I’m playing with Delrin right now for leather stamping, and I’m having a little bit of a flaring while cutting and a bit of a melting issue. Not a huge issue but I would really appreciate knowing what settings you’ve found works best so I can refine my work.
1 Like
Hey Michael, I would love to share my settings. These are for a stamp 1”x 2.25” and .5”x .5” I do three separate engraves with settings of: Speed 600/ Power 100/ Vary Power/ Min Power 0/ 340 LPI/ Passes 1/ Focus .25 in. (I do them separately to manually control cooling (5-10 min) before starting the next engrave.) The cut settings are: Speed 130/ Power Full/ Passes 3/ Focus .25 in. I am using a basic Glowforge. Hope this helps!
Cheers,
Ryan
12 Likes
This is a big help, thank you!
3 Likes
On a quick addition to this Delrin is incredibly slippery… as such if you are using smaller pieces (even 6"x6") the material can easily shift and it’s best to place blocks around the sides to hold in place.
6 Likes
Ah yes, good call! I do wedge in some pins around the perimeter to prevent movement.
1 Like
oddly, when I took delrin slower, it caught on fire. I can’t seem to get slower than 300 on 1/2 inch. At 3 passes, all Glowforge will allow, it doesn’t for deep enough. What I am making is very detailed so I am at 275LPI. I’d like to at least get my project down to 1/4 in.
Shoot, as I typed this, I just realized that I made the thickness focus at 1/4. wonder if that made it catch on fire at 250speed.
What speed, strength and LPI do you use?
2 Likes
glowforge will allow more passes, you just have to type the number in.
7 Likes
I know this is a pretty old post, but I wanted to post what I learned from using Delrin.
First off, I want to caution that ALL Delrin gives off formaldehyde fumes when burned. A reputable plastics manufacturer will have better quality stuff that has a bit less, but it WILL happen so make sure you have a very good, closed exhaust system with good pull of fumes.
I always cut first as the high heat can melt the edges and ruin your engraving. Then i engrave. settings i use are as follows. Remember the lower speeds with high heat can cause flare ups. With my settings its minimized. (so far).
Cutting- Speed 125, Power 100, passes 3
Engraving- Speed 990, Power 100, Number of passes 3, Lines per inch 225
i
found that sometimes when cutting that due to slight melting the cut can resolidify, so I have had to knock it loose with a mallet (holding it in the air in my hand and just whacking it a few times. It’s really tough stuff and won’t break.
Try your own tweaking based on my experiences so far. I cannot stress enough the need to have a VERY VERY good exhaust system. I try not to do a ton of making these stamps for my leather work due to the formaldehyde but making them out of acrylic wasn’t working as its very brittle and doesn’t last past about 5 pressings before cracking unless they’re small ones (2” square).
If any of you have a better way aside from outsourcing to an industrial company, please leave a response
7 Likes