Laser cutter operational

[Chris McDonald]

This is the first fully sucessful cut & engrave on our new laser cutter.

Its currently setup at the discovery centre until T4G is ready for it. I‘m usually here thursday evenings and sundays if people want to come in and see it in action.
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Chris McDonald

[Chris McDonald]

Here is a little bigger laser cut. I had to do the main frame piece in two parts but other than that it laser cut great.

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Chris McDonald

[Shawn Wilson]

Very cool.  Will it engrave wood?  I've got some 1/4 inch oak for a project.  I wanted to put a logo on it somehow.  It's going to be painted, so I was hoping to cut a sticker out of vinyl (it's 2 colors), but it seems we can't cut vinyl due to chlorine.   I'm wondering if I could engrave it 1/32 to 1/16 deep or so and fill it with paint.  If so, what's the best file format to use?  Would inkscape work?

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Shawn Wilson

www.glassgiant.com

@glassgiant

[Chris McDonald]

Any program that can print can laser cut. The software has a virtual printer driver. When you press print the page comes up in the laser software. From there you can assign different layers for each color in the image or vector drawing. You can also change the color to assign layers. Each layer gets cut at the speed and power level you set and in what ever order to set them to.

The first step is to take a sample of the wood and do a material test. It will burn a series of squares into the wood and different speeds and power. From there you can select the power and speed that gives you the desired results. Depth of cut and how much it over burned. 

So far I've only done 1/4" acrylic(plexiglas). I've gotten good results with 100% power at 45% speed doing 3 passes. It cuts nearly 1/2 way through on the first pass. Second pass is just about all the way through and the 3rd opens it right up. Sometimes it melts back together so two passes doesn't quite do it. Doing too much in a  single cut leads to the edge overheating and bubbling up. 

The old exhaust fan I found isn't working well so we need to replace it. They are only like $30 at  the binnacle:

http://ca.binnacle.com/p2371/ATTWOOD-TURBO-BLOWER-4in/product_info.html

We also need a few bottles of distilled water. We need to replace the 16L that we have used so far from the Discovery centre. Most pharmacies carry it. 

We need a few lens cleaning kits for cleaning the mirrors and lens.

Thermal stickers for aligning the mirrors is also something to keep an eye out for. The machine came with a few and I've used a number of them yesterday setting the machine up.

I have lots of scrap acrylic available to sell to help fund raise the remainder of the bill on the machine. We could sell stuff like custom keychains, name plates, etc... Edge lighting laser cut acrylic looks amazing. 

https://www.google.ca/search?q=edge+lit+plexiglass&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ

[Shawn Wilson]

Nifty.  What size is needed for the materials test?  

Good idea about the scrap acrylic.  I'll bring some distilled water on Thursday.

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[Chris McDonald]

10cm x 5cm should be enough for the test. Actually if we wanted to set it up manually you could even do a smaller test.   

[Shawn Wilson]

That's okay.  I've got some scrap that size.  I was just worried it might require a square foot.

[Evan d'Entremont]

I helped align the optics on the laser cutter, and figured how to convert arbitrary images into a nicely laseable (is that a word?) format.

Vectors work way better than rasters. Trying to cut out a raster is like trying to cut out a shape with a tiny drill. Sure it would work, given enough time, but a jigsaw works way better.

CAD software can always put out a vector, but most images you find online (png, jpg, etc) will be raster. You can convert them, it works best with something with hard edges.


Find your image. I used this. https://img0.etsystatic.com/000/0/6563153/il_570xN.342425594.jpg
Upload it to vectormagic.com. There's a relatively quick automatic conversion.
Download your vector file as an EPS. You'll have to sign up with your email (and get two free conversions when you do)
Open the EPS in Illustrator. 
Select everything, set the edge as 1px solid black and no fill
Export as PDF.
Open the PDF on the laser cutter computer
Print to the laser cutter.

Now you have a vector in the laser cutter software.

Here's an example cut: https://instagram.com/p/0Oefs6k3dx/?taken-by=evandentremont

[Chris McDonald]

I have some really bad news guys. The window next to the laser cutter was left open tuesday night.  I wasn't the last person out of the shop as usual, my coworker closed up and shut down the exhaust fans but left the window open.

The laser tube has cracked around the water inlet due to the cold. So the $300 tube is broken with a small hope of repair. The end sheared off around the water inlet and outlet. Its maybe not a total loss, there may be ways to repair it as it isn't under pressure or anything there. 

I'm going to track down and order a replacement. I just called Full spectrum laser and its in fact a common problem, usually with the cold coming in through the exhaust at night.   They won't do over night or two day shipping.  

I'm going to find another supplier as FS is very expensive and doesn't offer quick shipping. I will swallow the cost of the replacement tube. 

Very sad day :(

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Chris

[Chris McDonald]

Upon further inspection the damage isn't that bad. Its only one small section of water jacket that is broken. It can easily be repaired with some silicone hose. There is a small separate cavity on the end of the tube that keeps the electrode cool. We just need to clamp a peice of silicone hose over it and maybe get a fitting for water in and out. Very doable. I might even have some hose at home that will stretch. 

Anyone know where we can get some 3/4" or 7/8" silicone hose in the city? I could order from mcmaster if it comes down to it. 

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Chris

[Peter-Frank Spierenburg]

That is very sad.

Before ordering a replacement tube from 'another supplier' can you make sure that FS will continue to support the machine if we don't use their tube?

Peter.

On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 3:15 PM, Chris McDonald <lord...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Peter-Frank Spierenburg]

Chris,

My vote would be for a proper replacement rather than jury rigging something. If the jury rig fails and causes a more serious problem (which is not out of the realm of possibility where water and electronics are concerned) then we've spent $5000 of the city's money for nothing.

Peter.

[Adam Cox]

Also, the tube we have is the 45W, not the 40W, so it's $550. :(

[Evan d'Entremont]

I would consider duct tape "jury rigging" 

Silicone tube is meant to carry liquids. 

So the question is, can it be safely repaired? What does FSL say, have any been repaired before? If it was replaced, is the existing laser tube salvageable to build a second laser cutter?

[Chris McDonald]

The tube is the single most expensive part of the machine. So you really can't do anything more do damage the machine. The good news is through other suppliers the tubes are more like $225 for 45watt or $205 for 40watt. FS Laser are a huge rip off. The gen 4 machines are just rebadged machines from China that you can buy for like $600. The gen 5 is an original design but uses all the same components. 

Anyway its a pretty easy fix. I just need to make a fitting 7/8" in diameter with an in and out on it. and connect it to the end where the cavity broke off. The worst case is that it doesn't cool as well as stock and the tube life it shortened. Best case it it works the same if not better. 

Replacing the tube involves just as much if not more risk. They are somewhat difficult to change and super easy to break in the process. The glass cracks if you look at it the wrong way.   

[Peter-Frank Spierenburg]

I have no doubt that the tube is the single most expensive part of the machine. But it only comprises 10% of the machine's cost, which means that there is still 90% more machine that could suffer damage from a water leak. Right now, in theory, that 90% is still under warranty. That warranty protection is a valuable asset that the HMS must protect.

If we want to go with after-market parts, that's fine, so long as FS will continue to warrant the product with a third party tube. We should verify that that is the case before doing so.

If replacing the tube involves risk, then we need to consider sending the entire unit back to FS and have them replace the tube.

Peter.