GlowForge Laser Engraver

[Pave Tim]

Has anyone used a GlowForge laser engraver for panel work? We bought one and its on the way. Have some ideas and will try out for a few small panels before getting brave. It can also cut limited types of material.

glowforge.com

One thing that I think would make this thing come in handy with is cutting templates using cardboard.

If you decide to pull the trigger, send me a PM for a "coupon". We both win!

[RickWoodall]

Interesting.

What would be even cooler is if they made one a bit bigger with a bit more juice and it could cut inserts for panels. I have a composite panel and i get the panels (7) cut with water jet. Te be able to cut them and even engrave/label them would be very cool, plus it would be easy to make other useful parts.

When up and running show us what you made.

[Mark Dickens]

Originally Posted by RickWoodall

Interesting.

What would be even cooler is if they made one a bit bigger with a bit more juice and it could cut inserts for panels. I have a composite panel and i get the panels (7) cut with water jet. Te be able to cut them and even engrave/label them would be very cool, plus it would be easy to make other useful parts.

When up and running show us what you made.

This appears to be a low powered CO2 laser so it can't cut or really engrave metal. It can mark the surface of metal if the metal is anodized or has a special coating applied to it and in that case it's just interacting with the surface coating. CO2 lasers can cut metal when they are in the 250 watt or higher category AND enhanced with oxygen to increase heat output. These little lasers will be fun for hobby purposes and if you want to use them for making placards for your instrument panel, they're great for that when you use laserable plastic or painted plaque metal (where the laser burns off the paint to expose the metal below). I've been in the laser engraving business for almost 20 years and I did use one of my surface lasers to create my panel placards.

[WingsOnWheels]

And as a bonus, aluminum is one of the hardest metals to cut with a laser, it take more power for aluminum than steel. If you want to cut your instrument panel, plan on a 500w or better laser.....haha

[jcarne]

See post 435 here in my build thread. I used a 50 watt laser to engrave some adhesive plates. The material is called Durablack, I really liked it.

[Pave Tim]

You can get one for the low-low price of around 75K.

Originally Posted by WingsOnWheels

And as a bonus, aluminum is one of the hardest metals to cut with a laser, it take more power for aluminum than steel. If you want to cut your instrument panel, plan on a 500w or better laser.....haha

[WingsOnWheels]

Originally Posted by Pave Tim

You can get one for the low-low price of around 75K.

Here at work we have a 60Kw fiber laser....not used for engraving though...haha

[rocketman1988]

Many, many years ago I had a Universal Laser. 18x24 bed. 30w, air-cooled, CO2 laser.

It was great fun and I really miss it, wish I hadn't sold it. It was awesome for working with plastics, anodized plates and wood...and no, it would not cut metal...

[philip_g]

Originally Posted by jcarne

See post 435 here in my build thread. I used a 50 watt laser to engrave some adhesive plates. The material is called Durablack, I really liked it.

looks real nice

[BlakeFrazier]

I've got a Glowforge basic that we backed in the original crowdfunding round and have had for two or three years now. It's quite the machine and we've made loads of fun stuff with it, though indeed I didn't find much use for it doing panels and the like.

It does do a really nice job burning off anodize from aluminum to make sharp graphics. I didn't have much luck with the Alumablack/Durablack products which are supposed to show up black on aluminum when lasered... but then again I give up pretty easily when things aren't working well, so YMMV.

Ours just has a 12x20 bed size, which is a little small for panel work generally. They make a Pro version Glowforge which has a pass-through feature that lets you use long material 20" wide, which may be more useful for this type of thing.

My awesome designer wife drummed up a tidy little side business (https://bexboxcreative.com/) making wooden necklaces, coasters, and other stock and custom items with it... but my favorite thing I've made with it so far is a fully automatic handheld rubber band gun that I designed. Is this gun commercially viable? No. Is it practical? No. Is it really fun? YES, OH YES.