I’ve reached an age where I have to carry reading glasses around all the time., so shopping for / making eyeglass cases is a new hobby.
For some of the designs I’m playing around with, it’d be helpful to line the inside with the kind of microfiber cloth one uses to clean lenses. There are roughly a zillion sellers you can buy such cloth from on amazon/etc, but so far I haven’t found any that identify the material. So I have no idea if it’s laser safe.
Has anyone found a microfiber cloth of known / laserable material?
Googling “ what is microfiber made of” gives this:
Microfibres are usually made of polyester, polyamide, acrylic, modal, lyocell or viscose in the range of 0.5–1.2 dtex.
Generally speaking none of those things sound like they’re bad to laser, except that they might be a little “melty”. There’s one way to find out!
As always when working with a new material you should keep a very close eye on things to make sure there are no fires. Be ready with a damp cloth and if you see a flame that sticks around more than a second open up the Glowforge and immediately smother it.
You can find guidance for doing a cut test in number six, and general guidelines about what materials are dangerous to laser in number four here:
The synthetics (polyester, acrylic, polyamide) laser very nicely with the added bonus of heat sealed edges. Modal and cellulose also cut well but won’t heat seal.
I’m in that stage of life, too, although my glasses (which I barely wore before) are now progressives. They typically sit on top of my head. But this is really interesting. It will be cool to see your handmade eyeglass cases - hope you’ll share!
But this is really interesting. It will be cool to see your handmade eyeglass cases - hope you’ll share!