Widow material

Extrusions/Tubing/Hinges/Etc.

Widow material

Postby Greolt » Sat Jan 07, 2012 12:39 am

Sorry for this very basic question but searching did not do it for me this time.

Material for window, or in my case the whole lid.

Seems the material is Acrylic. This much I found.

What thickness is recommended from a safety point of view? Protection from stay laser reflections.

Is there a preferred colour or is clear the way to go?

And another question in the same subject, when cutting slots or ventilation holes, does this not diminish the safety aspect of the lid.

Does any one use a double skin and place vent holes in a staggered manner to maintain the shield?
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Re: Widow material

Postby BenJackson » Sat Jan 07, 2012 1:27 am

Acrylic is opaque to 10.6um CO2 laser. That's why you can cut it. The 2.x Laser uses 1/8" thick but mainly for cost. If you used 1/4" it would be self-supporting.
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Re: Widow material

Postby Greolt » Sat Jan 07, 2012 2:42 am

Thanks Ben

So 1/8" is thick enough to do the safety shield thing. I will probably need 1/4" as the lid is fairly large. About 1150 x 600mm

Do people use clear or a semi clear colour?

Greg
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Re: Widow material

Postby Groover » Sat Jan 07, 2012 9:25 am

Clear would be the best as you can see what's going on. There are on the other hand one concern, when cutting something there are a very strong light from the cut itself. I did some test cuts on plywood yesterday and of course wanted to see what was going on. I got the same blinding feeling as when you look at someone welding without eye protection, just not as bad.
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Re: Widow material

Postby iGull » Sat Jan 07, 2012 9:37 am

Hi Greg

My cover is about 1400x1000 and I use 6mm acrylic in two panels. If you use 'corner cubes' and core screws, the acrylic can slip into the extrusion slots. You'll need a centre support - use 40x20 (mine is 20x20 and could do with being bigger).
The corner cubes protect your fingers from the sharp edges of bare extrusion.

It can be any old colour - it's really the 'welding flash' you need to protect against (as well as any wayward laser) - consistent with the user requirement of watching the fancy lights - it's a bit like watching an aquarium or a pen plotter :D

You might be able to see my cover across on my buildlog.

Vent slots - you're probably right :D However, I just have my cover open 4mm with a 4mm gap all round -I haven't needed to cut vent slots (yet) - I tested the setup a couple of times with an orange smoke bomb and it cleared very quickly (neighbours were a bit concerned 'though :lol: )

Cheers

Neil
EMOs are a sign of weakness ...
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Re: Widow material

Postby Greolt » Sun Jan 08, 2012 8:17 pm

Thanks for the info Neil

Greg
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