Laser cutting MDF

Last night BuildBrighton member Colleen tried laser cutting MDF for the first time on our laser cutter. The results were quite impressive. Cutting a single sheet of 3mm MDF at about 30mm/sec (we tend to stick with 16mm/sec for acrylic although it can be pushed to 20mm/sec) the only downside was the terrible smell and amount of smoke!

MDF doesn't half smoke when you laser cut it. Maybe it was the type of wood we were using - an 8' x 4' sheet from Wickes costs about�6. Not the "proper" laser-able MDF, just regular (cheap) stuff from a home supplies store. Despite the smoke, it's certainly a cheaper way of trying out designs than carving everything out of acrylic at �4/A4 sheet.

Colleen was making a simple jewelry stand for necklaces. Although originally using MDF just to make a prototype to see how the finished result would look, a quick coat of black acrylic paint, and it didn't look too bad at all - in fact, a coat of PVA glue and a dusting of glitter and it might look quite nice as it is!

(the later revision was made slightly longer and with hooks to stop the necklaces slipping off the stand when in use)

Necklace Stand