Polyester “craft” felt, cut by a laser with 5 passes at low power; note there is no discoloring from the melting.
The final part to be fabricated for my vibration-motor interface is a felt-covered foam pad. While this part could be cut by hand rather easily, laser-cutting is:
a. more accurate
b. faster
c. seals the edges of the polyester as it cuts, and
d. is just way cooler than scissors!
After some testing, I arrived at two settings that worked well for “craft felt”, the cheap 9×12″ sheets from the craft store:
| Power | Speed | PPI | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5% | 20% | 500 | 5 passes to cut cleanly, 1 to etch the surface |
| 5% | 6% | 200 | 1 pass will cut all the way through |
The first setting works very well, though it takes more time. This setting will reproduce very fine detail, even text! The second setting is much faster, but will significantly melt around the cut. Big shapes are fine, but details less than 1/4″ will likely be lost.