Laser cut 100% wool

@woolyrainbows asked how the laser would cut 100% hand dyed wool.

She sent me some samples and it cuts like butter…lol. Smells a bit like burnt hair but not bad…:stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

Vector etched as well as raster etched.

Edges seal pretty well too without freying

Setting are for my 35wt. Universal laser. Not sure how they would translate to the Glowforge.
Vector cut 100% power 50% speed
Vector etch 44% power 100% speed
Raster etch 35% power 100% speed

Lower power and speeds tended to burn more.

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Oh that is a nice edge on those! Great test! :smiley:

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Wow, nicely done, especially for doing it the “hard” way, without a :glowforge:

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SO cool! I have some ideas for fabric experiments, so I find this very exciting and hopeful.

Kind of you to test it out for her too, Laser Lady!

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You are the best.

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I love the sheep. Great examples of fabric cutting. Thanks for taking the time to do the testing. :relaxed:

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I can’t wait to get my Glowforge so I can laser up an award for your service to the community–it really does go above and beyond!

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Looks like it works beautifully

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Whoa! That turned out way better than I was imagining.

Side note, I always really appreciate that you mention the smell of things, @smcgathyfay. That’s really helpful and informative for those of us who don’t like stinky things.

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Everything you laser smells to some level. Whether it qualifies as stinky is personal. I don’t mind the smell of most anything I cut (except some leathers that smell too much like burning people). But my wife hates acrylic. Some friends don’t like the smell of wood. I like wood - slightly reminiscent of campfires :wink:

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Great test! I have a big set of wool felt projects coming up (a story wall for the baby’s room) and I’m so looking forward to putting this information to use.

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Did the etching make the wool stiff?

How durable are the etchings (movement, rubbing, hand washing)?

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Outstanding! Really looks great and I can see some applique work in my future. How do the edges hold up to fraying?

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These will be easier to do with lasers.

http://makezine.com/2010/12/06/how-to_snowflake_coasters/

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Hopefully polyester will cut as well. I picked some polyester felt on amazon.

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Excellent link. Those will make great test/project sizes.

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Regular felt cuts just fine…less burning actually. These are letters cut for stockings done about 8 years ago.

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Much appreciated close-up details. Fabric cutting will be a question my wife will have.

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I only received 3 very small samples (3"×3.5")
And she wanted the results sent back in an SAE so I didn’t check on hand washing or riggorous edge testing. However I ran my finger over the edges several times and bent it a bit and seemed to hold.

The etching made it just a bit stiff on the letters but since its not all the way through, it didn’t really to affect the pliability.

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Out of Likes but great closeup! :+1: :relaxed:

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