CNC Laser Scoring & Cutting Formica Laminate
As mentioned previously, if there is a world record for cutting laminate like Formica by a custom CNC shop, CNCROi.com is among the top standing.
In this case, we just finished-up a big Formica laminate cutting job for one of our millworking customers and the scrap left over was used to cut a sample sheet to show you, the visitor, what can be done with this incredible material.
Formica laminate is tough to keep flat sometimes, it has a bend to it, so hold down is required. We have a vacuum table of course, but unlike a CNC router where the vacuum table is for hold down, with a CNC laser, it’s more used for fume extraction when placed on a cutting grid. No point marking our professional aluminum table for this material where this does a better job.
Generally, we are busy cutting straight through Formica laminate of all kinds for our millworking customers, sure, they have industrial CNC routers, but they can’t achieve the sharp inner corners that we can with our laser. For some applications, this is a requirement.
Something we haven’t been doing much though, is scoring Formica laminate, in this case, our logo is scored and the maple leaf cut straight through. The result is permanent, clearly legible and fits great in my pockets for show and tell.
The challenge with Formica laminate though are the fumes, that’s why we have a powerful extraction system on our CNC Trotec 400 flexx laser. Not only that, we also have a gas kit on our machine which means we are blowing-out any flame before they have a chance to grow (this material is highly combustible under laser power) and extraction the fumes before they have a chance to ignite in the machine as well.
The results are sharp, literally, the corners of the maple leaf can easily draw blood on your finger. This is possible using a CNC router as well, but the inner corners of the leaf would be rounded due to a round bit being used, while for us, it’s a beam of light.
Looking at it more closely, you can see that they inlay perfectly, which means we can mix and match materials perfectly for various applications, especially suited to millworking though we’ve done inlays for other industries like custom signage.
You’ve found CNCROi.com, we can cut, engrave and etch all your laminate, our only limit are pieces that are a meter across, they can be as long and complex as you wish. Great for inlays and promotional purposes. Contact us today to help you out!
