Etched anclosure woes...

[Peter Snowberg]

I'm not really into skull and bones imagery, but that is a GREAT looking box!

I've had plywood laser cut in the past with results that were nothing less than stunning, but the place I go to said that they can't cut aluminum because it will catch fire.

After much searching I found that aluminum tends to melt in laser cutters where steel tends to vaporize. The bulk of the cutting actually comes from inert gas blowing the molten aluminum out of the way so you don't get the clean cut you do in other materials. To complicate things more, it takes more power to cut aluminum because it works well as a mirror and simply reflects much of the beam in the process.

Many laser cutters will tell you their laser is the wrong frequency for aluminum. (Don't even ask them about cutting brass unless you want to see steam come from their ears)

[bancika]

I'll ask those guys here about cutting aluminum...but I don't think it can melt that easily. I mean, I've cut pickguard with laser and no problem. Only edge was little burnt but surface was flawless. I've cut fret inlays from plastic also