In the past couple years, I've looked into laser cutting metals and =20 spoken with several companies about this. Many don't do metals, and a =20 few wouldn't do "red metals" (copper, bronze, brass). I did =20 eventually find a company that laser-cut brass for me though. At one point, I looked into getting a laser head and attaching it to =20 my CNC mill to do my own laser cutting (mostly acrylic, but also some =20 ~0.04"-thick metals), but could not find much info online re: what =20 type and power of laser I needed. One laser company (ULS) =20 recommended their 30W all-in-one laser head for ~$4000. I expect a =20 coke can would require similar power. Anyway, it seems that there are some laser-knowledgeable people on =20 this list, so if anyone knows where I can get info on different laser =20 types and powers that I can use to cut acrylic, I'd love to know. =20 Might pick up the search again. Cheers, -Neil. Quoting Tony Smith : > Sounds about right. Aluminium requires more power than steel at the same > gauge, stainless is about the easiest steel to cut. Quite the opposite o= f > what you usually encounter in machining. > > Even for thin gauge you are into the hundreds of watts range which doesn'= t > come cheap, even for CO2. Not just the tubes, but the extras as well, eg > you need more cooling (refrigeration) which gets expensive as well. > > Tony --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .