On Jun 22, 2011, at 7:35 PM, PICdude wrote:

>  if anyone knows where I can get info on different laser
> types and powers that I can use to cut acrylic, I'd love to know.

http://www.adafruit.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=3D18
http://usedlasers.com/

Copper is very reflective in the IR frequencies.  I remember ye old =20
Scientific American Amateur Scientist "Make You Own CO2 LASER" =20
articles mentioning sputtered copper mirrors.  So most laser cutters =20
won't do copper.  Reflecting the beam back into the optic system is =20
apparently a bad thing.

Laser cutters show up all the time at "hacker spaces" (like http://techshop=
..ws=20
)
With memberships running about $100/month, I suspect you can do an =20
awful lot of laser cutting before you hit the cost of even a cheap =20
chinese import laser cutter.  Not to mention finding a lot of =20
expertise to leverage!

BillW

--=20
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