The main advantages to using thin copper/aluminum sheets for industrial, technological, and engineering projects are its thermal and electrical conductivity properties, as well as its resistance to corrosion.
Although laser cutting is a useful strategy for cutting materials used in electronics, it is not recommended to cut copper/aluminum materials on a CO2 laser:
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Laser cutting copper/aluminum is a challenging task because the metal is more of a reflector than an absorber of infrared laser light
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Traditionally, a CO2 laser was used due to its ability to cleanly cut thick material. However, the sheet of copper/aluminum had to be coated with a graphite spray or milk of magnesia in order to prevent reflections, which could damage the laser
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Fiber laser cutting made cutting copper/aluminum more efficient and economical, as the beam does not reflect back into the resonator and cause damage. So it is most often recommend fiber lasers for cutting copper (and other non-ferrous metals)
In this case, Vinyl Cutter could offer an alternative option to get the materials cut, especially for the thin foil type of copper/aluminum:
- Cut the tape to proper length and stick it to the vinyl transfer paper
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Tap on vinyl cutter; long press power button to switch on; select sheet: PIECE
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Release pitch roller lever and move the rollers to the appropriate position; load the tape, engage pinch roller lever and press enter to measure tape size
- Connect USB to computer; open CutStudio and upload drawing
Download CutStudio from: https://startup.rolanddg.com/software_license/gs_soft_en.html
Download Roland GS24 software driver from: https://startup.rolanddg.com/CAMM-1/GS-24/GS-24_EN/On/GS-24_INS_EN_ON_2_1.html
- Click Cutting → Change, Change Media Size → Get from Machine to update the tape size
- Set the cutting force and cutting speed; leave blade offset 0.25mm for 45deg blade
- You can also use overlap cutting if the tape couldn’t be cut in a single pass
- Press OK to start cutting
- Use a pair of tweezers to peel off the cut
