Cutting metal with a standard F1 / coin cell battery holder
Instruction
Thin copper sheeting and thin brass sheeting are both very useful materials for multiple reasons. Thin pure copper can be used with stained glass to make unique fused glass designs. Thin bits of brass are highly valuable for electronics repair and crafting. The Xtool F1 is not stated to be metal capable, but in fact it is with proper settings and correct material selection.
Applicable to jewelry like earrings , too.
As an example of the application a battery holder for two small coin cells to make a 3V battery that can fit inside LED illuminated crafts is shown.
For both copper and brass either the IR or the blue laser will, with appropriate settings, get through the material, but the blue laser makes a big mess. The IR laser will cut very clean lines and holes if you just make multiple passes. The XCS file contains a couple of solderable terminals in brass, and a little Celtic heart design that we'll be posting into the Valentine's day contest once we fuse the glass.
In one of my previous projects (https://www.designfind.com/project/33155-internally-lit-christmas-decoration) I made a Christmas tree decoration on the F1 that I then lit up from the inside using some Dollar Tree LED lights. This was very nice but the Dollar Tree lights use two AAA batteries, too big and clunky to use for ornaments. The XCS file within this project also contains a little wood cutout for use with two LR44 size batteries (easily available at Amazon, Harbor Freight, Dollar Tree, etc.).
After cutting the two brass terminals, you fold them around the top and bottom of the wood cutout (top is marked with ‘x’). then you stack the two batteries inside and it all fits nice with a pressure fit. Wrap a bit of tape around the batteries and the wood piece, and this 3V battery pack is small enough to drop inside a Christmas ornament, making self-lit ornaments for your tree a reality.
The LED light sets from Dollar Tree even come with a nice tiny switch that you can mount inside the cap of the ornament to save battery life. The wires of the LED lights are cut and stripped, and soldered to the brass tabs using the nice holes the laser has cut for you.
the website https://glasswithapast.com/knowledgebase/fusing-with-copper-sheet-and-wire/ shows a nice example of what happens when copper is laid between two sheets of glass and fused. It takes on a lovely dark red color.