A new laser cutter to replace Gerald

[Mike Gorman]

Hi Folks,

We have been offered a new laser cutter which is slightly bigger than Gerald, but is much newer - being just over 5 years old - so we have decided to accept it and replace Gerald in the Laser Room. The new machine has been offered to us by Make in Huyton. The decision was ultimately made by the laser maintenance team, but this was also discussed at recent Community meetings and Maker Nights.

This will cause a bit of a transition period, whilst we move Gerald from its current location, as well as installing and commissioning the new machine, so that’s one reason for this message.

The main issue though is that we will need some help to move the machines around as they are both big and heavy. This is a bit of a logistical challenge as well to coordinate all of the relevant parties. Neither Gerald or the new machine will fit through a normal doorway when fully assembled, so they will have to be partially disassembled and placed on their sides to enable them to be moved. The new machine also weights 360Kg and Gerald is likely a similar weight. Luckily, Make Huyton has a loading dock, so we only need to disassemble the new machine to get it into DoES.

The key date for the move now looks to be Wednesday 22nd October. This is the planned date for picking up the new machine from Make Huyton, which will be a late afternoon move (around 5pm), which means that the machine move at DoES Liverpool will be around 6pm. Transport has been arranged in a large van, through a neighbour of Sean Jarman’s.

Before the new machine arrives, we need to move Gerald out of the laser room. It isn’t going far for now, literally just outside the room, but it is still big and heavy so will need a few people to help move it. Ideally, this will be moved a day or two before the new machine arrives.

Once we have the new laser cutter working, we will then be disposing of Gerald, ideally to another group who can use it, but as parts for other projects if that doesn’t work out.

Finally, we will be looking for names for the new machine. Any suggestions are welcome, then we will likely use a Doodle poll to see which is the favourite.

So we are looking for volunteers, realistically for the week commencing 20th October and likely to be for evenings rather than working days. Anyone interested in helping?

Regards

Mike Gorman

[Defnet Media]

I might be able to help a bit on the days before or after but that evening I already have a meeting in my calendar.

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[Defnet Media]

You might be able to get Goodgym involved https://www.goodgym.org/v3/areas/liverpool

[Sean Jarman]

This is worth pursuing, as is the gym up the road !

Great idea

Sean

https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/does-liverpool/CAOEEwK4HTStzYk%3Dts_%3D9ABRaJSWd-2uODoUyQh%2B%3Du4EMrC-kVA%40mail.gmail.com

.

[Omar]

I would be happy to help on the evening of the 20th.

[Mike Gorman]

Hi folks,

Thanks for all of the folks who have volunteered. 

As some of you may not have access to the DoES GitHub, I thought it worth posting my latest update from GitHub on here, as it has a lot more details of the activities in the laser room and nearby area’s in the coming days.

———- Clip ———

Time for an update, as we have some significant changes planned for this week.

The planned move date for the new machine is the evening of Wednesday 22nd October.

There will be quite a lot of disruption in the Maker Space during this exercise as some equipment and furniture will have to be moved around to give us space to work with these big bulky and heavy equipment safely.

The schedule of work I have sketched out is as follows.

1. Clear space in the main room for Gerald’s new temporary home.
2. Decommission Gerald and move into the main room
3. Pick up new machine from Make Huyton and place into laser room
4. Repair and commission new machine
5. Find and move Gerald to new home or dispose of Gerald.

For item 1, I plan to go into DoES on Monday evening and rearrange the desks and equipment just outside the laser room to prepare space for Gerald’s temporary home. This will involve dismantling one of the desks for the period that Gerald stays there whilst still allowing access to the plotter and small vacuum press. All of the resin 3D printers will be have to be stored somewhere (possibly the new shelf in the small workshop when I build it on Thursday).

For item 2, I will need some help. Gerald will be decommissioned, including disconnecting the chiller and removing the laser tube. The base of Gerald will then be disconnected, Gerald will then be placed on its side so that it can be manoeuvred through the door. Once in the main space Gerald can then be placed back on its base to be moved into its temporary new home. We may also need to remove panels, and possibly the lid, to make Gerald easier to move. We will leave the laser tube out of Gerald until we know if the tube in the new machine works or not. We may also need to move some other furniture out of the laser room to give us space to move Gerald. This will likely mean that none of the lasers are useable whilst we are doing this work.

For item 3, I have requested help from lots of folks via our Google Group, as the new machine is heavy and will take a lot of heavy lifting to get it out of the van and into DoES.

Sean’s neighbour, along with Sean, will meet me at Make Huyton at approximately 5pm. This location has a loading bay, so we will wheel the new laser directly into the van. I do plan to remove as many panels as possible as well as the lid, whilst we are in Make (indoors with lighting) to make the new machine a little lighter to move.

The laser tube has already been removed from the new machine and packaged, I will bring this to DoES in my car for safer handling.

I am expecting that the loading won’t take too long, so I am anticipating arriving at DoES around 6pm. This is where we will need the most support, lifting the new machine and onto the pavement outside DoES. Once outside DoES, we will remove the stand and place the machine on its left side, on wheeled trolleys. This will allow us to move the laser on the ground floor to the lift, up to the 1st floor and into DoES and eventually into the laser room. Once into the laser room, we can place the machine back on its stand, then place everything back that had to be moved to get us here. I expect that again, furniture will have to be moved out of the laser room to give us space to work, so again all of the lasers will be unavailable whilst this work is taking place.

Items 4 and 5 will have their own issues raised when appropriate.

Please comment if I have missed anything obvious.

Regards

Mike Gorman