[Egilaudio]

Hi all,

I'm trying to find out if possible and how much power do I need to laser cut 50mm thick planks?
I know they will get scorched and thats totaly ok!
I do not want to much chamfer, 2-3mm is ok but 5mm is to much.
Target cutting speed is min 2cm/sec but faster is prefered..

For a starter Im going to cut ca 5km of planks..
The planks are of pine or spruce thermowood.. termowood is a thermal process that heats the wood to 212deg C for 40h and by that removes about all moist and oils/resins, this should make it easier to cut as the only thing to vaporize is cellulose. The density goes from ca 600 to 450kg/m3 by mass that would be like cutting 40mm and not 50.

All thoughts are welcome.

Best regards
Egil

[RossMosh]

CNC router. A laser is not the right tool for this job.

[Egilaudio]

Well, yes I know a cnc would be the normal choise.
I do have access to a CNC router that could do this but:
1. I'd have to torch burn the new cut sides to get the look i want
2. the cut will be to thick or take to longe time to complete ( ok a CNC band saw might do this trick but it cant do all my cuts and I'll still have to torch..)

[pontiacg5]

For what it's worth, my 80W machine just barely cuts through 3/4" plywood in one pass. That's with a completely custom nozzle and air assist, plus a long length lens. It's slow, as in 10mm/s slow too.

You'd never get that thick of wood to cut, and if you did the taper would be ridiculous. It being dry relatively soft wood does not help really, it's going to keep burning after it's cut as slow as you'd have to move. The air assist sorta picks up in the cut and fans the still hot wood behind the cut, so it just sits and smolders.


If you do try it get as much power as you can afford and some long focal length lenses.

[Exsecratio]

The depth of field you would need to get anywhere near a straight cut would mean a lens with a focal length in Meters not MM's. Beam divergence would be terrible at this kind of thickness on anything less than a machine that costs lottery win money.

As Ross said, Lasers aren't the tool for this job.

best wishes

Dave

[RossMosh]

Well, yes I know a cnc would be the normal choise.
I do have access to a CNC router that could do this but:
1. I'd have to torch burn the new cut sides to get the look i want
2. the cut will be to thick or take to longe time to complete ( ok a CNC band saw might do this trick but it cant do all my cuts and I'll still have to torch..)

If you think a CNC router will take too long, then don't even think about going near a laser. A laser would be MUCH slower. Lasers are great for certain things but cutting 50mm thick wood is not one of them. A CNC router is absolutely the right choice in this circumstance.

[ger21]

CNC router. A laser is not the right tool for this job.

Neither is a router. You need some type of ripsaw.

[Melody-gweike]

Large power laser can only cut wood up to 20-25mm.