Could your laser cutter kill you? Testing for chlorine before you cut. Gil looks at the dangers of some plastic products made with chlorine. Laser cutting plastics that contain chlorine is dangerous and deadly. It releases dangerous chlorine gas which is corrosive to you and your laser. Laser Cutting these products creates chlorine gas when using the following materials (including but not limited to):
- PVC
- Pleather
- Vinyl
- Artificial leather
There is a very quick test you can do before using any material in your laser cutter to check for chlorine. Called the Beilstein test, this test uses very basic equipment and can be done in seconds. DO NOT USE UNKNOWN MATERIAL in your laser cutter without TESTING FIRST!
