Hi guys,

I finally got the laser engraver I designed and built up and running.

Used a lot of parts from a small chinese CNC machine I mistakenly purchased and 3D printed the other bits.

I had designed my new panels in Ansys Spaceclaim and exported them as DFX files. Pulled these in to Lightburn and tried them out. I only had to change one thing to get them to align.

Both panels will be 3mm white acrylic. The back has lots of holes for 3mm green LEDs. These will be diffused through the front one and backlight the text.

When both panels are cut out I'll glue them together and spray with dark grey paint. Then back on to the engraver to burn through the paint for the lettering.

I tested it with some scrap card as the laser I have is only 0.5 watt which I don't think would cut 3mm acrylic. I'll need to see about getting something like a 20 watt (5.5 watt output) one.

Cheers,

Andy

Hi Andy,

looks awesome! Why have you "mistakenly purchased" the China CNC? I also want to have such a little chinese CNC machine and planing to buy one. Are they crap? I only want to use it for shaping PCB's instead of etching them. It doesn't take so much effort as the etching does and you don't have to slop arround with all the chemicals.

Hi Viper,

I was intending using it for that as well.

Unfortunately, the kit I got anyway, things like the leadscrews tolerances were way out. Lots of backlash on the lead nuts. The linear bearings were rubbish as well.

Control electronics were junk too. It kept battering the motor in to the ends despite my having limit switches fitted and working.

Just typical Chinese build quality I'm afraid. I thought I'd give it a chance, but regretted it .

Anyway, that's only my opinion, I've seen reviews on YouTube that have said they were OK.

Cheers,

Andy

BTW I just tried it on a piece of 3mm white acrylic and it didn't even mark the surface, so I guess I need a bigger laser (laughs like a manic bad guy in a Bond film).

Ha, ha, yes that german guy Gert Fröbe (Mr. Goldfinger). I would prefer to have that couch Bond was fascinated at, cause it was made out of pure gold.

After your report I will rethink to buy one of these little china mills. I also did some research at Youtube and the opinions about them were very different

Cheers Viper

Seems to be a bit of a problem with getting a more powerful laser module.

Looked at a JEJE 20 Watt (actually 5,5w output) and contacted them to see if it would work for me.

Nope!! Only cuts up to 4mm BLACK plastic. Seems to be a problem with white plastic. It may be the reflectivity, I don't know.

I've seen videos of people cutting white plastic on lasers, but they were on the Chinese K40 CO2 type. Don't want to go there as there build quality is as bad as the CNC !!!!!

Will keep looking.

Cheers,

Andy

Did you mean NEJE? They have also a 30W laser module, but I don't know if this is still enough power.

40W ore more should be good, but they are expensive and hard to get, even on ebay.

I've seen some 40W modules there, but all of them are from china. And if they are really 40W lasers is questionable?

I did look at the 30 and 40 Watt modules, but they are only around 5-7 Watt output. What the Chinese sellers are quoting is the power required to run from a PSU.

The problem seems to be the frequency of the light rather than the power. The CO2 lasers (K40) are a much higher frequency and can cut WHITE acrylic (which seems to be the worst type).

Problem is that none of the reviews on ANY of the K30 sellers has been good. Either they are supplied with broken tubes, unsafe electrics, bent guides, or just don't work. People who had problems also commented on the lack of support from the Chinese companies selling them. Either offering small refunds, supplying you the part to fix it, or just ignoring you.

Also, none of them will be recognised by LightBurn software. You have to then buy a different controller board for it to see the laser.

There is a list of upgrades that are recommended to get a decent working system (exhaust fan replacement, optics replacement, controller replacement, air assist addition etc).

And that's not just the cheepo ones. Even the more expensive ones are the same. Add to that the fact that the laser tube is smaller than standard and can't be sourced in the UK.

I've contacted a couple of local companies and a couple on eBay who offer laser cutting services to see how much it would cost. I have the designs in DXF format so that should be OK.

I can still engrave them myself on the laser I built so that should save on cost (hopefully).

Well so much for that.

Local companies didn't even get back to me and the only online one that did wants £15 to cut a 120mm x 104mm panel.

I don't understand why they are so expensive. They won't have set up or tooling costs and I'm supplying the DXF file, so it should be just a case of dropping a bit of plastic sheet on the bed of the laser and cutting it out.

Really dissapointed that I can't get these made at a reasonable price.

Andy

Andy, any chance that coating the areas to be cut with a black coating that can be wiped/cleaned off (Soot, dry erase marker, etc.), or black tape, would enable the lower powered laser to cut, by virtue of getting started on the black surface? Maybe try it on a scrap piece and see if it makes any progress on it...

HI CyBerkut,

One of my friends suggested that. I tried with matt black paint and then with a black marker. Neither made any difference.

I think it's to do with the frequency of the blue laser and the white plastic.

Thanks for the suggestion anyway.

Cheers,

Andy

Well, it seems that nobody is interested in cutting small panels of different shapes. They all want to do large runs of the same size.

I don't understand why as there is no tooling or setup required on a laser cutter. Just open the DXF file, set the speed and power and go.

I really did think that someone out there would be willing to help, but it seems that's not the case anymore.

So, I either take a chance on buying a K40 laser with all the problems that can add, or just forget about the bloody simulator all together.

Currently, it's the latter option.

Regards,

Andy

Andy,

I’ve had zero issues with my K40 purchased thru Amazon. I might have just gotten lucky. They DO require some tinkering to get dialed in initially, but not too much hassle. Unfortunately, mine’s not set up currently do to moving twice in the last 12 months. If it was, I’d be more than happy to cut ‘em for you.

Bo

Hey Andy,

don't give up! I also had many, many drawdowns the last years ( decades ) with my simpit. Even this time (maybe my last restart of the project, cause of my disease and the involved limitations I have) nothing really works as it should.

I wanted to finish the whole sets of HOTAS this year for doing all the paintwork this sommer, but as the state of affairs is at the moment, I'm not even will finish the 3D printing of the parts. The internet connecting is really lousy at the moment cause of homeoffice here and I'm doing most of my work with online tools like TinkerCAD. A lot of other unforeseeable sh.. happened again, so that all my plans messed up again.

And I have invested a lot of money in parts and new hardware, which will be again two or more years old before I'm able to finish this damned thing. Not the first time this happened to me.

But the pit is the dream of my life and as long as I'm still able to work on it I will not give up with it. I hope I'm able to finish it within the next one or two years.

So as you can see you are not alone with things not working and also the frustration and trouble this entails. Chin up! We will manage to have our homepits some day as we like to have them (I hope)

Andy, I know I'm showing up really late to the party, but I've got a VERY bored Epilog Mini-24, 45W laser cutter that is starting to hassle me every time I walk past her in the shop.

If you haven't gotten your panels cut by now, let me know. I'd be happy to help out.
I can be reached at geneb -at- deltasoft.com

g.