"Laser Cutter for MDF and Basswood Cutting" Topic

What types of affordable laser cutters are there for cutting MDF, basswood, and other materials, for constructing buildings and other things, for the hobbyist?

Looking for recommendations, and rough ideas on the cost for these. I don't know much about them.

Software recommended/needed to make them work, for both scoring/etching, and cutting?

My nephew uses a 50W Laser ($1,000+, air assist, the cutting bed raises/lowers by electric motor), but a 40W Laser ($400, base price) will do the job, only slightly slower. The 40W Laser will cut MDF, Basswood, etc.

I believe there is a free program called Laser Burn? You should read up on the Chinese 40W Lasers on the Web, and search YouTube for insights into them

My nephew cut me some 54mm scale, multi-story building walls, for what appear to be stores, on the ground floor, with windows suggesting offices or apartments, on the upper floors (4-6 stories tall). these are going to be used for gaming with plastic Army Men figures.

I came up with the idea of Hot Gluing plastic drinking straw sections to the corners of walls, one higher than the other, on opposite wall sections: insert a wooden dowel down the lined up straws, to hold the wall sections together; pull out the dowels, and the wall sections come apart.

Be sure to seal the MDF with wood sealer, first. Otherwise the MDF will absorb most of the paint applied, and it will look terrible, until you apply 3-4 coats of paint! The wood sealer is water-based, and it just brushes on, drying within 30 minutes.

I do not need whole floors within my buildings, so I plan to Hot Glue 2-inch wide strips of MDF below the windows, to form a ledge to place minis along, at the windows, of the upper floors. My rules abstract battles on interior floors, so I don't need the whole floor built.

The $400 USD CO2 Lasers do not have air assist -- it can be added for additional cost. The air assist blows compressed air onto the surface being burned, to keep any flames from arising, also minimizing the black burn marks surrounding the laser burn point.

The Laser must be vented outside, to avoid poisoning yourself with toxic fumes from the burning process. NEVER burn any kind of foam! Many plastics will also give off deadly toxic gases, such as Chlorine, or Cyanide. Even if you vent them outside, these gases are still very dangerous, as the Laser Cutter is not well ventilated, and fumes may still enter the area surrounding the Laser!

Learn as much as you can, before you buy one. Make sure you will use it enough to justify the cost of the equipment, and the installation costs (outside venting…). Cheers!

Thank you for the detailed info and suggestions.

Sounds like it may be a bit more involved and expensive than I had hoped, as in many things.

I may have to reconsider other options, unless I can come up with a plan/justification to make and sell some stuff commercially to help defray the costs.

My nephew is a professional carpenter. He uses his 50W Laser Cutter for his carpentry work.

I got excited to get my own 40W Laser Cutter. I made plans to install it in my 2nd garage, venting it through the exterior wall, etc.

I realized the learning curve with it, as I worked with him on his. I also realized that it would take 1,000's of MDF cut bases, and dozens of MDF buildings, etc., just to break even on my investment… I could not justify it.

I studied lasers in tech school; I wanted a career in laser cutters, back in the mid-1980's, when I graduated tech school. I still have that hankering, but I just can't justify the expense of it, myself.

I decided to pay for what I want, when I want it: no overhead costs, no learning curves, no guilt.

Reach out to anyone offering laser-cut products, on Etsy, and they will likely do whatever custom work you need, for a modest price. Cheers!