Hello all, first of all I'd like to say thanks for having me in this community, I am a novice and am trying to learn about laser cutters.
I am looking for a laser cutter capable of cutting gobo's, the metal disks used in light projectors to project monograms and logos on walls at weddings and corporate events and the like. They are typically made of stainless steel, around 1mm thick but that can vary a bit, and the designs are typically under 2 inches in diameter. At that scale the details can be tiny.
I was looking at metal cutting 150w CO2 lasers from China in the 6-8000 dollar range. Apparently these will cut the steel, but I am worried about the fine detail. I happen to know that a company specializing in gobo's in California uses a machine from LPFK designed for cutting SMT Stencils that costs 265 thousand dollars. Obviously this is light years out of my budget. Is it really true that these little plates of metal that usually cost between 30 and 60 dollars have to be cut on a machine of that quality? I've attached an image of a gobo with some especially delicate cuts to give you an idea of what I'm talking about.
I have been scouring the internet looking for info, and have found some, but I wish I could get a straight answer from an expert saying this machine will work, or this wont. I cannot spend 8 grand on a machine that wont work. Can anyone give me advice? And thanks again for your help