Hey guys,
If I wanted to cut a piece of wood in the shape of a company logo:
Is this a Woodship CNC or a Laser thing? I’m still pretty new to the basic limitations of each one. Essentially I’d be looking at the logo with perhaps a depth of maybe an inch? Maybe two?
Thanks!
I’ll take a standard at this.
Laser: Best for thinner less substantial materials, greater material variety, can generate production files with a few tweaks to the design files, capable of cutting arbitrary shapes with near-zero kerf as well as raster etching, cut edges are burned and may need clean up
CNC Router: Best for thicker more substantial materials, typically limited to wood (some additional materials with advanced class), more labor-intensive workflow to get g-code from design files, need to consider material and cutter properties, limitations on finished product shape because of bit kerf, cut edges are typically nicely finished relative to laser
Thanks for the info! How thin would the material need to be for the laser cutter?
You can cut paper on the laser if you stick it to something. I’ve seen people cut 1/2" plywood, but that’s a time-consuming and ugly process with multiple passes and heavy scorching.
Thunder Laser can do really thick materials if you’re determined; Zing and Lasersaur a tad less so due to bed height limits.
1/4 inch plywood can often be cut well on the thunder laser. That is as thick as I would suggest for easy results with wood. Thicker than that will take more testing and will run into more issues like bed and material flatness.
Thanks for the insight, guys!
I may just go without the cutter then and try bandsaw and sanding and such.
From what I am looking at on google… Would that be more of a scroll saw project? Do we have one?
We did. I have not seen it in a while. But I have not looked for it.
I don’t see it on the security camera…
https://dallasmakerspace.org/cgi-bin2/cam?cam=multicam
But it is difficult to make out the equipment on the east end.
I didn’t know this camera was a thing!
I’m going to have to quit my job so I can go in the middle of the day when the place is empty. =P
We have a scroll saw. It’s an Excalibur ex21.
!/2" max acrylic is what I remember. Kerf on cut becomes more noticeable the thicker the material.
Possibility - depending on the effect you’re after. - Cut multiple pieces out of thinner material and then stack.
Also, I realize you said “cut piece of wood”, but as an alternative, we have a vinyl cutter (think cool sticker maker) that does this type of stuff, i.e. make a vinyl version of logo and stick in on a flat board (MDF w/laminate layer).
Stuff like this:
I actually was looking at other ways I could do a nifty gift sign for my company, and found a tutorial at: https://www.iliketomakestuff.com/led-sign/
It looks like they did they acrylic insert on their Shapeoko 2. So, signed up for that class. =)
acrylic you can do on the laser and it’ll turn out perfect.
FYI i have cut complicated puzzle patterns on the Thunder Laser out of .65" thick solid white oak in a single pass, it was 70% power and 4mm/s.
If you’re interested in making the sign on the link of your post, the thunder laser would be by far the easiest and simplest way to do it. You can do it with a wood backing piece, a piece of acrylic and a led strip. I’ve made infinity signs in a snap using Thuunder laser. I’ll be in the space Sunday if you need any help.
Hey, I appreciate it @obiswill. I’m not certified on the lasers yet - and I’m guessing I would have to draft up something in some program to get it to cut properly?
If you know AI that would be easiest BC we can just import the file and print. AI is not my strong suit.
Solid wood cuts easier on the lasers than plywood. Plywood has all of the glue layers and voids that make it harder to laser cut.