Great idea, thank you!

Thank you, and Greetings!

That would definitely work on the cheap; put those old boxes to work!

That will depend on the foam type and your laser wattage. Open-cell polyurethane foam can be cut up to 2.5" in one pass with a 120-watt laser; with denser foams and lower wattages, you would need to do this in thinner layers.

@@davidstevens2577 Thanks

​@@davidstevens2577Can this also cut silicone open-cell foam? How is the cutting depth adjusted? ( if i just want to cut 20 mm deep in a 40mm high block?)

Laser engraving and cutting of all materials, including foam, will produce dangerous fumes and must be ventilated or filtered correctly.

Settings will depend on the top feed rate of your laser brand, so I cannot give you any exact numbers based on that. I can tell you to run at 100% power and then slow the cut speed down low enough to get through. Some testing will help you determine if this will work on your system. Note that with only 20 watts of laser power, it may be challenging to make this application work because you will have to run it very slowly, which will give more time for heat to build up and increase the chance for a flame or flare; foam can be very flammable, so keep a very close eye on this should you attempt this and make sure you have an air assist and excellent exhaust on when testing.

Hey Rickie, no problem; I used item numbers 1202- Red 6-lb foam and 1203 Black 6-lb foam sheeting in this video example.

Thank you!

In your example, if I understand you correctly you would need to use more than two layers of foam to compensate for tools like this and layer them together, cutting out an opening to account for this.

We are happy you like the video! This example used the latest version, "CorelDraw Graphics Suite 2023," but any version will do this back over 20+ years.

You can cut with any tool outline; we just found a photo to be the best for this, but you can create an outline of a tool that will work.

Thank you! The negative Z-offset will do two things, allow the foam to cut straighter (less angle) and faster than focusing on the surface due to the makeup and thickness of this type of material.

@@davidstevens2577 Thanx for your reply. Will test this asap ;-)

You are correct, but scanning the tool was slower, requiring more time to trace around it in the design software. When manually drawing the outline by hand it created a perfect offset, and then that drawing was scanned and quickly center traced, as shown in the video.

@@TrotecLaser There is no need in tracing it. You can select it with a magic tool then convert selection to a line voila. You have a more precise line with out additional work.

These are not hobby-grade laser machines; they are commercial and industrial-grade lasers that start around $8,500, which can make this application. Trotec Laser machines are high-performing production machines designed to create consistent revenue.