Beginners Guide to Laser Power and Speed

This beginners guide to laser power and speed and discuss some of the challenges of cutting more dense materials. Laser cutting MDF is sometimes hard to do with a 40W laser like an FSL Muse 3D. In this video I will address a viewer question that came to me recently about why a laser job that was supposed to be a cut operation resulted in an engraving instead. This is a common challenge for laser users who are just starting out and is the result of incorrect power or speed settings, so I will investigate ways that you can determine the right settings for even a hard material like MDF.

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►►►► VIDEO CONTENTS
0:00 Introduction
2:20 Design a Test Project
6:00 Laser Cutting the Tes
6:30 Test Results
8:40 Final Tips and Comments

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[TerraMarie]

I recently got a omtech k-40 and I’ve basically exclusively been cutting 1/4 wood and 1/4 mdf with it. I just cut 1/8 for the first time today actually. 2 passes is enough for me to get through all 1/4th. I do get charred edges, but that’s nothing a little sanding can’t fix. I paint everything I cut so that charring is never worth sanding to me. But it is possible and not as hard or intimidating as one would expect.

[PinItRight]

Thanks, Steve, very helpful. And yes, that is where we got our MDF from 🥴. Jerry and Chris

[azmanyaacob]

Thanks for ur sharing... really appreciate it

[Cambium]

I use almost exclusively 3mm MDF. On a 45w Pro-series FSL, I use the following settings with minimal char and staining. Takes only a wipe with damp paper towel to remove any yellowing.

To Cut: 60sp, 95pwr, 100cur, 4 passes
To Engrave: 70sp, 30pwr, 100cur, 1 pass

[weboflies]

I guess what we would want with RE3 is something like "group attributes" that can be selected to overide individual attributes.

[TalkingGIJoe]

When you say "40watt" laser won't cut MDF... is that 40watt input or output power? It seems that these Chinese laser system guys purposefully obfuscate input power with laser output power. I see a whole lot of 5.5watt output lasers labeled as 80watt lasers. Any guidance there?

[RandomProjects]

Thanks for the video! Where in Canada did you purchase the laser ready cherry MDF core plywood?

[turboflush]

Good stuff.
Similar to how i do it.
I dont fully understand the powerscale and got strange results.
Cutting powerscales seem to be more rare.
I ran a powerscale on my 5w diode laser and had great success.. But on the 100.. Idk what happened.
1/8" mdf @ 60% 100w laser. I need to play with it still.. Edges are a bit gummy after.

[kpedro]

Another great nugget of wisdom from you Steve. Thank you. I run an in-line exhaust fan adding an additional 240 cam of exhaust effort to the system fan and then in to my FSL100 fume extractor. When running this test from you on some plywood, I am getting some pretty good smell in the workshop. No smoke just smells. Are you getting some smells from your Muse 3D and is this just normal? Thank you for all of your help.

[kpedro]

So you get ZERO smell I am moving over 1000 cfm but still get a slight smell during use on birch

[spydie]

Not enough output out of the laser is not too far-fetched. I bought a new Ortur Laser Master Pro 2 S2 LF and it takes 6 passes to cut through 1/8" wood while other guys can do it in 1 pass. Ortur had me run a test for them and they decided I needed a new laser head, but with Chinese New Years (a full month) I'll be waiting forever to get the laser.