Laser cutting butyl rubber (inner tubes)

Discussion
1

Hi @lasertechs! A friend of mine makes bags from old tractor inner tubes, which are made from butyl rubber (you can get latex tubes for cycling, but they’re rare). I’ve seen upcycled inner tube things on Etsy and the like that can only be laser cut, so I’m pretty sure it’s been done before – but of course that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea :slight_smile: so I wanted to check before I went ahead and started burning rubber. Is it ok? And if so, do you have any thoughts on appropriate settings, or advice on how to keep it flat to the bed?

Thanks!

Charlie

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You need to find out what the buy products are from burning and vapourisation.

The quick look at the chemical composition it’s just carbon and hydrogen and reading here : https://groups.google.com/forum/m/?pli=1#!topic/milwaukeemakerspace/mXOpAzl5zXY

Could be okay.

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sacrificial ply, or cardboard with double sided tape?

4

Could be a fire risk if it isn’t cutting through as it will tend to smoulder.

Maybe stretching it with some tape to a piece of wood at the side?

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How thick is the tube material?
Have you tried to cut rubber before?(flames as a product of the cutting process is normal).

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Rubber makes a hell of a mess and a lot of flames but it’s perfectly fine in the laser cutter normally.

EDIT: You would need to actively keep stopping to check the lens is clean.

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This one, Definitely yes.

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OK, all great advice, thanks. It’s roughly 2mm thick unstretched. I haven’t tried before, but I’m keen to give it a go. I’ll proceed with caution!

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2mm should be fine, when you start get down to 5ish mm even multiple passes don’t help and the results get messy…
good luck!

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Thanks Jonathan. I had a go today. It took a lot more power to get through than I expected so I ended up taking quite a few passes, and possibly my design is a bit too delicate, but it’s definitely got legs!

IMG_20170427_174927.jpg3480×4640 2.26 MB

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