Hi,

We ordered 6 pieces honeycomb core to use as beds in our lasercutter. It's really cool stuff but we aren't able to easily or nicely expand the honeycomb core. We have tried the suggestion of using a number of nails spaced at the cellsize apart, but that didn't work out since we needed to pull so hard we pulled the nails through the core. We tried using rope through the holes and a wooden stick to expand it, didn't work.

Finally we found placing 2 hands on top and below with two persons we were able to each pull on a side and that worked but didn't expand it evenly so you get like a weavelike pattern throughout the honeycomb.

Then we tried lasercutting different size "combs" of wood and place these in the honeycomb material this seemed to work sort of.
Attached are our pictures, we want to extract it to a nice square size.

Does anyone have a video online how to do this or some better tips than to use nails in a piece of wood ?

Material is of very nice quality so thanks Easycomposites for the cool stuff and ultra fast shipping !

Kind regards,
Hobbybob aka Dimitri

If the nails rip through the cells, it is because you have not placed them far enough into the core. You need a good 4 or 5 layers of cells above the nails to stop it ripping through.

This might seem wasteful, but the sheets are deliberately a little oversized.

Your picture of the expanded honeycomb does not look that bad.  A few more cells would have been a bit more even had the nail method worked successfully, but generally even with the professional machines, you still get some cell distortion.

Warren Penalver
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant

That's why I'd rather pay the extra £15 and get them pre pulled to save he hassle.