Laser cutting machines are state-of-the-art machines that use various types of lasers to cut materials. These machines are humongous and cost a lot of money but are proven to be a smart investment. Having a laser cutting machine from a good manufacturer can help you build trust among clients and score big projects resulting in better profits.
Laser cutting can help finish huge projects on time even with various kinds of materials in the picture. It can transform a 2D file into a physical object. With the help of highly accurate laser cutting technology, you can cut any material in the shape and size of your choice. You can even cut parts having a thickness of up to 10mm! To produce the best results, you can use a 2D vector file made with vector graphics software.
Keeping all the technical terms aside, as mentioned above these machines cost a lot of money and if not maintained properly can set you back financially. So, we have curated some tips for you to practice best laser cutting.
6 Tips to Practice Best Laser Cutting
Select the Right Material
It is up to you. Do you want a solid finish or a translucent one? Many vendors consider choosing various materials like a rigid or flexible one. Check the different properties of the material and see if it matches the expectations of your project. You will come across materials with various design guidelines, thickness, colors, and other specifications. The key here is to find out which material would be suitable for your project.
Watch out the spacing between two paths
It is mandatory that the minimum spacing between two paths for laser cutting is equal to the thickness of the material. The vendors change the spacing between the two paths to avoid possible errors and allow customers to get the best possible results when they order those specific parts. For example, if your acrylic part has a 3 mm thickness, the minimum distance between your two paths should be equal to 3 mm. This way, the final object would have more resistance because unordered spacing might break the parts.
Optimize texts for laser cutting and laser engraving
Whenever opting to put text on the laser cutting project, one of the major things to take care is that text needs to be crystal clear and readable by others. Even if you want to engrave the letters in small size, don’t hesitate. Just make sure you are taking care of the spacing between the letters. Make sure that the letters are not overlapping and too close otherwise, you would have to start it all over again.
Pro Tip: Create links between the inside and outside of the full letters like A, B, O, D…
Take care of minimum and maximum dimensions
You can assemble large manufacturing projects with laser cutting. It offers you possible operations for a lower cost than 3D printing. The maximum size of the project is depended on the material that you choose for your project. You can go for either bystronic laser parts or Mazak laser parts for best outcomes. For smaller projects, the minimum size should be of 15*15 mm.
Create nodes
Creating nodes is always better in order to lock your parts together. When you have a need to assemble different parts like bystronic laser parts or Mazak laser parts, these nodes which are small bumps located on the parts allow the laser parts to stay together. While designing and keeping your parts together, decide the nodes. It would be really useful for your process.
Find the best 2D models
There are two ways of finding such 2D models which are best suitable for your project. If you have good design skills, you can create one for yourself. This way you can craft the design which matches your expectations. If you do not have advanced design skills and want to find 2D models, you can find a ton of them online on the various marketplace. There are professional laser cutting designs available for this.
Here are leading 5 market place for laser cutting designs:
- Obrary – Laser Cutting Wood Designs
- Craftsmanspace – Online database for 3D models
- Freepik – Laser Cutting Designs for Free
- Rabbitlaserusa – Laser Cutting designs for Cardboard material
- Epiloglaser – This website has all different types of laser cutting designs
It is important to understand the difference between Vector files and Bitmap files during this process. Vector files are mathematical formulas which define lines, circles and more. Bitmap files are the collections of individual pixels. Based on the working of your file you can use the files to produce the best cutting results.
