Adding a laser to Prusa

I want to upgrade my Prusa to have a laser. What type of laser is best for etching and cutting? How far should it be placed from the work piece and which software should I use for controlling?

What for, like, woodcutting?

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Printer: Prusa i3, 2 E3D v6 Hotends, Arduino + RAMPS 1.4 with a Bypassed 5V Regulator, 400w Insignia ATX PSU, Custom Designed Bowden Extruders

Yes wood cutting and engraving

Hi,

Don't even think about cutting wood with a diode laser - which can be mounted on a Hobby 3D printer.
Cheap laser diodes (300mw to 2.8w) can be mounted but you will just engrave wood or other materials,
and cut soft materials like acrylic, plastics, foams, fabrics, leather, (maybe balsa and 3mm MDF with the more powerfull ones.
A good laser diode can exceed the price or your whole 3d printer kit.

To cut wood you need at last about a 50w CO2 laser, much powerfull but heavy and too big to be mounted on a I3.
You won't save a lot DIYing a CO2 laser, you'd rather buy a cheap chinese one, or invest money into a serious home made one.

++JM

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/15/2016 06:32PM by J-Max.

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^ Things I said. My thingiverse here. My website there (in french).

... I'm cutting 3mm ply-wood with a blue 2W-laserdiode with several passes - here an example:




And here the complete thread - [forums.reprap.org]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/15/2016 06:59PM by VDX.

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Viktor
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Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

Yep, thin boards of Balsa plywood and poplar. I enjoyed your thread.
Both are light woods. "Wood" covers a large variety of different materials.
In some cases you can cut it with 2W or greater laser diodes.
As you need several passes to finaly cut thin layers, that means your diode just powerfull enough to engrave.
Laser is desapointing. It can works well with some materials and not with others.
I guess it depends of many factors including the way that material is sensible to the laser light.
Ash, Birch, Oak, can be more difficult to laser, even with engraving process.

I meant that if you realy want to cut any wood in a reasonable amount of time,
you'd rather think about a CO2 laser machine.

++JM

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^ Things I said. My thingiverse here. My website there (in french).