Messages

11

Show"N"Tell ( What you have made with your CNC machine.) / Re: My first attempts at laser engraving.

« on: July 05, 2009, 11:40:55 AM »

Thanks Tweakie,

Slow, yes but you have found another way to use your CNC. I'm starting to understand. I can see that this little add on is not really going to satisfy someone who needs a laser for anything more than making a few slow but precise parts or engravings. I can also see that the durability issue needs to be considered before purchasing a $455 experiment like I'm considering. It would be nice to own an Epilog Zing 60W but I bet the price is over $8000US. Just guessing. I'm not sure I really want to know. HA! I did some other researching/dreaming to see what the small Laser Engravers cost and I found some $1500 China EBay "deals". I'm not too sure about those.

I wonder if the 1W unit would be much faster? I do my 2D CAD work using BobCadCam and I generate my GCode from there. I can import .BMP images which I have played around with. I read that you do some editing to remove Z movement from the GCode and I guess that is something else I need to consider. The engraving I would like to do is on the same size and quality as your Daisy Azimuth but much more detailed and I would like to cut a few small parts that are .0625 in thickness but my router will do that. I also wonder about programing the start and stop that I assume is required. I think I have too many questions to ask at this point but all of this information has been extremely helpful.

I'm still think'n and learn'n.

Bill

12

Show"N"Tell ( What you have made with your CNC machine.) / Re: My first attempts at laser engraving.

« on: July 05, 2009, 09:00:50 AM »

That is impressive! Especially considering that you don’t have much money in your system and that a cheap China Laser is $1500US plus.

How long does it take to cut something like the gasket?

Thanks,
Bill

13

Show"N"Tell ( What you have made with your CNC machine.) / Re: My first attempts at laser engraving.

« on: July 05, 2009, 04:59:26 AM »

Thanks Tweakie and Guy,

I appreciate you both for your wiliness to give an honest opinion. Guy, that was a funny comment about being insane. HA The answer is yes! (in a good way, me thinks) The only thing I know about a “Laser” is that I’m impressed with the engraving applications and I could use one for my wood projects. I’m with you regarding getting the most for your money but unless someone offers up a different option that is kind of easy like this one; I will go ahead and give it a try. I will definitely wait to see if you or anyone else has a recommendation to consider. I know that this is an experimental type of deal. If I’m wrong about this being kind of an easy setup, please speak up. Guy, you mentioned having control via the CNC machine and this unit does come with a driver circuit board that works with Mach3 so I was think’n that this would work. What system do you use? It sounds like you use a more powerful system.

Tweakie, I had no idea that a heat sink and fan would probably be needed. I will figure that out before I do anything. I was excited to finally see someone actually having success doing this. The add on “Laser” seems to be perfect for my engraving needs and maybe I will be able to cut with it as advertized but I won’t get my hopes up on that.

The point about burning on the edges is something that I had heard of. A printing company has a nice 30K! system and he explained that he uses wood that has a coating on it and this eliminates the issue. In general, I would not use this type of pretreated wood but I would like to find out if there is a coating that could be used. The burned edges in some engraving applications could give a branding iron type effect maybe.

Any other comments will certainly be appreciated.

Thanks Again!
Bill

14

Show"N"Tell ( What you have made with your CNC machine.) / Re: My first attempts at laser engraving.

« on: July 04, 2009, 06:50:43 PM »

Thanks for sharing all the information!
I’m ready to try this.
       My objectives:
1.   Add a bracket to my Romaxx CNC so that I could use either my Bosch Colt router or the laser without any change out using Mach3.
2.   Use the “Laser” to engrave wood only and if possible cut wood of a thickness of .0625 minimum and if possible up to .25.
3.   Always wear the proper type of “Laser” safety glasses.

Here is the unit I’m looking at: 
http://cgi.ebay.com/High-Power-Laser-Module-1000-mw-Cutting-Burning_W0QQitemZ180347420212QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item29fd8b3e34&_trksid=p4634.c0.m14.l1262&_trkparms=%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A30

A.   Will this meet my objective?
B.   I understand that I will need a power supply. Are there any other components that will be needed?
C.   Do you have other recommendations that you think would be better than this unit?
D.   Will this type of “Laser” have any issues with engraving on different types and colors of wood?
E.   If you cut wood, will you need to build or purchase a bed to lay the material on?

Thanks Again,
Bill

15

General Mach Discussion / Re: Go To X and Y Zero?

« on: June 19, 2009, 04:58:55 PM »

Thanks Hood for working through my concerns. I was kind of guessing that since I had told the machine where it was after each touch off that it would know where to go but I wanted to confirm this. I was also wondering if I had made a mistake in techinque for touch off but I feel confident now. I will use the machine for wood working and from what you explained it sounds like I will have excellent accuracy. I did cut one precise part using machinable wax and it came out right.  My machine is a Romaxx HS-1.

Thank You,
Bill

16

General Mach Discussion / Re: Go To X and Y Zero?

« on: June 19, 2009, 04:42:04 PM »

Yes my machine does move exactly 1 inch when requested. I simply downloaded a file that automatically took care of the machine setup so I really do not know much about that as you can tell I'm sure.

The only question I have now, is after I touch off and make my DRO corrections for X and Y and Z.  Should I go to X and Y zero before clicking Cycle Start or does it matter if I Cycle Start at .0005 or .005 or 5.0 or some other number off of X and Y Zero.

I guess I was concerend that the machine was not moving back to exactly Zero and that made me wonder if I would have an accuracy problem.

Thanks,
Bill

17

General Mach Discussion / Re: Go To X and Y Zero?

« on: June 19, 2009, 04:13:35 PM »

I think I understand. I'm not sure why I have 714 selected.

I guess if you zero the DRO's and move off and then push XY0, Mach is able to get you back to 0 but if you change the DRO and your steps per are out of a normal range, then Mach can only get you close. Is this right?

I guess what I need to know is what the steps per should be set to in inches.

Maybe even more important, will Mach be able to run G-Code correctly if you start at a position that is not at x and Y zero?

Thanks Again!
Bill

18

General Mach Discussion / Re: Go To X and Y Zero?

« on: June 19, 2009, 03:57:25 PM »

Inch

19

General Mach Discussion / Re: Go To X and Y Zero?

« on: June 19, 2009, 03:47:31 PM »

The Steps Per are 714 for both X and Y.
Thanks,
Bill

Also:
Velocity = 60
Acceleration = 30  
G's = .077705;
Step Pulse = 0
Dir Pulse = 4

20

General Mach Discussion / Re: Go To X and Y Zero?

« on: June 19, 2009, 02:40:36 PM »

Thanks Hood,

I will drive out to the shop and find out. I'll report back in about an hour.

Bill