TOP 10 HOME LASER CUTTER MISTAKES

[@paultakoy7091]

Great points Steve! Thanks for putting them into one place. One issue that I tend to find myself in more often than I should is rushing to get something done. It always results in failure for me. Keep up the great videos!

[@SteveMakesEverything]

I feel your pain. I’ve been building a custom light that was a rush job, but has ended up going through several redesigns because it is virtually impossible to assemble

[@truetech4158]

Ya, that fire concern, I havnt had any, though do have a 3in1 sheet metal machine that might be a good idea to use for making a proper fireproof enclosure for the laser rig. Keeping a few spray bottles set to MIST setting might help rather than dumping a glass of water over things. Fire blankets seem popular with laser rig owners from what I've heard a few mention of. Thanx for the tips, about the cutting of foam and ya the cyanide gas..basically the airborne version of the jonestown koolade festival!

[@SteveMakesEverything]

While I always keep a spray bottle close at hand, I also have a proper extinguisher hanging on the wall near my lasers.

[@EC-gy9pv]

Very useful tips, thank you, Steve!

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Happy to help

[@CorbyQ]

Im watching all the content, soaking it all in. So when I get my laser I'm ready to go.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

What laser are you looking at?

[@CorbyQ]

@@SteveMakesEverything I really like your review on the longer b1 I think it was but…….waaaay out of my price range right now. I’m on disability and just got back from a pretty intense Dr appt waiting on results. I’m Gonna keep slaving away at woodworking and trying to get my cooking channel back on track and save some money but honestly it will probably be a cheap one and I will make it work.

[@royalmaster203]

Hi Steve, I really like your format, pretty much, here is what I did, this worked or didn't work, this is really good information, thanks for making this\these vids, Thanks

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Excellent! Hopefully this helps shorten your own path

[@michaelruhl43]

We have a wecreat laser and cannot engrave color. How do you set this up?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Can you clarify this? You can’t engrave in different colors, though manufacturers will tell you that you can engrave colors into stainless steel. It’s very unpredictable though.

[@randynorthey3101]

Steve your videos are extremely helpful as we are just learning how to use our new Muse 3D. Can you tell me where I can find your Materials setting guide you spoke of? Thank you.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

About a year ago I did a video for material settings. There is a link there to a library of engrave setting you can load

[@wilmercb]

Great video! Did you remove the factory fan to have better airflow or you use both at the same time? And the Air assist for the laser it's fine with the factory compressor? Thanks.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Yes both fans a running and it definitely helps evacuate smoke, smell, etc. The compressor is small but is fine since it doesn’t actually have to push a lot of air - just enough to push the smoke away from the cut.

[@sallyann-nicolemiller5625]

Steve, thanks again. When I saw that you replaced the vent pipe with PVC Vinyl pipe, I knew that is why my laser fumes were getting to me and making me feel awful. I'm vented to the outside of course, but the suggestion to use the light...omg. Another Q: when you mask, do you increase the power at all? I want to try glass today; what settings would you suggest for me to engrave that. My slate turned out well! Thanks to your video!

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Hi Nicole. You shouldn’t need to adjust the power to compensate for masking. Your laser will burn through that like butter 😀 Btw when engraving glass you don’t get much notion of shades of lightness so lean toward less power. You can probably get away with a speed that’s 80% or more, and power in to 30-40% range - really just enough to see the engraving. You also might need to take a bit of a light wire brush to it afterward to break away any residual glass fragments.

[@sallyann-nicolemiller5625]

@@SteveMakesEverything Thank you!

[@SteveMakesEverything]

A pleasure as always 👍

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@@sallyann-nicolemiller5625 Note that you could probably also add a secondary inline fan to more forcibly remove the fumes. I'll add a link to the one I got from Amazon down in the description.

[@kempaswe4022]

And one thing, the bigger fan the bigger intake for fresh air to the Laser and don't forget a filter do it doesn't suck in dust to the laser

[@SteveMakesEverything]

It probably a good idea but you won't find many lasers that actually do this. There is enough dust float around inside the laser during operation that it probably won't matter that much if any incoming air is clean.

[@studiofiesel]

Hi Steve. I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge and experience. I was using blue painter's tape to mask the wood that I cut but the vaporized glue is leaving a sticky residue which I clean about once a week. Does the transfer tape you link leave any residue?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Transfer tape isn’t nearly as sticky. The type I use is arguably less sticky than it should be but it last long enough to make a clean cut. Not residue, though I don’t recall seeing residue with blue tape either.

[@thebigfresh1877]

Hi Steve. Another awesome video! You covered many things that a lot of KZbin laser folks don’t and will likely help many people including myself. I received my Muse 3D Thursday, using the Canadian distributor, and haven’t had time to set it up. I have a few questions... Could you please post a link for your 12 inch masking product and cermark , or equivalent, to ensure I order the right stuff? Thx!

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Thanks for the vote of confidence!😀 The transfer tape I bought is this one (amzn.to/3fCO3gC) Since you're in Canada you can use my Amazon affiliate link and I may be paid a commission. You could also get Cermark on Amazon, though it's usually too expensive. The cheapest place to buy it is probably Trotec in Canada (Look here: www.engraving-supplies.ca/laser-engraving-accessories/paint-thermark-cermark.html). I buy most of my higher-end materials there now.

[@roubens1]

Hi Steve, Thanks for the video. I have many samples of plastic laminates like Formica. Is it safe to cut this material? Another question that I have is I have rolls of Oakwood edging that has glue baking that is activated by heat used mostly for edging tabletops. I was wondering what would happen if I cut this with the laser? Or how to protect any material that has glue backing?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Hi Rouben. Welcome to the channel. You would need to me careful with formica because two of the things used to make it is resin and melamine. It won't damage your laser but if you try if your laser is well vented you should be OK. I would be a lot more careful with the pre-glued edging. The veneer is fine but the glues are essentially plastic and can be made of things that aren't very healthy, but more likely they will easily catch fire.. Check with the manufacturer for composition, but in general I would avoid these myself. I've use unglued veneer in the past and with low power and high speed on the laser it cuts very well.

[@roubens1]

@@SteveMakesEverything Thank You, Steve. I was afraid of the glue backing materials. By the way, I am enjoying your videos.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@@roubens1 Thanks for the vote of confidence 😀. It's great to think I'm helping people.

[@sued877]

thanks for a super video.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Glad you liked it!

[@Chequr_Prostate]

I guess the only time pvc flexible pipe becomes a problem is if there’s a fire, especially if it’s in an enclosure.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

I would not touch PVC at all. When a laser hits it, there is always enough heat to make it vaporize and free the chlorine. Even with excellent ventilation, there is enough chlorine to damage things like lenses and corrode wire connections.

[@mrgrinch61]

someone told me to mask with spray sidewalk chalk ?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

I thank anything that masks the surface from smoke will work.

[@cornwallonline]

You mentioned chromium - how about stainless steel? A commonly used material in lasers, which contains at least 10% chromium. Is it safe?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Yes, in stainless the chromium is chemically stable because it’s an alloy and isn’t being cut or engraved anyway

[@makertime6296]

I have seen Acetal (Delrin) parts being laser cut. Isn't that hazardous?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Delrin should be fine to cut. This you need to avoid are materials that are chlorine of fluorine based. Things like PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride)

[@makertime6296]

@@SteveMakesEverything Do you think the settings for Delrin would be similar to acrylics?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

You will probably have to double the speed that you use for acrylic, though the power will be roughly the same. Delrin is a bit softer. You will have to experiment a bit though.

[@paperfolder9013]

As the article states “ When choosing the type of duct to use, use only metal duct. In particular, never use any type of plastic or rubber duct material! Why is metal duct required? The metal pipe allows you to electrically ground the entire duct system from the laser all the way to the exhaust port exiting from the building. Wall mounted exhaust fan with remote control switch. The problem with using PVC pipe and other nonconductive duct materials is that a moving stream of airborne particle matter builds up a charge of static electricity, which can eventually cause a static electric charge. A static spark in the presence of certain concentrations of airborne particles can cause either a fire or, in extreme cases, even an explosion. This is very dangerous and must be kept in mind when designing any type of ventilation system”

[@SteveMakesEverything]

It's a fair comment if you are running a 20 foot length of pipe in the dessert, however the foil pipe also has measurable levels of plastic content as well (it's not 100% metal by far and since in neither case is the pipe grounded the comment about potential static applies equally to both. The comment about static discharge causing a fire is completely dubious since none of the particles from material you would ever cut in a laser are inherently flammable, nor are they in a concentration that could trigger ignition. However, if you were really concerned about this run a bare grounded wire in the pipe or line the inside with foil tape or even use full metal ducting if you have space. Since I live in a very high humidity area - even in winter, there would never be static build-up in the 2 feet of pipe I have between my laser and the wall. Further I am more concerned about the particles and fumes being vented into my workshop where they could slowly kill me.

[@Timwood8]

Hi Steve, I am thinking about cutting cloroplast... the stuff they make political campaign signs out of. Is that bad to cut?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Coroplast is made of Polypropylene which is fine to cut with a CO2 laser

[@Timwood8]

@@SteveMakesEverything thank you for the response keep up the good information

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@@Timwood8 Happy to help

[@paperfolder9013]

Do not use pvc vinyl pipe.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

It's certainly up to you if you want to breathe smoke out of the laser because you use a pipe full of holes.