New to these forums. I have built a MiniMill to position material samples for a research project which will use a 40W CO2 laser. For a personal project I need to cut small reflective patterns out of 0.03"-0.06" (~0.7-1.5 mm) thick stainless steel sheet. I have used ponoko.com to have this done using photo-chemical machining (PCM) but the cost is a problem since I need to experiment a lot with various patterns. Patterns are about 50-75mm in diameter I can use the 40W laser for my reflective patterns but have read that it won't work for cutting metal. Haven't tried it yet with my setup but will test it out after we build the laser optics. If it works my problem is solved. For our R&D we will be using reflective materials and the laser optics will feature a polarization retarder, so it will be a useful experiment anyway. If it can't be done with the CO2 laser, can anyone recommend a tool for the MiniMill that could cut through stainless sheet? Perhaps a plasma cutter would work? Also would be interested in an alternative reflective material stiff enough to bend into place after cutting a pattern. Perhaps aluminum sheet if can find reflective enough without having to surface finish.
I have cut stainless steel with my CNC router? If you are careful, you should be able to do it with the mini-mill. Here is a good bit of info from a really old post: Cut stainless steel with OX CNC I know others have done it, but I could not find any posts through the search bar.
