Laser power

[protomate]

COCOA CNC,
One word of caution concerning the synrad calculator. It is designed for high production speeds. For most, use it as very rough estimate of required power to the high side. The other variables are the amount you focus down the beam, the losses through manipulation optics, the beam divergence, and the type of assist gas used. Very hard to generalize exact requirements. There goal is to sell the most powerful system they can, not the least.

As I work with 60-250w Yag, KTP, and CO2 lasers daily, their are many ways to skin the cat. To get big powers out of 808nm diodes is still cost prohibitive for high powers. The best solution in my opinion at this time is CO2 for plastics. Rips through any plastic very well. Acrylics, and polycarbonate's come out with a beautiful edge. If you do intend to cut plastic beware. Gasses released are deadly. Special attention need be used to assure if your evacuation system goes down, the laser shuts off. Here is some low density material I was using to debug a system I am developing. Enjoy!