Laser power for thin stainless (<200 micron)

[sako243]

Calling on the forum experts (@Hood?) but I was wondering what type and power of laser might be best suited to cutting thin (150 micron and down) stainless steel sheet? Ideally need minimal warping / melting of edges as it would be for PCB stencils is the reason behind the question.

Not after any suggestions for CNC or anything like that at this moment, I'm just evaluating options. Basically looking into whether it's feasible for a small desktop sized machine to do or if it needs significantly more power. Ideally just cutting straight stainless without having to paint etc., but if that massively reduces power requirements it might be feasible.

 

[Hood]

Sorry don't have a clue, only have experience of a 10w diode laser and it won't cut stainless really. I believe the 20w and definitely the 40w can but not the best of cuts. Think probably a fibre laser or C02 is what you need.

 

[sako243]

Have you tried it on really thin stuff?

 

[Hood]

I etched a scale for my bandsaw on some 0.2mm and it warped quite a bit which was perfect for that as it was to be curved anyway. The 40w from xtool is supposed to be able to cut 0.15mm, it warps it, you can see from 5mins in this vid.