# Laser Smoke Extraction - Quantitative Measurements **URL:** \ **Category:** Everything Lasers\ **Tags:** lasers\ **Created:** [September 15, 2025, 11:49am UTC](https://forum.avidcnc.com/t/laser-smoke-extraction-quantitative-measurements/5253 "2025-09-15T11:49:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grossmsj](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/forum.avidcnc.com/grossmsj/32/4903_2.png) [@grossmsj](https://forum.avidcnc.com/u/grossmsj)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2025, 11:49am UTC](https://forum.avidcnc.com/t/laser-smoke-extraction-quantitative-measurements/5253/1 "2025-09-15T11:49:34Z")
I laser engrave a lot of cutting boards. Until a week ago, I just opened all the windows in my shop and turned on my air cleaners, but the shop was mostly uninhabitable while I’d engrave large batches of boards. As I thought about a fume mitigation strategy, I had several questions I couldn’t find solid answers to: 1) Just how effective a home-built smoke control would be? 2) What sort of air flow volume would be needed? I recently put together a system inspired by @StringBean laser fume hood and an AC Infinity CLOUDLINE PRO S6 6” Inline Duct Fan venting outdoors. View of whole system: ![Whole system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/uploads/avidcnc/original/2X/6/603130eafec9aba34d386226a941f07a131cfaa3.jpeg) View from underneath laser shroud mouth: V ![Laser Shroud Mouth](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/uploads/avidcnc/original/2X/5/530e9e42edc72ba409b35b185df92e999fdafa1e.jpeg) I’m not going to spend a lot of time discussing the system itself, but rather, share some measurements I made quantifying how well it worked. I’ve had a Dylos particle counter in my shop for over fifteen years and I used it to measure smoke levels under various conditions. The **first measurements** were smoke levels with the system working and then turned off. The Dylos particle counter was approximately six feet away from the Avid CNC. It was measuring the smallest particles. The laser was the Opt 15W, engraving bamboo. Base Level (pre lasering): ~100 (this can vary a lot, ranging from ~22 to 300). Lasering with mitigation, fan on full: ~280-430, average ~330. Lasering with fan off: 4,000 within 2.5 minutes, 12,800 about 5 minutes later. Pretty nasty. I had wanted to know how much airflow would be required, as I had an interest in a standalone smoke extractor like the Fumex. The AC Infinity I bought just vents to the outside with a stated maximal airflow of 351 cfm. It also has a wired fan controller for speed control. In these measurements I set the Opt to basically continuously ‘char’ the bamboo while I varied airflow. These conditions are far worse than I’d run into with laser engraving but made the measurements easier. I typically left the fan on each setting for about 5 minutes before recording the level. Base Level: ~120 Fan on full (10): 600 Setting 8: 1127 Setting 6: 1132 Setting 4: 1750 Setting 2: 2700 3 minutes after fan off: 12,800 I made no attempt to verify the actual airflows, nor do I know if the controls are linear. But even at the lowest level the extraction was not bad. The last set of measurements were taken the next day during an actual bamboo laser engraving session. A board takes about 22 minutes, laser power is typically 45% at 85 ipm. Pre lasering: ~500 (a bit high) Fan half-speed at 11 minutes: 505 16 minutes: 1020 20 minutes: 807 End: 1070 To add perspective on these measured levels this is what I observed. You could see smoke pouring out the vent outside the window. No smoke was visible in the shop, and I could barely detect the smell of smoke. I’m not sure I’d know I was laser engraving. When the levels are at 12,000, you definitely know you shouldn’t be in there. I had one window open across the shop to allow air to freely flow out the vent, but otherwise the shop was closed up. I’m very happy with how this turned out. It’s certainly going to make laser engraving a lot more pleasant and productive. ---
**Author:** ![corbin](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/forum.avidcnc.com/corbin/32/2800_2.png) [@corbin](https://forum.avidcnc.com/u/corbin)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2025, 1:00pm UTC](https://forum.avidcnc.com/t/laser-smoke-extraction-quantitative-measurements/5253/2 "2025-09-15T13:00:16Z")
Whoa, that made a huge difference! Nice job! ---
**Author:** ![jjneeb](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/forum.avidcnc.com/jjneeb/32/244_2.png) [@jjneeb](https://forum.avidcnc.com/u/jjneeb)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2025, 10:48pm UTC](https://forum.avidcnc.com/t/laser-smoke-extraction-quantitative-measurements/5253/3 "2025-09-15T22:48:16Z")
Nice job. Ya, if you are doing heavy engraving or cutting for very long, that smoke is really irriating. I’m sure its bad to breath, but it can really irritate the eyes too. I usually just use my dust collector on it (mine is vented to the outdoors). However, for long jobs I don’t like to listen to the DC so I use a similar lower volume fan as yours and it works well too. Most of the time the weather is good enough here though that I can just turn on my 32” wall fan and blow it out the open garage door. ---
**Author:** ![NLE](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/forum.avidcnc.com/nle/32/3880_2.png) [@NLE](https://forum.avidcnc.com/u/NLE)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2025, 3:28pm UTC](https://forum.avidcnc.com/t/laser-smoke-extraction-quantitative-measurements/5253/4 "2025-09-16T15:28:01Z")
Awesome work, thanks for sharing. Did you print the hood? I would like to see AVID design and sell a hood (unless they already have and I have not seen it). ---
**Author:** ![Eric](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/forum.avidcnc.com/eric/32/3220_2.png) [@Eric](https://forum.avidcnc.com/u/Eric)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2025, 4:15pm UTC](https://forum.avidcnc.com/t/laser-smoke-extraction-quantitative-measurements/5253/5 "2025-09-16T16:15:48Z")
There’s this one for the 15 watt: > [@Smoke Extraction Hood for 15W Laser System! (deploys with laser when activated)](https://forum.avidcnc.com/t/smoke-extraction-hood-for-15w-laser-system-deploys-with-laser-when-activated/2314): > > Hey Everyone! I’ve been hanging out for a while but this is my first time posting. I just got the new laser upgrade from Avid and have been having a blast! One thing I noticed was that the smoke produced by the laser is pretty substantial, and my space was not the easiest to ventilate. I do a lot of engraving, so most of the smoke ends up on the top of the material. To respond to this I whipped up a Smoke Extraction Hood! An image of it mounted to the pneumatic drop plate is provided below. (I… And I also designed one for the 45 watt: > [@Safety string for lasers](https://forum.avidcnc.com/t/safety-string-for-lasers/5210/2): > > I kinda wanted that dock… but I cheaped out and designed and 3D printed my own version of it: That’s the Fusion file if you want to spin it around. One thing I did to make sure I didn’t knock the laser off was but a bolt in the back that secures it to the dock. Removing the laser is easy.. I just push it down and remove the one M5 in the back and it’s off. Both are available for 3D printing ---
**Author:** ![grossmsj](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/forum.avidcnc.com/grossmsj/32/4903_2.png) [@grossmsj](https://forum.avidcnc.com/u/grossmsj)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2025, 4:16pm UTC](https://forum.avidcnc.com/t/laser-smoke-extraction-quantitative-measurements/5253/6 "2025-09-16T16:16:02Z")
Thank you. ![Fume Exhaust Printed](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/uploads/avidcnc/original/2X/5/55f98d1264b873ac5cd978b62a5f214ed1e106fc.jpeg) Yes, I printed the hood. It was done in Fusion 360. It’s basically three sections. The lowest section is a mouth near the laser target. It merges with a shape that wraps around the Opt Laser, using Opt’s STEP file as a modeling component. You can see a little ‘ledge’ that rests on the top of the laser. This merges with a section which allows attachment to a 4 inch hose. I made an effort to keep the cross-sectional areas about the same to maintain constant airflow, but I’m no engineer for sure. This is a one-off designed to fit with how I have my laser mounted to the side of my gantry. I don’t have Avid’s laser thing so I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t work as it is. ---
**Author:** ![grossmsj](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/forum.avidcnc.com/grossmsj/32/4903_2.png) [@grossmsj](https://forum.avidcnc.com/u/grossmsj)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2025, 4:21pm UTC](https://forum.avidcnc.com/t/laser-smoke-extraction-quantitative-measurements/5253/7 "2025-09-16T16:21:08Z")
The first one is the design that inspired me to do something. I wrote to @StringBean to see if I could mooch the Fusion file but never got a response. Hasn’t been on the forum for over a year. So I buckled down and a mere 29 versions later (and two prototypes) I settled on a version printed in PAHT-CF. ---
**Author:** ![NLE](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/forum.avidcnc.com/nle/32/3880_2.png) [@NLE](https://forum.avidcnc.com/u/NLE)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 4:54am UTC](https://forum.avidcnc.com/t/laser-smoke-extraction-quantitative-measurements/5253/8 "2025-09-17T04:54:40Z")
Thanks for the info, I guess I am going to have to learn 3d printing. ---
**Author:** ![Eric](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/forum.avidcnc.com/eric/32/3220_2.png) [@Eric](https://forum.avidcnc.com/u/Eric)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 12:51pm UTC](https://forum.avidcnc.com/t/laser-smoke-extraction-quantitative-measurements/5253/9 "2025-09-17T12:51:55Z")
If you know someone locally with a 3D printer you can have the designs I posted printed. There are also online services that will do it for you. ---
**Author:** ![NLE](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex027/user_avatar/forum.avidcnc.com/nle/32/3880_2.png) [@NLE](https://forum.avidcnc.com/u/NLE)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2025, 9:42pm UTC](https://forum.avidcnc.com/t/laser-smoke-extraction-quantitative-measurements/5253/10 "2025-09-17T21:42:56Z")
Thanks Eric!!