New member post.

[Karen]

Hi everyone, my names Karen and I live in the UK Bedfordshire. I make cake toppers using a cricut maker and really enjoy it. I started my business 2 years ago and it has really taken off. I would like to start making acrylic cake toppers with a desktop laser cutter which I can use with design space software or something similar but I haven't got a clue which laser I would need to purchase. Any information would be greatly appreciated by anyone who knows about laser cutters

[Doddy]

I've had a couple of laser cutters and eaten many cakes. Truth be told, I prefer the cake to the cutter, but that's about the limit of my expertise.

Superficially I'd suggest your requirements are achievable. But, if you'll forgive me asking: Are laser-cut acrylic toppers food-safe?, when cut, acrylic can release some nasty fumes and resinous liquids. I'll assume that you have plans to manage that. That can also influence where you can operate the laser - the smell of vaporised acrylic can be quite noxious, hitting the back of the throat. Just a casual warning.

Leading on from that - clearly your toppers need to be aesthetically pleasing, so you'd need to ensure that any resin that escapes the topper (left to sit in it, the liquid can/will mar the finish of the topper). The usual solution for this is a honeycomb bed (made from very thin steel, so the acrylic material sits on the honeycomb framework, and the resins roll down into holes in the honeycomb). That's something you can normally add on at a later point in time.

The real questions are:

What size bed do you need. The size of the bed - or more accurately the cutting area - describes the largest single item you can cut. I can't imagine that you need more than 300mm x 200mm (about the size of a sheet of A4) - but whatever you choose, make sure it will accommodate the largest item you can conceive. You can, of course, make multiple smaller items, if that helps to solve your problem.

What type of laser?, acrylic cuts well with a CO2 (Carbon dioxide) laser - which generates infrared light, which is absorbed by acrylic to cause the heating/cutting action. Other popular lasers include the UV ("405nm LED") laser diodes, which - very good for many things, like card and balsa, but not so much for acrylic (it's fairly transmissive, rather than absorptive at the higher UV frequencies).

Laser power will decide how thick the laser can cut. I currently have a "K40" derivative 30-40W CO2 laser - that can cut 8mm thick acrylic (just!). You wouldn't need anything quite so thick - not for toppers, at least (but.... hmmm... maybe bespoke cake stands?.....)

Software - that's a different story - the cheap Chinese lasers can often ship with absolutely terrible software. Some, like the K40s, you can get alternative software which is altogether more usable. More sophisticated, expensive lasers will likely ship with better software - best to research that when you start to down-select the laser device.

Now, I've admitted to owning a K40, which would do what you need. Hell!, I cut acrylic templates to spray-paint our suitcases in the days when we could travel with unique art-work (well, monkeys). Would I recommend it?, not to anyone who demands a safe machine - it's anything but safe - you can (if you're silly enough) blind yourself (no safety-interlocks on the cabinet), or electrocute yourself (30 thousand volts behind another panel with little protection). It's a clumsy machine (lots of peripheral pumps - air and water cooling, extractor fans etc). Horrible bit of machinery. But, it was less than £400. A more professional CO2 laser will be in the £2k+ range. Pays your money, takes your choice, picks up yer fingers severed in the machine.

Example:

Bounce a few ideas around, people here will critique.

[Karen]

Hi, thank you so much for your reply really helpful. My acrylic toppers would be food safe, and will be no thicker than 3mm. I now know after reading your reply that I need a laser cutter with all the built in cooling etc so I would be looking at paying that bit more and it's good to know a CO2 would be what I am looking for, and I (won't be buying a chinese one) safety is one of my main concerns. The cutting area would be 300 x 200mm, perfect size. So I shall now look into seeing what's out there and the software I can use to go with it. Have you any idea where I can start looking?

Kind Regards Karen

[Doddy]

I can't offer any experience here - my choice was based entirely around cost (and being able to tinker with the machine). Our use-cases are very different.

I'd suggest looking at the sub-forum on here on laser cutters, but there's not a lot of useful up-to-date information from a quick glance.

Hopefully someone else will be able to provide more help - but this site is naturally full of people who look more at the machines, than the end product - without wanting to sound dismissive (not my intent) - are there forums for.... whatever a cake-topper-maker-is-called that may offer a more focused view?