Using the 7W laser on glass

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ReidCDe65
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Joined: Sat Dec 01, 2018 8:01 pm
Location: Virginia Beach, VA
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Using the 7W laser on glass

Post by ReidCDe65 »

Hello all,
Venturing into uncharted waters [for me] wanting to start etching glass using my HD4 EXT w/7W laser. Are there any precautions I should know about? Do I need a special backer and if so, does it have to be a certain color placed under the glass? Some Utube videos have a dark paper under the glass and some do not.
Any useful comments are very much welcomed and appreciated.

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Kayvon
Posts: 552
Joined: Tue Oct 21, 2014 11:46 pm

Re: Using the 7W laser on glass

Post by Kayvon »

I've used a 40W laser on glass before. Rather than cutting glass, it ablates it. The glass chips off (very, very tiny chips) and it leaves a nice, etched surface.

I doubt much if any power remains after being scattered by the top layer of glass. For my 40W laser, everything's enclosed and I don't take any thought for reflected/refracted energy. If you don't have an enclosure, you'll always want to have laser safety glasses on at all times. Outside of that, I wouldn't worry about the material underneath the glass. If you have a spoilboard (of any color), that's more than enough.

ReidCDe65
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Dec 01, 2018 8:01 pm
Location: Virginia Beach, VA
Contact:

Re: Using the 7W laser on glass

Post by ReidCDe65 »

Thank much Kayvon,
I'll give it a try as soon as I can get my post processor to work with the test file I made...
Have a great day
V/r
Reid

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