Have any of you tried beveling an edge of a cut? I’ve been told it can be done, but is it practical to do all the time? I’m looking at buying a laser engraver, having a hard time visualizing how it would work.
I think your looking at these lasers a bit wrong. The CO2 lasers are not a cutting machine, but a marking machine. The laser would be able to engrave a name and a date onto a frame, but in now way could make a frame. The most I’ve seen the laser cut in wood is doll furniture with some thin wood stock. The edges are all cut at 90 degree angles.
The focal length is only 1/2 inch at a fixed distance below the lens. So the laser is limited to engrave flat surfaces.
Where these lasers are used for cutting is with acrylic. They leave a smooth clean edge, but they can’t sculpt the acrylic, just again 90 degree cuts.
Yes that is true for the most part a co2 laser can only cut at 90 degrees on a relatively flat stock you can however make a jig to hold stock at an 45% and cut a bevel on a line. this would not work very well for production runs. It’s OK for small jobs. I guess if you could make a good enough jig that has built in repeatability you could do all kinds of bevel cuts but I’m sure there are better tools to do this job.
Thanks for the response. Right, I understand what’s involved, but just can’t visualize how any bevel can be cut, given that the laser is vertical only. In fact, that’s why I’ve been using CNC milling for our work in the past. I’m cutting 1/8″ thick plastics now, with a small (about 1 mm) bevel on the top edge of everything. Makes it look nice.
You mentioned a 90 degree bevel on acrylic, which is exactly what I’m looking for. Does it work on complex shapes, or just on outer edges that have nothing nearby, like a frame? I don’t quite understand the system, I guess.
But if a laser engraver can even simulate a bevel or a rounded edge, it’ll make my life much easier! Even an imprecise bevel would be OK, as I topcoat everything.
Whoops, did I say 90-degree bevel? sorry, it’s been a very long week! :)
My universal does a pretty decent bevel if using the rubber stamp setting, and also I have worked a lot with graduated grayscale.