Messages

6321

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: The Laser Project.

« on: September 18, 2011, 04:02:43 AM »

Another  ‘Papel Picado’.  http://www.internationalfolkart.org/eventsedu/education/muertos/papelpicado.html

Presumably relating to the different festivals, these paper cuts usually incorporate Skeletons, Birds and Flowers and although the Mexican tradition is century’s older it is in a strange way similar to the UK folk art of ‘canal boat decorative painting’ which almost always incorporates Roses and Castles.

Tweakie.

6322

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: The Laser Project.

« on: September 16, 2011, 11:21:57 AM »

Hi Dan,

The laser power was set at 5mA (20mA is the maximum I ever use) and a feed of 700 is what I  normally set for cutting thin stuff (in practice I doubt that either axis ever got anywhere near to this speed because of the small movements involved and my acceleration settings.
Regarding the edges, some paper / card cuts with less burn than others (perhaps due to the chalk content) and this stuff just happens to be good. The co-axial air assist combined with an air extraction system also reduces any surface smoke stains.

Tweakie.

6323

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: The Laser Project.

« on: September 16, 2011, 10:02:46 AM »

Something that has become more popular during the last couple of years is personalised paper / card cut wedding and party invitations / cards etc http://paperorchidstationery.com/ . Traditionally these items were ‘die cut’ and we had to choose from just those variants available but lasers have removed the ‘tooling costs and limitations’ and are just so brilliant at cutting paper and card that individual and personalised greetings are now so easily created and of course, affordable.

The following example, obviously not for weddings, is an old and perhaps weird Mexican paper cut which I found interesting and just had to reproduce http://www.craftsmanspace.com/free-patterns/miscellaneous-illustrations.html . Using a federate of 700mm/min this took me just over 14 minutes to cut and indicates why the galvo scanning type of laser heads are usually used for this type of work http://www.synrad.com/Products/marking.htm . They would, for example, cut something like this in just a few seconds so the end product would be economic to make in quantity and should yield a respectable profit on time and investment for the maker.

Tweakie.

6324

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: The Laser Project.

« on: September 16, 2011, 09:53:22 AM »

Hi Sam,

Thanks for the heads-up, in retrospect I don’t think the ‘bacon scented hair’ is going to go down too well so I am thinking that washing off the GHD’s thoroughly in WD40 after use may be the way forward. 

Tweakie.

6325

General Mach Discussion / Re: Mach3 Gcode Manual

« on: September 15, 2011, 05:30:52 AM »

Thanks Terry  

Tweakie.

(I hope somebody is going to collect up all the fragments and put in one place)

6326

General Mach Discussion / Re: Anybody use Galaad to control Mach?

« on: September 15, 2011, 05:26:46 AM »

However, if we can use Galaad on the machine to set up the tool paths, we can then send the file directly to Mach for the machining. It should be as simple as pushing a button. Should be......

If this was to work then you would be sending a GCode file to Mach but you say that Galaad will not export just the GCode 

Tweakie.

6327

*****VIDEOS***** / Re: First run of my Shibaura Roibot

« on: September 15, 2011, 05:18:47 AM »

Really good 

Tweakie.

6328

Show"N"Tell ( Your Machines) / Re: BDG 672 CNC router 2450 x 1250 x 600 with 8 place Toolchanger

« on: September 13, 2011, 10:59:27 AM »

Excellent machine build - more pictures please.

Tweakie.

6329

General Mach Discussion / Re: Lathe as mill

« on: September 13, 2011, 08:42:13 AM »

H Graham,

I am sure anything is possible and this would make a very interesting project.

Tweakie.

6330

General Mach Discussion / Re: Lazy cam

« on: September 13, 2011, 07:12:45 AM »

Hi Graham,

I Just don't understand that, sorry buddy it is obviously something to do with your computer but I am lost for any further suggestions.

Tweakie.