Quote:
Originally Posted by billdan
I presume you can control the heat produced by the laser so the plastic does not catch on fire.
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Laser cutting is not supposed to be done the way it is seen on YouTube, in case that is where you got the idea of the fire. Lase cutting without a cutting head is for B-grade Hollywood movies. People don't seem to realize that laser cutting is a chemical process, in most cases, where the laser provides the energy to start and maintain the (oxidation) reaction and the assist gas (air) coming through the nozzle provides the oxigen and blows out the resulting smoke from the cut. All the burning should be confined within the narrow cut by the air jet. The question is whether 5W power is enough to cut plastic at at useful speed.