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The easiest way to machine EVA foam is to laser cut it into a desired shape. This way you can make containers, small accessories or cosplay parts. See what else you can do with EVA foam and ZMorph VX.
The easiest way to machine EVA foam is to laser cut it into a desired shape. This way you can make containers, small accessories or cosplay parts. See what else you can do with EVA foam and ZMorph VX.
The black foam you’re looking at is a material called EVA. EVA stands for ethylene-vinyl acetate and it’s a copolymer. This soft but firm foam can be easily laser cut with ZMorph VX and has many practical applications, which we’ll cover in the next section of this article. EVA foam is characterised with very low water absorption, softness, and good shock absorption. Attach the Laser PRO toolhead to your machine and we’ll teach you what you can do with EVA.
Laser cutting with ZMorph VX is a fairly easy task to perform, but there are a few important points to cover before you turn on the laser toolhead. If you set the travel speed too fast, it won’t cut the material and too slow settings will burn it. The number of paths depends on how thick your EVA foam sheet is.
Based on our internal testing these are the best Voxelizer parameters for laser cutting or engraving EVA foam.
Engraving speed: 40-150 mm/s (depending on the thickness of the material)
Cutting speed: 5-90 mm/s (depending on the thickness of the material
To securely mount your piece of material to the CNC worktable you can use a double-sided foam tape. Make sure the material is evenly placed or otherwise your design won’t be cut precisely.
It’s a good practice to have the chamber closed while laser engraving or cutting. This way fewer fumes will be released. Anyway, you should only work in a well-ventilated area and should you feel weird, go outside and breathe some fresh air.
As we mentioned before, EVA foam can be laser cut and therefore acts great as filling in various containers and casings. It can also be used in different accessories or cosplays.
While EVA is not a dangerous material, you definitely should be careful around the Laser PRO toolhead. If you bought the ZMorph VX Full Set, then you should have the safety glasses included in the set. If you don’t have them - you most certainly should buy them if you want to work with laser. The diode is powerful enough to burn your skin and if directly looked at while turned on can damage your eyesight. Always put on the safety glasses before turning on the laser and never put your hands or other body parts under the working laser.
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Other safety issues also apply - it’s recommended to work in a well-ventilated area to avoid breathing in the fumes, and never touch moving parts of the machine while it’s working.
It’s a good practice to wait for the machine to cool down before switching toolheads or removing the material.
Do you want to learn more? ZMorph multitool 3D printers support almost 50 different materials for 3D printing, CNC milling, and laser engraving and cutting. Visit our blog or check the ZMorph Materials Library to learn about other applications.
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