arfink Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 (edited) I am pretty sure most of you know I have a laser cutter now, and that I had been having some problems with it. Well today I had the time to sit down and finish fixing and adjusting everything, The cable guide chain on the gantry of the machine was binding really badly, and needed replacement. The company sent me another, and after some confusion and messing around I managed to get it installed. No more binding means no more skipping on the Y axis traversal because the chain isn't hitting the roof of the machine. Yay! Then I went to tackle alignment. The beam was diverging by only maybe a tenth of a degree, but it was enough that I was losing anywhere from 50% to 90% of the cutting power of the beam, depending on how far away I had the head from the origin point of the beam. Basically, the beam was supposed to be hitting the focus lens quite squarely in the middle, and it was way off. So I got out my hex wrenches and readjusted the thing, and whoah. This thing runs really sweet now. If you remember my previous posts, the resulting pieces had a very blackened and sooty edge, because the weak beam took a long time to pass all the way through the wood, and I had to move it very slowly. [img]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-XSalHL5uUFo/UAJBZHE2s9I/AAAAAAAACNI/ivNdlP3S1y8/s800/IMG_20120714_230248.jpg[/img] Now, with the entire power of the beam finally at my disposal, the laser rips through 1/8" basswood like a hot knife through butter. I can run the cut head over twice as fast now (from 10% speed to 60% speed) and dramatically reduce charring. [img]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4-PjPONfVr4/UCFLjMdl9tI/AAAAAAAACnA/SSS8r4nUc5k/s800/IMG_2865.JPG[/img] [img]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Hs-kY-bdhgQ/UCFLmVUWVmI/AAAAAAAACnI/we0TS86keyM/s800/IMG_2866.JPG[/img] These were just made on the laser, and have had absolutely no cleaning done to them. The edges are very light and clean, with no soot or charring on the backsides. I think I'm ready for production! Where can I send the keychains dUSt? Edited August 7, 2012 by arfink Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amppax Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 Sweet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfink Posted August 7, 2012 Author Share Posted August 7, 2012 (edited) Here is a quick video demo: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hacNofheBOQ[/media] I also have a stack of 15 Phatmass keychains here now. They need rings attached to them yet. Anyone interested? Edited August 7, 2012 by arfink Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianthephysicist Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 That's amazing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmotherofpirl Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 I want a keychain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaime Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 this is my laser [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4W8z2_i2tA[/media] It's not as razzle dazzle as yours but still... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Socrates Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 [img]http://i1103.photobucket.com/albums/g470/GregoryIRice/Dr_Evil.jpg[/img] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatholicCid Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 Will the laser also be used to cut metal objects? Or, will everything have to be wood? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 [quote name='CatholicCid' timestamp='1344379396' post='2464179'] Will the laser also be used to cut metal objects? Or, will everything have to be wood? [/quote] According to Arfink it cuts through anything. It's quite the dangerous toy, but it pays off because Arfink says it is a lot of fun to play with. He's lucky I don't live by him otherwise I would be at his house every day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morostheos Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 That is SUPERCOOL!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slappo Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 Is there an average life of the laser before it needs repairs or replacements? like 3,000 hours before the laser dies and the part needs replaced? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfink Posted August 8, 2012 Author Share Posted August 8, 2012 [quote name='FuturePriest387' timestamp='1344382112' post='2464191'] According to Arfink it cuts through anything. It's quite the dangerous toy, but it pays off because Arfink says it is a lot of fun to play with. He's lucky I don't live by him otherwise I would be at his house every day. [/quote] Not quite. It can cut wood, glass, plastic, metal foils, and other things with low-ish melting temps, but not regular metal. It can mark on metal though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfink Posted August 8, 2012 Author Share Posted August 8, 2012 [quote name='Slappo' timestamp='1344387685' post='2464233'] Is there an average life of the laser before it needs repairs or replacements? like 3,000 hours before the laser dies and the part needs replaced? [/quote] Yeah, it's something like 2000 hours before it begins to lose efficiency I think. The tube is considered a consumable, much like a light bulb. Given the amount of time I plan to use the machine though, it will take a couple of years to degrade the bulb, and by that time it'll be no big deal to drop another $300 for a new tube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 [quote name='arfink' timestamp='1344394615' post='2464309'] Not quite. It can cut wood, glass, plastic, metal foils, and other things with low-ish melting temps, but not regular metal. It can mark on metal though. [/quote] Well, either way, if I was around I would have you start cutting through the walls of your house before too long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConfusedCatholicGuy Posted August 9, 2012 Share Posted August 9, 2012 Whoa! That moves so much faster than it did when I watched it when it had just come out of the box! amesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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