We have all (well, most of us) felt the pain of stepping on a Lego&#;to the extent that &#;I hope you step on a Lego&#; has become a modern curse. Lego owes its infamous durability to the chemical makeup of its base material, ABS, or Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene. ABS is another incredibly durable, impact-resistant thermoplastic. That&#;s why it&#;s typically used in things which we don&#;t want to break, like computer parts, medical supplies, and protective headgear.
You can find more information on our web, so please take a look.
ABS is also very easy to melt, making it a popular material for DIY plastic molding and 3D printing. However, for all its useful properties, ABS doesn&#;t perform well under a laser cutter.
The plastic tends to melt, rather than vaporize, leaving melty, gooey deposits on the cutting grid rather than a nice clean cut. To top it off, ABS is also highly flammable, and when it ignites, it releases hydrogen cyanide, a cancer-causing agent found in cigarettes. While there is still some debate about the dangers of running ABS material though a laser cutter, we say that, for now, it&#;s best to err on the side of caution.
I&#;ve seen lots of lists of things that can be lasered &#; either cut or engraved. But is there a list of things that you should never try to laser because it will damage the device?
So far, I&#;ve found:
PVC plastics: releases poisonous and corrosive gasses. (If it doesn&#;t kill you or give you cancer, it&#;ll cut the life of your GF.)
Hard drive platters: they reflect the CO2 laser and will damage the device. (There&#;s actually a couple of different drive platters. The very reflective silver ones cut easily with a drill and saw, but reflect the laser. The really old amber platters found in old/large drives use glass and should be fine to engrave.)
Anything else? And if my list is wrong, please correct me!
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Things that I don&#;t know about:
Coins: Can I etch/engrave coins? (Can I give George Washington a mustache on the US quarter?) Can I cut through the copper jacket of a penny to the white zinc inside? Or do coins reflect the laser and cause damage?
Aluminum cans (or metal cut from aluminum cans): I think the painted cans (coke, sprite) should etch like anodized aluminum.
Big steel plate: I&#;ve got a big, thin steel plate. I usually use it for soldering (so hot melt doesn&#;t hit the workbench.) If it doesn&#;t hurt the laser, then I want to use it as a base-plate when cutting without the crumbtray. (But if it could hurt the laser, then it&#;s a bad idea.)
Alternate base-plate idea: hard drive cases from dismantled hard drives. (I think they are aluminum since they are not magnetic.) Again, if it doesn&#;t reflect the laser, then it should make a good base plate.
Is there any easy test for determining whether a new material will reflect the laser?
Thanks!
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