cheapo laser cutter advice

[erikv]

Hi,

Looking for any advice on the cheapo ebay lasers.

Will these things cut EVA flooring sheets (10mm)
I appreciate these things are cheap and cheerful but would it be possible to cut foam armour pieces on one?
just looking to avoid the tedious cutting and employ my time elsewhere.
I would appreciate anyone with knowledge.



thanks

 

[NormanF]

Assuming it will cut the foam, I would be very worried about the fumes coming off the vaporized foam.

 

[cavx]

You should be concerned about fumes full stop. You would want to have a well ventilated area or extraction fans running regardless of what you are cutting.

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

 

[JamesPurcell]

As everyone has said, these cheep "Diode" lasers stink and produce alot of nasty fumes (leather really stinks and the smell sticks to everything) wait and save longer for one of the 40W box CO2 lasers.

They may cut craft foam but you must know that above 2W these things are "Overclocked" resulting in premature death of the diode.
BTW, the bottom right image is stolen from an thingiverse project.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:902826


If you have 2 spare dvd writers and some electronics knowledge then you can build your own.