Can You Laser Cut Plastic

Laser cutting plastic cardboard or wooden displays.

Can you laser cut plastic.

Laser cutting and engraving can be done using a co 2 laser. Etching can be done on almost anything wood cardboard aluminum stainless steel plastic. Contour and cut labels. In fact the pattern on the heart in our featured image was laser cut onto the leather.

Thin carbon fiber mat can be cut with some fraying but not when coated. Etching can be done on almost anything wood cardboard aluminum stainless steel plastic marble stone tile and glass. The list above is just a short list of the many different materials that can be processed by the co2 lasers. Safe materials the laser can cut or etch.

From pvc to acrylic and lamicoid there are a wide range of plastics that can be treated using laser cutting. Laser marking of white abs is possible with a fiber laser. The materials that the laser can cut materials like wood paper cork and some kinds of plastics. Given the precision capability of plastic cutting you can probably guess that plastic laser cutting is becoming an increasingly popular choice for businesses who require engraving.

For example a 400w laser cutting 10mm thick acrylic will be twice as fast as a 200w laser cutting the same. Cutting 6 mill polyethylene film with 5w laser module from ebay installed on delta 3d printer. Material machining for model making. There are lots of other materials that can be cut with the co2 laser.

Yes you can laser cut petg but it is a dirty material to process giving off a significant volume of white particulates. A mix of two materials. Applicable laser processes for abs plastic. Your laser machine will need regular cleaning and fume extraction filters will soon clog up unless you have a sacrificial pre filter to take the strain.

Because a laser machine requires minimal set up and provides a large degree of versatility laser marking plastics is an economical processing method even in small batch sizes. There is also a linear increase in speed as the power of the laser increases. With a co 2 laser you can also engrave and cut plastics precisely and efficiently for a variety of applications. As you can see there is a large discrepancy in speed of the cut depending on the quality level you would like to achieve with a given thickness of material.

A laser cutting machine transfers a pre programmed design onto whatever material you re using. While you might associate laser cutting more with wood or plastic you can use a laser cutter for fabric paper metal and more.