"engraving" paper? (And some tube life info)

Everything Else
24

Wonder what accounts for the difference between the two?
Glass is a thermal insulator while metal is a conductor…

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I am under the impression that it goes like a lightbulb, but someone with real experience can feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

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Been told by “the guys” (all gender) that the answer is “yes”. Goes out in different ways, slowly and/or instantly for either.

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Haha, okay cool. Thank you.

28

http://www.checkmatelasers.com/QA-Whats-the-difference-between-glass-and-metal-laser-tubes.cfm

That is the definitely the difference between glass and metal tubes. Metal tubes cost way more than the whole glow forge does.

The glass tubes are one of my larger concerns with the Glowforge, we struggle to get 10 tubes through without failure and GF are having 1000s custom made in a bit of a rush.

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Linking back to previous topic on life expectancy of tube. I really appreciate the knowledge from experience that has been shared. Thanks @m_raynsford and @rpegg. Life Expectancy of Laser

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30

I use it mainly to cut polyester film (mylar) so its low power

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31

Thanks for digging up that link.
Interesting, informative comparison.

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32

Well, now I am thinking my bad memory is up to normal hijinx. Dropping or adding a 0 is quite an easy thing for me to do on accident. A quick google search doesn’t show any reliable rule of thumbs, and looking around my office I cannot find the documentation from when I got the tubes I have now.

So… I would be quite willing to say I am off by a factor of 10 to get closer to alignment with your actual experience.

@smcgathyfay & @printolaser bring up a valid point about power levels. The tube I have is a 60W glass CO2 from China.

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I don’t remember when I had to admit my memory was fallible… around 35 I think.
Disturbing it was.
That’s when I understood that “truth” was relative. If that’s the way you remember it - it’s real to you, whether or not it is accurate.:no_mouth:

34

we pay a great deal more than industry standard. When you get it, you’ll be able to eyeball it and see - it has more in common with $500+ higher end tubes than it does with the K40 specials.

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35

sounds like something you pick up at the corner gas station haha

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36

Since you are a regular laser user - can you SCORE materials like chipboard or standard corrugated cardboard? Thinking about using GF to make packaging prototypes, cutting the profile + scoring the folds out of flat stock…

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Absolutely. Its just a vector cut at lower power so it doesn’t go all the way through your material.

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Yes - there’s some old pictures of a mask that @dean made by scoring and cutting cardboard on here somewhere.

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39

Here’s the link!

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40

Thanks for the link Sir!

41

It is possibly to score the cardboard but I generally don’t.

Unlike normal scoring where you crush the fibres to make it easy to fold the laser cutter actually cuts halfway through the paper, when you come to fold it I found the the cardboard de laminates (comes apart in the middle) and the whole fold can go a bit floppy.

I now do my folds with dotted lines, then the cardboard is either cut or not cut and the whole things is faster and more reliable anyway.

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42

What do you set the thickness to?