buildlog.net

I've been cutting and engraving a few items lately. I find it to be highly experimental to find the correct speed and power settings for any given material. I did find a useful section of this manual http://www.hltlasers.com/reference/25-50PSRevisionB1.pdf that gives suggested speed and power for cutting or engraving various items. This discussion starts on page 90. All speed settings are %speed for their laser which had a 25"/second max speed.
Perhaps we should post this info somewhere as a quick reference.

I thought about keeping a notebook for proper power and speeds of items, but then I decided to simple glue a small piece of the material to my wall and I write on the wall below it to record the speed and power setting for that cut.

If anyone out there has experience cutting ABS, please speak up. I was trying to cut a white ABS plastic box and it flared up with a tremendous amount of black smoke that totally discolors the box. I guess this is one of those times when you mask the material and dampen it with water. I'm trying to hunt down more info on masking.

I tried it with an air assist, but it still made a horrible yellow stain on the white ABS.

Can somebody with experience cutting ABS please tell me how fast I'll be able to cut 3mm sheet ABS with a 150 W CO2 laser ? or lesser power if recommended ?

From my experience with ABS, you won't want to use a CO2 to cut ABS. A mill will give a much nicer finish. ABS burns black and doesn't simply "disappear" like the kerf of a plexiglas cut.