Laser cutter material sample wall?

I always seem to spend better than half of my time on a Laser Cutter just getting the power and speed dialed in correctly for the material I’m about to cut.

I’d love to see the big red wall by the laser cutters used as a “sample wall” where a small (3"x3") sample of various laser cut materials are displayed along with the setting used to cut/etch/destroy them.

It would be excellent to see various types of plywood, hardwood, acrylic, balsa, basswood, cardboard, posterboard, paper, and whatever else people have managed to cut or etch to give me an idea of what cuts well on which machine and at what setting.

I think it would also be awesome to have samples of stuff that IS NOT supposed to be cut on the laser cutters, so there’s a real life, visual example showing the exact stuff that you THOUGHT was OK really isn’t.

Maybe to get started, there could be a box by the laser cutters for people to put a sample piece of whatever material they’re cutting, along with the settings used to cut it and the name of the laser machine that was used. I’m sure someone could figure out how to organize and display it all in a creative way.

Thoughts?

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Each piece a piece of a puzzle for added visual effect.
Like this but take away the pictures. settings etched instead of words the template could be public and people just donate a piece of a time.
Just an idea.

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@talkers is working on a Google form in which people could enter laser, material, thickness, vector/engrave, speed, power, notes. Members would be able to look up the results. John, update please? A digital solution, not a visual solution.

That said, why not try a visual solution too? Clay, make that box, add some words of explanation, and stock it with some starter examples. And come join the Laser discussion on Discord.

FYI: I added your tip about DXF4Laser to the wiki. Thanks for contributing to the Laser community.

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This would be a great reference. I hope they include glass.

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I also love the puzzle pictures! its going on my list of things to do!

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OK, the great “Laser cutter sample board” is now reality. Not quite the puzzle design, but I put together a piece of metal, scrap wood, and some bolts and washers to make it look substantial. I then created a couple examples, stuck a magnet on the back and they’re available for all to enjoy. I even left a magnet strip to make your own.

If someone wants to permanently mount it to the wall so it doesn’t fall over or relocate it somewhere more appropriate, be my guest.

samples

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What font/font size is that so people can make others?

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Good job, Clay. That idea is more practical than the puzzle pieces. No special template needed. “Got a circle? You’re good to go.” Might help to include a month and year as the tube power degrades over time.

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I used Arial - 8mm. However, I think a single line font (instead of the outline that RDWorks makes) would work better. Anyone know if RDWorks supports single line fonts natively?

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Answered my own question…

Looks like RDWorks has some single line fonts available to use, although I haven’t tried using them on a laser yet. All the Truetype fonts will create an “outline” of the letters.

In RDWorks:
Click the Text button
Select “SHX font”
Look for a single line font, like Fs, gbcbig, HT, simplex, Monotext, MonoSI, Txt.

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unless you give them a different color and set that layer to “scan”, with the appropriate settings. Then the characters will raster and not outline.

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This is a great idea Clay, I’m about the visual. Thank you!

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The display is a great idea and will be nice to point out on tours but let’s not let @talkers off the hook. John recently mentioned that he was working on a list of materials and settings. A few pages of a spreadsheet or document can contain hundreds of options in an easily sorted format!

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Hey! I did add a few items to Clay’s great wall tonight! hahaha.

I’ll print the QR codes and links to capture all this data, just in case items wander off the Great Wall.

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Everyone remember that these are still starting points at best. Lens and mirror cleanliness, mirror degradation, alignment, and tube ageing can cause considerable variation in results.

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Kevin speaks the Truth!
Test, Test, Test first.

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Best TALK thread award! Motopilot thought me a few a few key items on Saturday after my Laser Basics class. There are a few key things I didn’t know and should. One is - what’s the min max power setting for on a cut? It is used to reduce power when a cut is changing direction in such a way the speed will be reduced. Even with a 45 degree angle, for example the corners will be cut deeper than the sides. Clay taught me that. May be common knowledge among advanced users. I’ll incorporate it into the online courseware that designkat and me, mostly her, are working on.

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