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Posted: 6/22/2026 7:49:13 AM EDT
[Last Edit: osprey21][Edited]
This is probably the closest to the appropriate forum for this sort of thing? I have started using my ComMarker B4 30W fiber laser (with 70mm field lens) to port slides and barrels of some of our less desireable handguns, such as my girlfriends original HK VP9 that I bought for her not long after they were released. It is basic, no optics ready slide or anything fun, so it had been relegated to suppressor use for a few years, but we bought sequential serial number SilencerCo Maxim 9's and that ruined any other suppressed handguns for us. I have ported a Canik Rival barrel and a junk P80 G19 slide that just wouldn't run, but this was my first time cutting the slide of a gun that was actually pretty nice, and I think that it came out well. This has been fun, and has me now seriously looking at investing in a 200W fiber laser, but boy do lasers make 3D printing seem like an inexpensive hobby      Laser porting an HK VP9 slide  Laser porting an HK VP9 barrel  Slow motion video of the ported HK VP9 being fired This is the P80 slide with an AIM Surplus JTT barrel that I ported. The slide looks rough because I was playing with settings and ended up making a few mistakes. 
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Originally Posted By Ef4life: Thats pretty cool. 30w seems like it wouldn’t be strong enough to cut metal like that. The 70mm lens is the key to that; the way it concentrates the light it makes the 30W laser have the same intensity as a 74W laser would have with a 110mm lens. Even then it takes a pretty long time, but the VP9 slide cut faster than expected at around 20 minutes. They are quite thin on top. |
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Originally Posted By zaitsev44: Tagged for interest. I have a 30W B4 that is collecting dust. I may try it out. The 70mm lens isn't expensive, but it does require calibrating the laser and your focus lasers have to be adjusted. Lightburn makes all of this pretty easy. |
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Originally Posted By backbencher: Now do optics cuts, OP. Or - 80% sheet metal lower parts. Optics cuts aren't something that I am willing to tackle, but the idea is cool. The working area with the 70mm lens is only 70x70 (2¾"x2¾") so that won't do much for cutting sheet metal. Maybe if I decide to drop the $8kish on a 200W in the future. |
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Originally Posted By KGone: I have only done engraving with my 60w fiber. Interested in how you program this. And do you have to keep adjusting the focal distance as you go. I basically just create a shape, then copy it and shrink it by about 2mm and use that to subtract from the first shape so that it is just a 2mm line to be cut. I do mess with focus a bit as it is going to make sure it is doing the most work. For the barrel ports I just do a solid shape as making it only cut an outer shape doesn't always cut well, especially with thick barrels. I tend to like offset fill, 100% power, 25khz, with wobble enabled and rotation set to change by a few degrees for each pass. Sometimes doing line mode helps clean up a cut if it starts looking rough. |
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That looks factory. I have been hesitant to try because of how thick the metal is there. |
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