Laser cutter and etching...

[jim.s...@googlemail.com]

Hi to all...

new to your space so please forgive any stupidity on my part... :-)  I'm interested in exploring the laser cutter/etcher...

I'd like some information about what sort of thing it is capable of, control language and software, etc... I look forwards to your comments and insight.


Regards Jim.

[Brian Degger]

Hi Jim, 

Glad to hear of your interest, what are you wanting to build or make?  

At Maker Space we have a Greyfin A2 60W laser cutter with a bed size of 600mm x 400mm (approximately A2).

The full spec can be found here:  http://www.justaddsharks.co.uk/cutter/greyfin

More info on it is in our wiki. 

http://makerspace.pbworks.com/w/page/99787047/Laser%20Cutting

Cheers,

Brian

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Brian Degger

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[Glen Beestone]

Hi Jim,

The laser has its own software called Lasercut 3.5
it which is capable of doing only rudimentary shapes such as rectangles and circles. Great for a quick cut but no good for most of what people want to do.

For that you would use it to import a DXF R13 cut file.

So you can use any design software capable of outputting this kind of file.

Popular programs are inkscape for more “drawing” type stuff, and LibreCAD or Drafsight for more engineering CAD type designs

Glen



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On 25/04/2018, 11:00 "jim.skydino via North East Makers" <north-ea...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Hi to all...

new to your space so please forgive any stupidity on my part... :-)  I'm interested in exploring the laser cutter/etcher...

I'd like some information about what sort of thing it is capable of, control language and software, etc... I look forwards to your comments and insight.


Regards Jim.

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You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "North East Makers" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to north-east-mak...@googlegroups.com.

[jim.s...@googlemail.com]

Glen

Yayy... Inkscape and Draftsight I use... well, with a refresher maybes... I'll check to see if VCarve produces the right format.

Jim

[jim.s...@googlemail.com]

Brian

Thanks for the reply. I have had a read and it seems as if it should do what I'm after... I'm looking to etch some designs into 5mm think A5/A4 cast acrylic sheets. I'm also looking to cut cast acrylic, MDF and plywood as well.

What format is the command code in.. I have a CNC router that uses Gcode created from VCarve Pro, Inkspace and such like...

I live 40 odd miles away so I'm fact finding before visiting...

regards

Jim

[David Pye]

Hi Jim,

The command code is proprietary unfortunately. Nobody has fully reverse engineered it as far as I know.

Basically you use the (buggy) lasercutter 5.3 SW to import your DXF, set up the cut profiles there, and it will upload it to the cutter.

Cheers

David

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[jim.s...@googlemail.com]

Thanks David

Thought it might be something like that.... just have to give it a go and see what happens. I have a test design in DXF format so i'll wait and see.. :-)

Jim

[Glen Beestone]

Hi Jim.

It would be worth looking into the difference between cast and extruded acrylic as they give different results when engraved

I forget which way around it is but one leaves a high contrast powdered surface which looks good on its own.
The other gives a cleaner engrave which is good for filling in with a contrasting paint or material and viewing from the other side

Glen


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[Jim Pearson]

Glen, I have access to both. I'd need to try both types to see what the results are.. which one works best for me. I've have varying quality issues so far...  On my router, Cast works better but I can't get the tolerances needed from the raw material (the sheets vary in thickness to much) which is why I'm looking at laser engraving...😎

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On Wed, Apr 25, 2018 at 12:31 PM, Glen Beestone <gl...@technologist.com> wrote:

Hi Jim.

It would be worth looking into the difference between cast and extruded acrylic as they give different results when engraved

I forget which way around it is but one leaves a high contrast powdered surface which looks good on its own.
The other gives a cleaner engrave which is good for filling in with a contrasting paint or material and viewing from the other side

Glen


--
Sent from my Android phone with mail.com Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

On 25/04/2018, 11:34 "jim.skydino via North East Makers" <north-east-makers@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Brian

Thanks for the reply. I have had a read and it seems as if it should do what I'm after... I'm looking to etch some designs into 5mm think A5/A4 cast acrylic sheets. I'm also looking to cut cast acrylic, MDF and plywood as well.

What format is the command code in.. I have a CNC router that uses Gcode created from VCarve Pro, Inkspace and such like...

I live 40 odd miles away so I'm fact finding before visiting...

regards

Jim

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