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Author Topic: My first attempts at laser engraving.  (Read 91496 times)

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Offline Tweakie.CNC

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Re: My first attempts at laser engraving.
« Reply #60 on: May 24, 2009, 06:35:45 AM »
Well Chris the results were not successful. I cut your pendant, before my wife had even noticed that the candles were missing from the lounge, it is nowhere near to your high quality of work but OK for my testing. I have concluded that with a point laser beam the heat generated is too localised to cause the type of surface reflow of the wax that is required. This does not mean that it is not possible but I think that the beam would have to be modified to more of a fan shape and of course that would require considerable power from a laser and well beyond my 150 mW.
My point beam is smaller than 0.1mm so in the test I used a step over of 0.1mm and the surface finish of the wax was not improved at all – in fact it was a lot worse. The microscope photos show the surface finish after machining and after laser treatment. It was a long shot but who knows it might have worked !.   :'(

Tweakie.
PEACE

Offline Chris.Botha

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Re: My first attempts at laser engraving.
« Reply #61 on: May 24, 2009, 08:16:09 AM »
dude! nice cutting hehehe hope yr wife didnt mind too much lol

ok that answers that question.. i think ou are right .. a broader point , maybe pulsing...

many guys that polish wax do it with the tip of a waxpen.. basically a heated wire.. my next experiment would likely involve some sort of heated cutter.

thansk for all your effort on this man!




Offline Chris.Botha

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Re: My first attempts at laser engraving.
« Reply #62 on: May 24, 2009, 08:16:48 AM »
oh hey what are you magnifying that with??

vmax549

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Re: My first attempts at laser engraving.
« Reply #63 on: May 24, 2009, 09:20:05 AM »
Chris what you are looking for is a larger point, little more power and the laser pulse function art developed a while back for laser/enpact engraving. That will allow you to control the power at the wax so you can "tune" the melt/flow process.

Also I believe machine wax and candle wax have a different melt point???

Just a thought, (;-) TP

Offline Sam

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Re: My first attempts at laser engraving.
« Reply #64 on: May 24, 2009, 11:40:38 AM »
Quote
Also I believe machine wax and candle wax have a different melt point???
Exactly what I was thinking. The color would also likely play a huge part of the equation. Black would of course heat up the most, which might or might not be best. I'm sure there is something you could add to the wax to make the melting temp higher, if need be. It kinda looks like a process that uses a very defined set of parameters to work correctly. Once ya get it figured out, though, it seems it would be very rewarding.
"CONFIDENCE: it's the feeling you experience before you fully understand the situation."

Offline Greolt

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Re: My first attempts at laser engraving.
« Reply #65 on: May 24, 2009, 06:25:15 PM »
What about a hot air plastic welding gun?

A small nozzle and the precise travel rate, distance from target and stepover provided by the CNC to get consistency.

Greg

Offline Chris.Botha

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Re: My first attempts at laser engraving.
« Reply #66 on: May 24, 2009, 07:34:29 PM »
good idea.. only hassle i still perceive here wil be dwell issues when Z has to climb up a claw.. the heat will be the same for a longer period of time....

Offline Chris.Botha

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Re: My first attempts at laser engraving.
« Reply #67 on: May 24, 2009, 09:29:09 PM »
greg.. any links to the type of plastic welder you referring to?

Offline Greolt

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Offline Chris.Botha

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Re: My first attempts at laser engraving.
« Reply #69 on: May 25, 2009, 03:30:40 AM »
looking now .. they all seem rather course tho..  thought you might have had a specific model in mind.

suppose could not be too hard to pipe air through copper tube with regular jewellers torch nozzle on end to reduce it to pinpoint..


thanks for the help :)