Laser cut on silicone

Everything Else
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Hello Everyone,

I want to know can we laser cut silicone material. Will it be high finish.

Thanks.

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2

ponokoā€™s page on it suggests it cuts fine in thinner amounts, but it doesnā€™t work well for engraving.

just take care that if you attempt it, that itā€™s properly silicone and not a hybrid material or something that contains halogens.

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3

Iā€™ve no practical experience but, from what Iā€™ve read you can cut thin silicone and it can also be engraved.

Quick Googling of ā€œ40w co2 laser siliconeā€ gave me that answer.

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This wasnā€™t done on a Glowforge, but check out what @smcgathyfay did here:

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i think @andistarnes may be saying just that the example shown was not done on a glowforge.

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Went ahead and edited it to (hopefully) clarify.

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Awesome. I just trashed my responses. No need to clutter/confuse. :slight_smile:

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I just tried it, and I donā€™t think I can make it through my silicone.
This piece is about .25" thick.

The runs were as follows:

  1. 30%/50ipm
  2. 60%/30ipm
  3. 90%/20ipm - 2 passes

The first and second runs made it about 2mm deep. The third run made it about 2.75mm deep and discolored the surrounding material on the second pass.

Each pass created a really strange flaky residue inside the cut. Pictures below:

before shot:

612Ɨ816 92.9 KB

612Ɨ816 89 KB

after 2nd cut:

866Ɨ1154 113 KB

after 3rd cut:

612Ɨ816 146 KB

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12

Maybe 1/8" will cut.

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I made it in about 2.75mm, so theres a good chance 1/8 is doable. There might be a magic combination of speed/power/passes that will get through it, but turning up the juice definitely didnt help

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I donā€™t know anything about silicone. I wonder if there are different mixtures or silicone that will yield different results.

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oh most definitely. All different types. This one is specifically for making molds. Will not work well in boobs lol

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Duh. Yeahā€¦ I really didnā€™t think that one through, did I. Thatā€™s what I get for foruming at work.

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Damn it!! Sorry to hear it wonā€™t work in boobs. I was so gonna GF me a nice pair :stuck_out_tongue:

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Wow! Thanks for trying this out! Very cool of you and interesting results!

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Interesting to see how that particular mix cuts. Iā€™m curious to see how different silicone variations engrave, because these silicone icing mats are pretty cool looking and Iā€™m wondering if itā€™d be possible to create something similar using the laser for some of my friends who like to bake.

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moldstar is tough stuff. I havent tried anything else though, so I cant speak to it. Hopefully its easier. Maybe @kittski will be able to cut a nice pair and share the design lol

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Making even shallow silicon molds has so much possibilities and the cup band that andistarns posted looked very promising. I appreciate your efforts takitus, hopefully the issues can be sussed out and silicone will be usable.

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Totally gonna put them on my to-design list and will definitely share :slight_smile: Weird, my hubby is just now suddenly a little more interested in my new laser lol.

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I canā€™t tell how much of this is a jokeā€¦ but for those interested, I imagine that casting the main shape in moldstar-type silicone and cutting the supports/form with the glowforge would be totally feasible. Maybe an engraved ā€˜tatooā€™ would work as well.

Several folks on the forum do a whole lot of mold making. Maybe someone with a link to sales rep for smooth-on could make some inquiries with them as to the best formulation of casting silicone for laser cutting/engraving.

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