At what laser power level does it become possible to drill small holes in quartz and glass approx. 1/4 inch thick? I had a friend ask about this application, which I have never tried before. I have a 25 watt and a 90 watt CO2 laser, but both are just stand alone without optics, so its not like I can run the tests myself.
I really don’t know if this is possible. Glass will most likely fracture. At 20% power of a 45 watt laser, you get a frosting affect but no real depth. Any more power and it just starts to break off. Forget about accuracy then. As for stone, my only experience is with marble and tile. At 5% speed, 100% power, I get a little depth (1/16 inch?) but no where the 1/4 inch mark. 90 watts is double my power, and assuming things are mostly linear (anyone got any info on that?), you’re still talking multiple passes to get a small whole.
In order to drill a hole the laser must have enough power to vaporize or burn the material away. Using a engraving laser on glass causes small dot under the laser to expand which causes small cracks to form. It’s not even close to the melting point of the glass much less vaporize it. If you kept the laser in one location the glass will crack long before you would put a hole in it.
Quartz may have even more problems. I believe it is transparent to the laser. Whenever i etch agate I’m not able to effect the clear areas. Agate is mostly quartz. Also i think the lens is made of quartz.
Whenever I need a hole in agate or glass I use the sand blaster. Its not very crisp but I’ve never had it break any agate.