Hi, I want to get a Acro setup with a diode laser to cut Dollar Tree foam core board for RC planes. I get "speed build kits" that are precut and look really good. I think they use industrial co2 laser cutters. I'd like to find out how to cut ~50% and 100% through. I have pictures of the cut I want to do. the pics foam board is brown, mine would be white. I already have some designs in sketchucam and want tot get them out of the computer. Can you do that with a Diode laser? on a mission, Thanks for your help and time! Paul
Brown will cut better with a diode laser (darker colour, more absorption). Dollar Tree also has black foam board, sometimes. Might be worth a try. Controlling your focal angle/z-height and travel speed will help there, but 3mm might be a tad much for single-pass on a diode without getting all burny and melty. You'd probably end up with a multi-pass project. Which could work in your favour- the final pass you could adjust the laser on/off in the g-code and actually perforate out the second side of paper, so it all just punches out of the sheet when you're ready. If you want to do it in a single pass, you're probably looking at 20W or so of CO2 power (I'd guess, not having run a CO2 laser).
SketchuCam will generate multipass for laser. all passes will be at the same power but they are clearly labelled in the Gcode making it easy to search and replace power settings etc. What I will do once I set up my laser is generate some gcode that draws a series of lines at different power settings. and then another file that draws the same series at say 50% and 100% power but at different feed speeds. Then for any new material I can just run the test files to figure the settings I will need for engraving or cutting in that material.
Hey Paul, Bob Here. I have been using black foam board for my builds and it works great. There are a couple steps you will need to remember when cutting foam board properly. Use multiple passes at a slightly lower power. I use 5 passes at 60% power on my LE5040 laser (5.5watt) it my edges are not shrunk and the paper is nicely cut. One example is my OV-10 Bronko that was cut exclusively with laser and turned out fantastic. Design of your project is also key!!! Undercut is always better than over-cut (within reason) and combining 3d printed parts with my laser cuts has produced some awesome plains, that unfortunately due to my Parkinson' s, are pretty much ceiling hangers now. If you have any more questions, feel free to contact me at [email protected]. Happy building!!!
Hi how about putting the radio on a stool and attaching 24" dowels to the sticks. now, instead of using finger movements you can use arm movements to do the control. would that work for you?
