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During Rob’s presentation I introduced laser etching resin as an option to CNC carving for multicolor resin projects. I mentioned not having researched the fumes-safety issue yet and was alerted by Doug that epoxy resins are harmful. My Austin makerspace produces this list of what’s safe and what’s not safe to laser cut/etch.
That said, I’ve now had a chance to do some research and find there are safe resins. The issue is burning materials containing halogens (fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine and astatine), epoxy resin or phenolic resins. Thankfully acrylic, polyester, and polyurethane resins can be laser etched/cut.
There’s lots to learn still. Can these products take pigment? What are the pot times and cure times? Working temperatures? Any issues in the product safety sheets? Much analysis ahead but it’ll be worth it if we can do multi-color epoxy using laser etching. I’ll be looking at urethane and polyurethane resins from Specialty Resin, Smooth-on and Alumilite such as Fabri-Cast 50, Smooth-Cast or Amazing Casting Resin.
In my wanderings I have come across people claiming EPOX-IT80 is a safe epoxy; the product safety sheet sets off no alarm bells. I may try it too.
If you come across resins that work well for you then please share here.
I’ve now spoken with Alumilite, Smooth-on and Specialty Resins about laser-safe resins. So far I’ve struck out when it comes to our use case. I’ll keep looking but until further notice I’d recommend sticking with the CNC approach. Wish me luck!
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