a firm stryofoam.
I'm mostly interested in sculping foam - which is somewhat like the hard foam used for artificial plants to be stuck into. . .

Thanks for the feedback and advice!!!!

Gary

[Mike Mackenzie]

Either one will work actually the denser the foam the easier it is to work with.

I will offer to cut some of your foam if you would like to send me a piece that way you can see the results.

If you are interested send me a pm and I will give you the address of where to send it.

[Rodne Gold]

The laser will not work well for 3d stuff or for mouldings at all , you cannot get good surfaces and have very little control over depths and so forth. Even with foams you will have issues with depth of focus and with kerf widths if just cutting.
You could buy a CnC mill with a tool changer that can do 1.2m x 2.4m and get exactly what you need for prototyping for a little more than the price of a reasonable laser.

Programs like artcam , mastercam, profile lab etc will enable you to do so much more than you can possibly do with a laser in this regard.

We run a Tekcel for precisely this purpose , for medium run production , engraving , profilling , milling etc. Much more versatile type of machine for your endeavours.
We do a ton of point of sale stuff , and a lot of it is sort of like cabinetry and enclosures. Cases , displays etc. The lasers certainly enhance the ability to do the unusual , but mainly in terms of cutting acrylics or sandblasting , logos etc.
There are much smaller Cnc mills available as well for less if you dont need the major sizes , I would rather get one of those and a smaller laser than just the laser. Techno Isel make some nice semi industrial type 2 1/d overhead routers.