Finding the Sweet Spot for Laser Cutting Poster

With 10W (2 laser) Designs on the market, those smaller, non mirrored, no tube designs are cutting faster. I went on a quest to see just how fast I could cut poster board. However, I quickly hit a wall.

-Sean J. Miller 7/15/2022

Connor and I are making a custom Stranger Things 4 Eddie Guitar.  To make sure everything will mill out correctly, I needed to cut some poster board.  While I was at it, I tuned our newly built CNC to start Homing super fast compared to the machines I used in the past (2600mm/min).  That made me think - just how fast can I cut poster board.

I was cutting posterboard with the laser at 65% power and a feed rate of 1000mm/min.  The speed was the default laser cutting speed from Fusion and a very typical "top speed" found in various references online.  I took the power to 100% and then doubled the feed.  It cut.  I then took it to 2500mm/min.  It still cut.  The bummer, though, it appeared it was missing steps on one of the axis when doing arcs.  Going that fast, its a total loss.

So, in turn, I hereby declare, as almost any site has, at least for the hobbyist, 1000mm/min should be my top speed.  It just isn't worth the risk of missing steps and wasting material.  Homing, however, let it rip!

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