Can you help identify material... neoprene maybe?

[Dee Gallo]

Brent, I've used fun foam in layers for more substantial things like puzzle pieces. It's really easy if you buy one pack of plain and one pack with sticky backs. I like to use two contrasting colors. Still cuts like butter and engraves well too. Something else you might try is getting the sticky back foam and putting fabric on it, then cutting.

cheers, dee

edit: you can buy 1/4" fun foam from craftsuppliesforless.com

[Brent Franker]

Thanks for the tips, Dee! I didn't realize they even made the fun foam stuff with a sticky back. Just getting into this stuff and one of the more difficult things I'm running into is finding good places to buy this kind of stuff so thanks much for the link. I'll definitely check it out!

[Brent Franker]

It's been a couple years since I posted this. I had issues with my laser, got frustrated, too busy with other stuff, and didn't do much with it but got things sorted out finally

I did end up ordering several samples from a few different companies and none were really what I was looking for. Since it has been a couple years I'm wondering if anybody has any new sources or ideas? I'm looking for a material similar to what is in the pictures I posted in post #1 but colored (like red, yellow, blue, etc.) and with the texture on the one surface. The texture is my main problem... I can find colored neoprene but what I've found is always black with a colored piece of top fabric. I have found the textured neoprene like in my pics but only in black. ARGH!

Is anybody aware of a source for colored neoprene/rubber that I can cut with a laser that is similar to the black material in the pics? Thanks much!!!

[Dan Hintz]

Try Macro International...
http://www.macrointlco.com/category.jhtm?cid=13

[Alexa Ristow]

Hi Brent,

Search for EVA foam. That what the fun foam is. you can get EVA in different densities and thicknesses with a wide color range.
Ethylene-vinyl_acetate.. google it as EVA

Regards,

Norman

[Mike Audleman]

Another thought and probably closer to home for just about everyone. Lift up your mouse and look at the back of your mouse pad. It quite probably looks exactly like the material in the OP's photo. Mine does at least

And you can get mouse pads cheap or free and they come in a lot of colors and patterns already.

[Dan Hintz]

Another thought and probably closer to home for just about everyone. Lift up your mouse and look at the back of your mouse pad. It quite probably looks exactly like the material in the OP's photo. Mine does at least

And you can get mouse pads cheap or free and they come in a lot of colors and patterns already.

I think the OP wants the neoprene itself to be of different colors, not a colored cloth covering glued to the neoprene. Colored neoprene needs to be made like that at the manufacturer through dyes and cannot be altered after the fact.

[Mike Audleman]

I just discovered this stuff at American Science and Surplus tonight when I went in to get some bottles to store the diluted Cermark in.

2014-08-22_21-12-45_295.jpg2014-08-22_21-16-24_721.jpg

Its a really nice aqua color and it cuts and engraves very well. The cutting is very clean and leaves a slightly firm finish but its still squishy. Best looking cut came at 75% @ 30mm/s. Locally its $2.00 a sheet of 25" x 17" and nominal .278" thick isn't bad to experiment with. It has the density of cheap dollar store flip-flops. Its firm but flexible and reminds me of foam map toys the girls had as kids.

Engraving got good results too. 20% @ 500mm/s gave a slightly darkened engrave with ever so slight rounding on the corners turning from the surface down into the engrave. The depth is about .055". At 15% @ 500mm/s the engrave is very light and not well defined. At 15% @ 400mm/s seems to be the sweet spot. Little if any darkening and sharp crisp edges. Engraving depth of .028".

Its listed on their website but its a bit more, $4.95 for two sheets.
http://www.sciplus.com/p/25-X-17-TEA...AM-SHEET_51305

While I was typing this, I had a thought triggerd by what I was typing above. For some experimental materials, how about actual flipflops from the dollar store? They are only a buck and come in several colors. And they feel just like this stuff. Not sure what you want to cut from them or how large, but maybe a few bucks at the dollar store will help you figure out if this sort of material is suitable for your project.

[Mike Audleman]

Well, I had some time to tinker with the settings and cut myself a nice mat to put ammo on while shooting prone at the range. The mat is 10"x15".

2014-08-22_23-05-02_379.jpg2014-08-22_23-04-34_346.jpg
(For reference, thats a .50cal BMG casing there, 3.9" end to end)

Settings:
Background behind "FIREARMS" : 500mm/s @ 14%p
"FIREARMS" text : 400mm/s @ 15%p
Border and "BARRETT" text : 500mm/s @ 18%p
Cut : 30mm/s @ 75%p

The text "FIREARMS" was a 2nd layer on top of the background. I couldn't figure out how to get the program to leave the text un-engraved but engrave the background so I burned the text a bit deeper. Interesting how the second burn pass made a different texture in the foam than the first pass does. I could see some interesting shading possibilities here.