I got me a laser cutter, awesome!

Hats off to you, for buying it knowing it would need a lot of work to get running.

I can only imagine how it must feel to own such awesome tech skillz :(
 
Want. Lots.

If you put.. Say... Petrol.. Under it.. Would it explode or burn or something?

Want to try it to prove your theory before you reply + film it? :D
 
GreatAuk said:
How hard was that to get working? did it not come with any software at all?
also, awesome :cool:
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Well, it is a bit of a lottery on these things. Most come with a board that works only with the software designed for it. Great for engraving and stuff. Not good for those (me) who want precise vector cutting.

On this one I noticed the digital control panel. This is a TopWisdom USB board and very neat indeed. Somebody imported it with all the bells and whistles, but probably gave up trying to get it to work. It had a total of 50 jobs passed on it, and the last one stored was a Chinese symbol. So I assume it was a factory test.

So a little research and a good look at the board reveals it has an FTDI chip on it. FTDI is a rs232 to TTL converter or a USB Serial port. Plugged it in and it enumerated as a virtual com port. This is good as it means the software to control it was not propriety.

A quick Google and I quickly found the plugin's and drivers on another Chinese website that uses the TopWisdom board in their laser machines.

Now I may use AutoCad, 3dMax etc, but my tool of choice is CorelDraw. I actually prefer it over Illustrator, and lucky for me the Laser manufacturers all seem to like it.

I got a direct plugin for Corel. Plugged in the laser, set the plugin to the correct com port, and I could connect. I was able to read off the configuration settings, prooving comms worked.

I drew a few simple vectors, and set them in different colours. Hit the laser output button, and it showed me all the objects. I could set different speeds and powers for each coloured line. Also the cutting order, so you can cut holes 1st then the outer cut. Also engrave 1st then cut. There are lots of options and I am slowly figuring out what they do.

So that was it, not too hard really. If you are comfortable with hardware and know what a com port it, you can probably get one working too.
 
PhillyDee said:
I have been after one of these for quite a while. I too am a hacker.

Since you now have one, have you visited www.thingiverse.com ? I have a 3D printer and have used a couple of models from there.

I also want a CNC lathe and CNC milling machine, although lack the space to even get manual versions. I did price up laser cutters and prices them around £4900 from a UK company. Not capable of cutting metals, but even came with a C axis for engraving circular objects. But I again, lack the funds and the space (currently anyway!)

If I ever need anything done, I may give you a shout . . . .
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I have an option on a very nice Epilog machine, I may get it an start offering a laser cutting service for small projects, much like Thingverse.

I have some acrylic ordered, and I am gonna make some boxes for some of the circuits I have designed. Will post if they work.
 
PhillyDee said:
That would depend on the complexity, engraving, time to complete, overall size, thickness . . . . Its never easy is it!
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The one I outsource too is £50 per hour. You buy an hour of laser time, and each job is taken off this time till you need to pay again.
 
wow they aren't that expensive, loads on the bay for £500 ish. Now if you could take the innards out and make teh work area a meter square, or maybe fit it to a reprap and do the same that would be awesome.

Why are work area so small. Surly it's just a matter of making the axis bigger.
and how do these things do engraving, how does it know how far it has cut through a sheet.
 
AcidHell2 said:
wow they aren't that expensive, loads on the bay for £500 ish. Now if you could take the innards out and make teh work area a meter square, or maybe fit it to a reprap and do the same that would be awesome.

Why are work area so small. Surly it's just a matter of making the axis bigger.
and how do these things do engraving, how does it know how far it has cut through a sheet.
Click to expand...

Maybe some kind of address limitation ?

I guess you perform some kind of calibration with test pieces to get the power right?
 
AcidHell2 said:
wow they aren't that expensive, loads on the bay for £500 ish. Now if you could take the innards out and make teh work area a meter square, or maybe fit it to a reprap and do the same that would be awesome.

Why are work area so small. Surly it's just a matter of making the axis bigger.
and how do these things do engraving, how does it know how far it has cut through a sheet.
Click to expand...

Yup there are loads on the bay. If you want one, please make sure it has a USB port, and a decent controller. Else you day will be spoiled. Saying that you can retro fit with new boards and drive from Mach3 etc..

As for cutting depth, it is all about focal lengths.I can whizz through 3mm acrylic. 6mm will need 2 or 3 passes, with the material being raised.
 
Ok, OcUK logo cut as promised.

Gave all the mirrors a good clean, and re-aligned them. Now I can cut faster with less power :-)


Here is the vid of how it was made.

ocuk1.jpg


& the final result.

ocuk2.jpg


& some Hovis.

:-)
 
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