hey tweakie
 looks like im up and running  cut 6 in circle  little flat on the sides i had some play i got most of it out  we shall see tomorrow
 how is lazer comming along
 mikee

Glad everything is coming together for you Mikee.

I am looking forward to seeing some pictures of the stuff you make (If the river keeps rising a boat could be good  )

Tweakie.

  thanks tweakie
  and yes i have a boat  and i have sailed 7 seas 
  i have always want to make a pirates ship hmmm
  well back to work.
 I'm trying to understand, i guess it will be (offsets)   when i air cut my first circle i did not know where it was going to cut it out on the table.  
 the good part i have feed rate control.
 i really need to know  how to operate this machine safely
you have great day   
don't hurt yourself with your bug zapper 
mikee
not much land dam few cattle co.   

Again using the impact/laser engraving plugin some quite stunning results can be had with ceramic tiles. The laser produces micro-fractures in the surface of the glaze which are subsequently filled with a dye. This was one of my first attempts, using some left over’s from a tiling job, it’s not bad but I still have a long way to go before achieving results that I am fully satisfied with. Tiles marked this way are much more durable than I had first thought, they may fade with time but washing and cleaning have no effect on the dye once it has penetrated the surface.

In a way this serves to illustrate the stupidity of our patent system. Using a laser to mark the surface of ceramic tiles has been patented and technically I am not allowed to make or experiment with making such things as this (my comments will be written on the piece of paper which will be passed to the clerk of the court). And as you would expect it is not just limited to tiles – marking house bricks with a laser and marking Denim jeans with a laser have also been patented although half of Asia seems to be marking Denim with dis-regard to any patents. The list just goes on and on to the extent that I am surprised that a patent has not already been granted for just switching a laser on at the wall outlet.
I know that drug companies have been accused of patenting compounds and formulae they have no intention of using just to prevent a competitors research.

How, I wonder, would we all get on if a patent had been granted for machining a piece of material with a CNC machine ?
Not that much different in principle from marking a ceramic tile using a laser is it ?

Tweakie.

Can you give us some background on what wavelength safety glasses you are using and how you are protecting yourself and visitors while the unit is running? I am looking at adding a Co2 tube to one of my Routers. Engraved signs are good idea, but my health and all safety factors are more important. I purchased a 40watt cheap unit from www.lightobject.com including the DSP. Everything works pretty well, for less than $2500, My intent was to learn so I could add a larger unit for one of my gantry routers. The Unit I purchased needed quite a bit of engineering upgrades but nothing that can't be overcome.
Thanks
Keep up the great thread

Good question Sir.

My machine is Class 4 radiation at a  wavelength of 10600nm and it only operates behind closed doors (there are no visitors). The workshop door is actually one of the interlocks which has to remain shut during use. I have a relatively high power, roof mounted, extraction system to remove toxic fumes and poison Bambi outdoors. I also have Halon (sales now banned in the UK, except for aircraft) fire extinguishers, just in case and my eye protection are goggles (intended for YAG) which are rated with a reduced OD of 7 at 10600nm but are adequate.

You can't take safety too seriously as it only takes one mistake. I have a number of friends in the woodworking industry and it seems to be a badge of office to have at least part of one finger missing - well I intend keeping all my fingers and eyes and etc.

In general CO2 lasers are a lot safer than lower powered diode lasers as far as eyes are concerned. A laser beam with a wavelength of 633nm when entering eyes will get focussed on to the retina and if any damage is caused it is permanent. A CO2 laser with a wavelength of 10600 will have to burn through the cornea first and this may be repairable damage but I would not want to put it to the test.

As a general statement to everybody and this applies to everything - If you have any doubts that you can keep yourself and others safe then don't do it.

Tweakie.

That's just crazy about the patent, Tweak. Sounds more like an infringement on personal rights to me. I could see it, if it were applicable to a specific method that was unique. Anyhow, that looks very interesting! So, you could ink the pattern however you liked, I suppose, eh? Say if you were to make a grape vine, you could color the leaves green and the vine brown, and grapes blue or whatever. If you made hundreds, then you could just silkscreen them I suppose. How does a cleaner such as bleach affect it? Looks great as usual, Tweakie!

Hi Sam,

I will try it but I am guessing that neat Bleach will destroy the dye in no time but there may be other alternatives.

Acrylic paint has been used successfully to fill the pores in laser'd glass so may work OK with glaze and if it does may resist a Bleach attack.
In a commercial process, low temperature glaze is applied over the top of screen printed ceramics and fired for a few hours this should work just as well with dye filled laser'd stuff.

There are also a few other things I need to try, just need more spare time. 

Tweakie.

 hey guys
from what i understand supper glue is  a forum of acrylic
mikee  

Thanks Mikee I didn't know that.

My main problem with this as a process seems that it is extremely difficult to get enough dye to penetrate through the micro-fractures and into the substrate. The final image is just not bold enough (compared to screen printing).
Perhaps I should Autoclave a couple of tiles to make them "thirsty" prior to applying the dye 

Anybody have any ideas on this please.

Tweakie.