I used to work with both CO2 and YAG lasers. The real trick is power density, which you can get with the right lenses (CO2/YAG lenses are a bit spendy) and get by lengthening the pulse as long as possible. Obviously, some substrates better absorb the energy from the different lasers better than others but you can go a long way with high power densities. I haven't looked at the details of the lab's CO2 laser yet so I can't comment specifically on this lasers capabilities.<div>
<br></div><div>Best,</div><div>-ah<br><div><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Aug 30, 2011 at 9:35 AM, Darcy Whyte <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:darcy@siteware.com">darcy@siteware.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
<br clear="all"><div>I don't think it's the right machine for PCBs. </div><div><div></div><div class="h5"><div><br></div><div><br><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br>
</div></div><br>
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Aug 29, 2011 at 10:11 PM, Andrew O'Malley <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:aomalley@gmail.com" target="_blank">aomalley@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
+1 on no cutting metal in the laser.<br>
<br>
> Message: 1<br>
> Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2011 17:56:47 -0400<br>
> From: <a href="mailto:bentfork@gmail.com" target="_blank">bentfork@gmail.com</a><br>
> Subject: Re: [Lab] Fire the laser!<br>
> To: Darcy Whyte <<a href="mailto:darcy@siteware.com" target="_blank">darcy@siteware.com</a>><br>
> Cc: lab <<a href="mailto:lab@artengine.ca" target="_blank">lab@artengine.ca</a>><br>
> Message-ID:<br>
> <<a href="mailto:CAOeih0Li%2BQfaDsviV_4ZJFbHCcsUnbS75rWsDwv_eRXmMSF_Yg@mail.gmail.com" target="_blank">CAOeih0Li+QfaDsviV_4ZJFbHCcsUnbS75rWsDwv_eRXmMSF_Yg@mail.gmail.com</a>><br>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"<br>
<div>><br>
> The laser unfortunately can't cut through metal. The best one can do is to<br>
> coat the board in black spraypaint, remove it with the laser and use it as a<br>
> resist.<br>
><br>
> <a href="http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2007/01/how-to-use-a-laser-to-etc.html" target="_blank">http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2007/01/how-to-use-a-laser-to-etc.html</a><br>
><br>
> On 29 August 2011 14:09, Paul & Andrea Mumby <<a href="mailto:themumbys@gmail.com" target="_blank">themumbys@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
><br>
>> We should try some copper clad board to see if we can cut a PCB with the<br>
>> laser... I've seen some people with fantastic success, and that laser is so<br>
>> fine that we could get some really accurate PCB traces with it.<br>
>><br>
>> - Paul<br>
>><br>
<br>
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