Versalaser

I've been reading about the versalaser tool. It's a laser engraving/cutting tool. It sounds like the dream prototyping tool for us.

It can cut plexiglass, wood, matboard, etc 1/4" thick as precisely as if it were die cut. (Think perfect hexes or other shaped tiles).

The prices is kind of steep, around $13,000 with enough accessories to actually use. I'm trying to find a place to rent time on one.

My brother is a model railroad enthusiast who has done some research into laser cutters. I spoke to him about using one for prototyping. The largest drawback is discoloration caused by smoke. Apparently, some materials -- especially wood and paper -- show darkened borders because of this.

Nevertheless, the idea is really promising. Please post again if you get a chance to try one.

K.

Do you know how the edges on plexiglass come out?

What do model railroad enthusiats do with these machines? I know one, and maybe I can get him interested in a laser cutter.

I don't know how plexiglass comes out, but apparently some plastics come out with little or no discoloration, for whatever that's worth.

Railroaders use them to cut parts for homemade kits. Laser cutters allow people who want to sell their modules to make limited runs for other modelers.

K.

I'm lucky to have access to a laser engraver and have to say it is a temendous tool for prototyping. I use it to cut plastic and plexiglass and have made some pretty intricate pieces with it. Not to mention it was used to create the original Dice Boot proto.

I can't see how you could possibly cut paper or cardstock without it erupting into flames though! It's a laser and cuts via heat for crying out loud.

While I absolutely love using it and can't imagine trying to do some of the stuff I've done without it, there's no way I could ever justify actually buying one.

I will gladly answer any questions anyone has about them though - I've been using one for many years now and am the guy in charge of fixing it whenever it goes down, as well as cleaning and realigning it as needed.

I'll admit to never trying it, and I guess if the power level is low enough it might do it without bursting into flames, but I'd have to believe a good rotory cutter would still be the better way to go for that material.

I've never heard of any place doing something like that. Not to say they don't exist, but it's not really that portable - though I've never seen the smaller units like the versa. The one I use has a 24" x 12" engraving field.

The one we use is a used machine and we've been using it for nearly ten years now, close to 8 hours a day - 5 days a week. I've replaced darn near everything on it including the laser itself. But it does need regular cleaning and we go through optics (mirrors and lenses) a fair bit. Replacement parts are not cheap. But they are pretty easy to work on, if you're the type that doesn't wince at that kind of thing.

We have a 25 watt. It can go through 1/8" plastic on one pass but when I do 1/4" plexi it takes multiple passes. You get a better result at multiple passes on a lower setting rather than plowing through on max and generating a lot of heat.

Again, this is talking about a larger machine but the engraver itself isn't too loud but the exhaust system required sure as heck is!

You can get lenses with different focal lengths and get pretty darn fine. To answer your question, I'd say yes, with the right lens. (FYI - a lens runs about $450.)

You could do an embossing depending on the material. It would be tricky to get the power and speed settings right. In the end, I just don't think it's practical just for prototyping because of the costs involved. It's a nice side benefit if you were going to use one for a business - making awards, signs, etc. They really are a cool tool to play around with.

Hope that helps some.

Ah. I'll give it a shot and see what happens. One problem might be keeping it from getting sucked into the exhaust - that things pushes a lot of air through. The one thing you don't want is any smoke hitting the lens.

True. I use it to make hex tiles a lot. But from plastic or plexi.

And it's not really an option. You have to have some kind of exhaust system.

Depending on the material they can be quite nasty. We vent through the wall to outside. To do it indoors qould require a really good filtration system.

If you're doing more graphical stuff rather than text you may want to remove a bigger chunk of material on each pass. With a finer focus it will take a lot longer. Some of the stuff we do takes over an hour to engrave. One Dice Boot was taking me nearly twenty minutes to cut out. They are generally for custom work and not any kind of "production" run.

It's not powerful enough to cut through metal. It won't even etch plain metal. We use an anodized aluminum plate for the tag we engrave the model and serial numbers on. It burns off the anodizing and is "etched" that way. It sure can deliver a nice little burn on skin though!

Boy, I don't know enough about PC board material to give an educated opinion on that I'm afraid. Sorry.