Versalaser enquiry

djamigo · Post by **djamigo** » Tue 10 Oct , 2006 16:09 pm

Hello;

As part of a project my company needs to etch small-scale channels in 1.5mm polystyrene sheet. We envisage that they will be a minimum of 50 um (0.05mm) wide and up to 0.5 mm in depth. Is the versalaser capable of this sort of work and would it require the purchase of the high resolution accessory?

It is important that the channel depth is constant and not subject to any variability.

The Polystyrene is colourless and transparent, it is also important to us that the etched channels remain optically clear, would the laser etching discolour or roughen the channel base / edges?

Many thanks

Dr David Steele
Biocolor Ltd

Post by **Denford Admin** » Tue 10 Oct , 2006 19:59 pm

Theres only one way to find out - send us a sample of the material and the kind of thing you want etching.

My gut feeling is that our larger range of laser may be more suitable:
http://www.denford.ltd.uk/index.php?opt ... &Itemid=29

But we can try it on both machines for you.

Send a sample and details to:
Sales Dept.
Denford Ltd
Birds Royd
Brighouse
West Yorkshire
United Kingdom
HD6 1NB

Thanks

djamigo · Post by **djamigo** » Wed 11 Oct , 2006 11:09 am

Thats sounds like a good idea! At this stage we are looking for technical feasibility and so are only interested in the cutting of channels in the plastic, do we need to prepare a sample drawing to send to you?

Post by **Denford Admin** » Wed 11 Oct , 2006 11:20 am

It would help if you could send an autocad dxf and dwg (we should be able to read any Version) sample design.

djamigo · Post by **djamigo** » Tue 14 Nov , 2006 16:28 pm

Hello;

Many thanks for testing our sample plastic on the Versalaser system. The acrylic samples you sent back to us looked more promising than the polystyrene we provided. As I explained on the phone we would require a transparent base on our etched channels, the laser engraving caused the base to be roughened, and white in appearance. We have tried post-processing steps of our own to treat the plastic but have had no success.

Despite this drawback I am reluctant to drop the laser idea so quickly, it really does seem suited to our use for this project. So I have yet another query I hope you could help me with......

Is it possible that running the laser in a Vector Engrave mode would preserve the optical transparency of the plastic? I ask this because the acrylic samples edges were cut in Vector mode and have a beautiful polished appearance. I read that the versalaser can also etch in vector mode and would think that this might suit our purposes better?

Many thanks for your time and assistance.

Dr David Steele
Biocolor Ltd

Post by **Denford Admin** » Tue 14 Nov , 2006 17:08 pm

With either Raster engraving, or Vector engraving you will always end up with a rough bottomed pocket.

In engraving mode, the laser acts like a very sharp pointed tool - marking dots (raster) and ridges (vector) in the surface.
In cutting mode, its more like a hot wire which will leave a nice smooth cut edge.

I guess some materials will engrave better than others if the surface tends to melt and fuse the ridges together.

I didn't get to see your samples or DXF files, but wouldn't one of our machines with micro-stepping drives, and a very fine high speed cutter do the job ?

Denford Software & Machines

Denford Software & Machines

Versalaser enquiry

Versalaser enquiry

Raster versus vector engraving