Continuing the discussion from Rubberband Fridge
Here is the applied science channel again playing with some very special paper. He uses a defocused laser in the later part of the video. But I really enjoy his work so I encourage you to watch it all.
My wife has used paper similar to that to make tactile maps for the visually impaired. Lasering it could potentially bring a whole new dimension to ease and accuracy.
Absolutely, it looks like the start and stop on his machine may need a bit of overlap.
Thats crazy!!
The only negative I noticed was that the paper didn’t react consistently.
Besides that, I could see a huge potential for this in the Forge!
I wonder if you could puff it up and then engrave it back for even more detail. (Also, we really have to get an idea of available spot size range with defocusing on the gf.)
Yes, but this was on a 75W laser and the Glowforge has shown an ability to really crank down the power. I don’t think they have released it in the latest software though.
Even though cost per sheet is a little high, 1.26,
Cutting the sheet into half or quarter and using it for inside invites with a laser cut wrap could cost as little as .40 each, plus ink/toner and envelope, and laser use. You could make a fortune on these without buying an embossing machine!!
This is exactly what I’m looking to do.
I’m just hoping this works better in the forge than on the video.
I think he said he dropped the bed to put it out of focus. That means as the paper rises it gets more into focus and that would be positive feedback. I think if it was raised to be out of focus then you might get more stable results.
He also attributed the burning on the second pass to residual heat. I think it was more likely due to getting nearer to focus and also being separated from the substrate, so less conduction to take the heat away.
Sounds Awesome!
He was doing some very basic experiments with it. I but it will be worth playing with and fine tuning it once the Glowforge software is out of BETA.
Definitely!
Think its cool how you can see the total heat/energy input with the slight slowing of the head when he was cutting the circles and spirals . Could be useful in calibrating…
Can’t wait to see what can be done with the super low power setting on the forge when they release it.