I’m trying to research what I need to mount a laser to my 3 axis machine to be able to do laser cutting and engraving. I mainly want to be able to cut thin plywood and acrylic (less than 5 mm). What minimum size of laser do I need to accomplish this? I’m guessing around 20~30 Watts. I was looking around on eBay. How come smaller lasers come in a small TO- package but other lasers start utilizing a glass tube? What does the large glass tube do? Sorry for my ignorance, I’m still learning.
The usual laser for cutting is a CO2 laser at 10.6 um. This is a gas laser and looks like a glass-tube. More power is better, the small cutters start at 40 or 60 W I think. These lasers are quite inefficient meaning they produce a lot of heat and usually require water cooling.
Small solid state lasers will usually have a near-infrared wavelength of e.g. 808nm and depending on the material are much more inefficient at cutting - so you need to carefully check what power is needed for what you want to do.
In addition to the laser you need focusing optics that focuses the beam down to a small spot on your stock. Different thickness materials might need different focusing settings. Best to buy the focusing optics ready-made if you can.
If you are a beginner do read about laser safety also!
I heavily suggest an enclosure around the machine.
You seriously don’t want any reflection of the laser outside the machine or in your eyes.
Keep in mind that you can’t see a CO2 laser and thus also won’t close your eyes.