On Sun, Apr 12, 2015 at 8:18 PM, Tom Metro <[email protected]> wrote: > Bill Bogstad wrote: >> What are the pros and cons of traditional milling (cutting edges >> requiring physical contact) versus laser micro-milling (i.e. laser >> ablation with a pulsed laser)? > > My understanding is that the reason why you hear the term "laser > engraving" far more often than "laser cutting" is that lasers powerful > enough to cut are still really expensive. The machine in this thread I > think maxes out at cutting thin balsa wood. > > In contrast, the milling head can handle wood, aluminum, brass, and if > you go slow enough, some steel. > > Laser cutting tends to burn the edges and leave a rougher cut than some > other processes.
>From the wikipedia article on laser ablation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_ablation "Very short laser pulses remove material so quickly that the surrounding material absorbs very little heat, so laser drilling can be done on delicate or heat-sensitive materials, including tooth enamel (laser dentistry):" Now it may be that lasers with this intensity are too expensive. Still if it is being used for dentistry, they can't be that expensive. According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dental_laser "Use of the dental laser remains limited, with cost and effectiveness being the primary barriers. The cost of a dental laser ranges from $4,000 to $50,000, where a pneumatic dental drill costs between $200 and $500. The lasers are also incapable of performing some routine dental operations" $4,000 isn't cheap, but not out of reach either. Perhaps people just haven't tried it yet. Or it takes too long to remove appreciable material. Bill Bogstad _______________________________________________ Hardwarehacking mailing list [email protected] http://lists.blu.org/mailman/listinfo/hardwarehacking
