Uploaded January 2022 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
About 3 years ago I used DOT mode to cut shapes in polyethylene foam packing material. It was not entirely successful because the bottom of the cut opend up witth a significant taper. My previous attempts were based on the traditional approach of experimenting with parameters to try and find values that minimised the taper.
During that intervening period I have come to understand fully the relationship between the laser beam, the lens and the way light interacts with materials. I no longer randomly hunt for successful cutting parameters but start off by trying to understand the properties of the material. From there I try to zoom in on lens and beam configurations that are sympathetic to the needs of the material.
This is a fairly quick revisit to cutting PE, to see if my new knowlegede can help decode the cutting mechanism that causes PE to cut in such an uncontrolled manner.
About 3 years ago I used DOT mode to cut shapes in polyethylene foam packing material. It was not entirely successful because the bottom of the cut opend up witth a significant taper. My previous attempts were based on the traditional approach of experimenting with parameters to try and find values that minimised the taper.
During that intervening period I have come to understand fully the relationship between the laser beam, the lens and the way light interacts with materials. I no longer randomly hunt for successful cutting parameters but start off by trying to understand the properties of the material. From there I try to zoom in on lens and beam configurations that are sympathetic to the needs of the material.
This is a fairly quick revisit to cutting PE, to see if my new knowlegede can help decode the cutting mechanism that causes PE to cut in such an uncontrolled manner.
