TOP 10 LASER MATERIALS // Part 1 - Simple Laser Material

[@Cambium29]

Steve, your videos are always informative and enjoyable to watch. Thanks.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Glad you like them!

[@JeffMarhenke]

Thanks for posting this info. Really helpful to someone like me who is looking into getting a laser.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Glad it was helpful. If there are things you'd like to see covered in videos, just shoot me an email.

[@sigh_of_the_times]

as always steve another useful video.thank you.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Very welcome

[@sunbluedesigns3619]

Steve, thanks so much for these helpful videos. They've been a life saver. I've just gotten some pre-cut cork with plans to engrave... do you recommend masking cork for an engraving?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Glad to help. You shouldn't really need to mask cork since you aren't cutting it. It takes very light power to do a nice engraving job on cork.

[@FreelancerAlpha1-1]

Hey Steve, I’m struggling with knowing how to place my engraving material so that I can reproduce consistent engraving. I’m currently doing small anodized aluminum rectangles.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Look in my video list. I did a video a year or more ago about building jigs to make alignment easy and fast

[@billiniowa9123]

Hey steve, I decided on a fox alien 20 watt diode laser. They claim they have a priority design of beam technology. The true optical power is between 5-7 watts. The only difference that it makes is the settings if other lasers mught be a bit too much power, otherwise you jyst blow and go. It comes with the rotary and i use the Cornwell enclosure. Air assist is also available. They also make a 40 watt laser module and a cnc with laset combo. Just throwing it out there for anyone thinking if buying their first laser. Oh yes, a friend bought one and a smoke remover with 2 fans. Actually made for solder smoke. Its still smoke from resin lol.. anyways, he put it in a styrofoam enclosure and works great. I try to follow you but uts getting in the busy season

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Nice. Sounds like you have a great setup.

[@rdy4trvl]

I've seen a few of your videos - great content on lasers! On this video, I had hoped you'd touch on metal. I'd like to make some medical ID bracelets (silicon band with metal band on top) for a nonprofit and I'm guessing the medical info on the metal bands is engraved with a laser. Any guess on the laser specs for something like this? I've also seen some silicon bands that look like the silicon was engraved directly (no metal band) - could that be possible?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

The materials here were done with a CO2 laser, and they are generally not good for metals. If you are using a diode laser to engrave stainless steel, then use 100% power and go pretty slow to get the best results. I have engraved hundreds of silicone watchbands on my CO2 but not with a diode laser, so maybe I should do a video for a project like this. The settings are impossible to guess without knowing you laser, but on a 90W CO2 I typically use about 30% power and 400mm/min. So low power and relatively high speed.

[@greenwithNV]

What settings do you use for cork? I have a 10W Diode, and cant seem to find the write cocktail. Thanks! Great video by the way!

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Cork is notoriously hard to cut, but engrave settings should be pretty straightforward if you run an engrave test. If you are engraving images you will probably need to dither them because I don’t think you’ll be decent grayscale on cork.

[@christopherditlow5595]

Did you ever try liquid soap or another fluid to shield clear acrylic rather than a tape type mask?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Yes liquid dish soap works well and I covered this in my edge-lit sign video a while back. You can also raise the acrylic off the work space a bit with either spike or a knife edge workspace or just leave the protective film on the surface until after cutting. But the best option to start with is to get your power/speed setting correct

[@spydie]

I never mask wood when engraving. I use an air-assist nozzle and I never get any burned edges. It's clean as can be.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

If your setting are correct you generally don't need masking with air assist, though this gets much harder if you are cutting more dense materials that require lots of power. I try to avoid masking when I can, but you can't always do that without marring the surface in some way. It's not just about avoiding dust sticking to the surface.

[@busbyfinefurniture]

@@SteveMakesEverything You can always sand off any smoke / burn residue

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@@busbyfinefurniture Except on clear acrylic, which can permanently haze, especially when cutting. For cuts, I usually just leave the protective film on and remove it after the cut

[@busbyfinefurniture]

@@SteveMakesEverything Well true, but I replied about wood, of course sanding plastics is a bad idea 👍

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@@busbyfinefurniture 😀 I wasn't trying to shame you. I just generally work to get the settings correct for wood so no masking or sanding is required. It depends on the type and thickness of wood of course - sometimes it's unavoidable to get smoking on the surface. Then it's a masking or sanding job.

[@herbertbrowning6753]

Thank you for the great videos.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Thanks for watching!

[@CookieP42]

Wet the leather. It keeps the smell and smoke down

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Excellent tip. I've previously put some leather conditioner on it before cutting and that seems to help a bit too.

[@prayingkoala]

I thought clear acrylic was only cuttable with CO2 lasers. Is that what you use?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Yes only a CO2 can cut clear acrylic.

[@prayingkoala]

Does a fiber laser etch clear acrylic?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@@prayingkoala N o, though a UV laser will. I have an upcoming review of r a new UV laser coming soon.

[@prayingkoala]

@ I look forward to that review

[@kenanklovitch8117]

Thanks Steve - how do you darken the wood letters and images?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Well you could use borax or baking soda or simply use more power and less speed

[@SteveMakesEverything]

I did a couple of video on using borax

[@kenanklovitch8117]

@@SteveMakesEverything Thank you.

[@SugareeDances]

Hi Steve. I have a new Pro36. I can’t seem to find your video on the materials test. What’s the name or in what playlists? :-}

[@SteveMakesEverything]

It will be in the laser project playlist but here it is: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jJjbfIqufdOBfpo

[@mymagicsigns]

Nice video about top 10 materials that shows the top 5 materials, that are actually 3 materials :))

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Well there is a part 2 😁

[@yesicali9113]

Great helpful videos

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Glad it was helpful!

[@xselcer]

Steve, I’ve recently found your channel and have really enjoyed your videos. One question I had was about acrylic… I have tried several times to cut clear acrylic using different techniques but have been unsuccessful. The laser just goes right through. What could I be doing wrong?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

You don't say what kind of laser you have BUT if you have a blue diode laser and you are trying to cut clear acrylic you are out of luck. Diode lasers can only work with non-clear acrylic. Black is best.

[@xselcer]

Thanks, Steve… I do have a blue diode but will be upgrading in the near future with the help of your recommendation videos.

[@zachofalltrades1111]

do you have a video to make templates for making the same thing over and over i want to do dog tags for my pets.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

yes! I did a video back in November about creating jigs to make multiple copies off things

[@crystaljacob5231]

Love your videos, gonna purchase one soon. Is the titan better than the 3D?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

As the name suggests, the Titan is certainly bigger. Which one to buy depends on what you intend to do. The Titan takes a lot of space so if that a consideration then the Muse 3d is a reasonable fit. The Muse is also quite a bit cheaper, but in the end the Titan has more power and a larger workspace, which is always better - especially if you aren't sure what you're going to build in the long term.

[@michaelw2643]

Can the S1 laser cut 1mm copper sheet?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

1mm copper would be a hard no. Most diode laser can cut only very thin stainless steel

[@shoxdanger]

can i ask wat the speed is on the test parts you do ?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Hmm this was more than a year ago so I can’t recall. However it’s probably not that useful anyway since the setting would be specific to each laser.

[@shoxdanger]

@@SteveMakesEverything np mate and you are right about that. I will try some stuff out anyway thanks for the reply

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@@shoxdanger Sometimes you need to experiment - that's part of the fun 😉

[@stacyvanassche8436]

Steve, We have a muse. Wondering what settings you use for 1/8 in. Utility panels?

[@stacyvanassche8436]

Actually sorry, 1/4 plywood

[@SteveMakesEverything]

1/4” hardware store plywood is a stretch for any 40-45W laser because of the glue they typically use between layers. You will definitely need 100% power/current and then it’s just a case of how slow you need to go to cut through it. You could try one pass at 5-7% and assuming it cuts through, the. Start adding speed to reduce charring as much as possible. You could also try 10% speed and do two passes

[@stacyvanassche8436]

@@SteveMakesEverything thank you will give it a try!!

[@TALISHAMON]

Did you cut the leather pieces or just etch them? Do you get the terrible smell with etching as well as cutting leather?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@TALISHAMON anytime you touch leather with a laser you get some level of smell. It's not really noticeable while your laser is running because you presumably have it vented well outside, but after your laser stops let the fan run for a couple minutes before opening the lid to make sure it has time to exhaust out the insides of the laser. After the cutting is finished apply some leather finish to the surfaces and lightly sanded edges and not only will it look fantastic, it will smell like any other great leather product. On its own the smell goes away after a couple days. Remember when working with leather to mask it off (at least where you are going to cut) to avoid having to do a cleaning job due to the smoke.

[@woosier1]

I got some strips of leather from a guy that prepares his own and uses it to make wallets and stuff. The smell was so bad it took everything I had to keep running engraving and cutting tests without throwing up. The smell was unbelievably strong, even with my significant exhaust system. All other leather and faux leather pieces I've done have not had any smell at all. I don't know what makes the difference but I'll never do that again if I can help it.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@@woosier1 😀 Yes, cutting and engraving leather is not for those with sensitive noses, but it really depends how it was tanned. Leather done with vegetable tanning seems to be bearable if you've got good ventilation. If you have someone tanning their own leather then who knows what you'll experience.

[@mariavioleta666]

Some real leather have a chemical coat that is toxic

[@jessetutterrow4320]

I came across your video from KZbin's suggestions. It would have been helpful if you had told us what power and type of laser you had at the _beginning_ of the video. I finally figured out you were using a mid-sized CO2 laser which means none of the information is applicable to my laser. Not everyone who is watching this video is familiar with your channel!

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Sorry for the confusion. However you should be able to scale any settings up or down to suit your laser and at least get pretty close.

[@bcurtis1612]

How can I upload your material settings?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Watch kzbin.info/www/bejne/jJjbfIqufdOBfpo starting as 12:50

[@bcurtis1612]

@@SteveMakesEverything thank you. I have watched that video. Was hoping to upload your material list as a starting point. However, I don’t have the upload and download buttons that I see you have for custom materials. Hmmmm?

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@@bcurtis1612 Got to the materials dialog and select the "Vector" tab at the top. Beside the word "Material" in that panel there should be two icons that look like a rectangle with and arrow entering or exiting. It's those buttons that you need to use. You're saying those aren't there? Do you have a Muse 3d?

[@bcurtis1612]

@@SteveMakesEverything I see them on your screen in the video but I don’t have the. Yes, I have the Muse 3D.

[@SteveMakesEverything]

@@bcurtis1612 Maybe you want to try doing a factory reset (and then reconnect the laser to your network).

[@waynekuhn8876]

No pvc

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Pvc is not something you should ever cut with a laser. The C stands for chlorine and it tends to off-gas when hit with a laser. Hard on equipment and potentially deadly for you.

[@jgabler4433]

Informative but the number of ads you put in this video is ridiculous

[@SteveMakesEverything]

Sorry, but I don’t control the ads. That’s all KZbin