Messages

7631

Mach SDK plugin questions and answers. / Re: Impact engraving plugin

« on: December 22, 2010, 01:59:29 AM »

Stitos,

It is a short duration pulse (40uS for laser) but it is the pulse repetition frequency (0 to 100%) that varies. Obviously Art would be able to provide a better description but this is the type of signal that I see.

Tweakie.

7632

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

« on: December 21, 2010, 11:15:40 AM »

Hi Josh,

As far as I know there are no manuals or guides but it is simple enough to use it is really just a matter of trial and error.

Output from the plugin is on the 'digital trigger' and this can be configured within Mach to any output pin# of your choice. The output power from the plugin is related to axis speed and it may take a while to get this just right but that's it really.

Good fortune with your project.

It would be really nice if you would start another thread with details and pictures of your project and the progress you make.

Tweakie.

7633

General Mach Discussion / Re: My mill started going backwards

« on: December 21, 2010, 07:56:02 AM »

Phase,

I agree with Hood - I think you have a problem with the driver recognition of the direction signal for your Y Axis. Perhaps a thorough check of your connections PC to BoB to Drivers etc may reveal the problem.

Tweakie.

7634

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

« on: December 21, 2010, 07:37:01 AM »

I really should not do this because I have no permission to use this image which I came across on the internet but as it is just for my own testing and not for commercial or any other purpose I hope the artist will not mind too much.

This is a piece of 10mm acrylic, the reverse of which was sprayed black. The image was then laser etched into the paint/acrylic and then sprayed white. This is the result when viewed from the front. The next stage is, possibly, to laser engrave a foreground into the front of the acrylic - could have interesting results, perhaps.

Tweakie.

7635

FAQs / Re: Tutorials?

« on: December 20, 2010, 11:10:32 AM »

Talan,

Pleased to hear you are making progress.

The Z axis is usually set by touching the tool to the surface of the work then zero the Z Axis DRO. Initially I used a thin piece of paper to set this Z Zero but now have moved on to a Touch Plate and using the auto tool zero function.

Hope this helps.

Tweakie.

7636

FAQs / Re: Tutorials?

« on: December 20, 2010, 04:41:21 AM »

Hi Talan,

I am sorry you have not yet received an answer to your question.

I think that the best tutorial is probably 'hands-on' practical experience, provided you don't use your best cutting tool and you choose a soft material such as the hard model making foam you really can't do much harm and I am sure you will learn fast. Not sure why you should have that problem with Road Runner but you could try Sam's Wile E Coyote here http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,12140.0.html I have run this a few time without problem.

If you have any specific problems or issues please post them under the General section where they will get the most exposure.

Good luck.

Tweakie.

7637

General Mach Discussion / advice please

« on: December 18, 2010, 02:41:55 AM »

Mike,

Is your robot an 'arm' or 'linear flatbed' device ?.

Tweakie.

7638

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

« on: December 18, 2010, 02:35:50 AM »

Thanks Guys.

JH,
This thread has just somehow grown and grown, I was going to stop after about page 10 once the build was complete but with the ideas and suggestions from others I keep trying new things and learning new stuff. By sharing my experiences I hope others can build on them and in turn feedback their experiences etc.
The laser, as a tool, has certainly turned out to be more versatile than I had originally expected and thanks to the extra work Art has put into improvements to the Laser/Engraving plugin over the last month or so, things have just got better. Although my machine is not built for raster engraving, the Mach plugin has enabled me to obtain reasonably high standards of work (equal, I think to the low/mid price range professional machines).
It would be really nice to have someone else do a laser project / build log etc.

Tweakie.

7639

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

« on: December 16, 2010, 06:08:17 AM »

Thanks Guys.

As a matter of interest, perhaps, the minimum achievable laser spot size is a function of the lens focal length and in my case the minimum spot size is about 0.1mm diameter. However, the photons (or whatever laser particles are called) are more concentrated across the center of this 0.1mm spot in the direction of it's travel (because the centre line of the spot is longer than a chord) and as the burn rate is time related, with a fast scan, a much finer line than 0.1mm can be drawn on an object. In some ways it is a bit like sharpening a pencil except that the faster the laser scan, the finer the burn line that can be achieved (within limits that I have yet to discover).
This is to a certain extent demonstrated in this Aztec calendar as finer detail than 0.1mm can be observed.


Tweakie.

7640

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

« on: December 16, 2010, 05:04:45 AM »

A revisit to the Aztec calendar, as I had some mirror tile left over from another job.

This is laser engraved on the back of the tile and before anybody tells me - yes I know that I forgot to flip the image horizontally so the calendar is backwards 
This was a lot easier to make than it was to photograph - I took about 20 shots before I got one reasonable one. I have only just discovered how hard it is to photograph mirrors. 

Tweakie.