[amasters]

I'm totally new to laser cutting, so excuse my ignorance.

I'm looking for laser machines that will cut (not engrave) through alumina ceramic. I have ceramic that ranges in thickness from 0.020" to 0.045" and need to cut out shapes and drill holes. Ideally, the kerf would be 0.006" or less.

From most of my looking around, it seems that CO2 lasers can do this, but not low wattage units. I have no idea what the real threshold of wattage is that allows a CO2 to cut this ceramic.

I'm looking for either someone that has experience in cutting ceramics or knows of a machine(s) that can do this.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Andy
amasters(at)customthermoelectric.com

[zax15uk]

Andy,

I have some experience with this but decided to stop the project due to poor results.

I was setting up an application to cut ~0.060" ceramic (93% Al2O3 / 6% SiO) using a 200W CO2 laser. The cuts were straight (curved would require significantly more power) but the slag and particles created were a problem in this case. The equipment cost was also prohibitive since the straight cut was easy to accomplish with a diamond blade dicing system. I actually ended up doing a scribe in the green state prior to firing and then using a simple break process with excellent results.

Zax.