Whats everyone up to?

[buildsomething]

As I'm sitting here having my morning cuppa java, I thought I would stir the pot a bit and see if there are any others that are doing any work on lasers, engravers and cutters? There must be some of you guys out there that are in the process of designing, building or working on stuff that might be of interest to all. Even stories about how you were able to collect some of the items and parts.

I got some of my parts for the local hospital who were throwing away stuff....man...that was a good score!!!

Got a minute, take a couple of pics or write something down and share it with the rest. It really doesn't matter how good or how bad it looks or where you are at in your design or building process....its just sharing ideas and knowledge.
Even some pics of some of the mechanics, power supplies, tables....etc etc etc would be great.
Sometimes getting the stuff out on paper or in this case, the forum will spawn some inspiration and creativity. It does for me!

Bart is doing a great job creating the forum for laser and CNC machines. Its guys like that that gets things done and its the rest of the guys like us who should keep the fire stoked.

Time for a refill.....my cuppa java is empty...but I'll have it after I shovel the snow off the driveway! I'm really starting to dislike winter.....

Richard

[bdring]

Upgrading the Y Axis
My machine is designed to be the Volkswagen of lasers (a cheap laser for everyone). I used a machined aluminum part for the Y axis. I am hoping that driving it from both ends will allow me to get back to all Acrylic parts. I want a completed laser to be able to help build someone else's laser. Like the ReRap project. Maybe mine is the Re-Zap Anyway, parts are cut. I hope to have that all tested pretty soon.

There are at least 4 other builds of this laser going on that I know of. Some of them just are not the forum types and email me directly.

XMOS Controller
I had a bit of a time setback due to an error in the chip data sheet. This caused the first PCB layout to be scrapped. It came at bad time, because I leave on vacation in a few days, so the board schedule will take about a 1 week hit.

Fighting Off The Spammers
What's with these guys. 50-60 robots per day. They are pretty easy to spot, but it is still a drag to stay one step ahead of them.

[Tweakie]

Hi Richard,

I have almost finished adding a laser head to my existing wood router. It is at the trials and experimentation stage at present but it all looks very promising. Thanks to Bart and others who contribute to this forum I am progressing a lot faster and learning a great deal in the process - thank you Guys.

This was filmed before I fitted the air nozzle - just a bit of fun. http://www.cooperman.talktalk.net/laser1a.wmv

Tweakie.

[buildsomething]

Hey Tweakie....that looks great.

I took a bit of a sabatical from my project after having a lot of difficulties trying to align the laser to the mirrors. After a bit of head scratching, I redesigned the mirror delivery system, mirror positioning adjustment controls and other small details and then took a bit of a vacation. I'll be back at it shortly and will be posting my results here.

Richard

[willyinaus]

Just waiting on parts then I can really get into the design side of things have purchased a lot of things off the shelf and really need to start thinking about the drives and belt arrangements.

[Mark K]

First, thanks for hosting such a great resource.

I have built several cnc routers and milling machines, most of them purpose built for a specific job or task. I picked up a 40W tube at a hamfest and it has sat on the shelf for a while. Last month I started to gather the parts to build a cutter / engraver.
I started to document the build at [url]superience.com/blog[/url].

Cheers
Mark

[bdring]

That looks great Mark. I see you got the tube at a Ham Fest. I used to go to those all the time, but they are really drying up lately. it is hard to find a good one anymore.

[Tweakie]

Nice build log Mark.
You are certainly taking a very professional approach to this project and it is really looking good. Cant wait to see your future progress on this machine.

Tweakie.

btw. Making the trellis - that is the first time I have ever seen anyone holding a welding stick with both hands, bet it got a bit hot as it got shorter

[Mark K]

Thanks guys.
It is a shame that hamfests are going away along with the hobby. I tried to interest my son (he is the one that did the welding project) but he could not see the excitement in having a 30 ft antenna array tracking a satellite for a 5 min. pass to barely hear some guy through the fading signal in England when he can skype or IM his friend in Spain from his cell phone.
I am going to the Carriage House and mount the laser and give it a try this evening. Cross your fingers.

Oh, he welds one handed now, and a bit better than his old man (don't let him know).

[baccus61]

Hey Guys,
My name is Richard and I too have built a laser table. I found this blog by way of a few contacts on the cnczone forums and found it quite interesting
I have a channel on YouTube under my nick of Baccus61 where I have a few videos of the different actions.
I'm not a wiz at all things laser but I have gleaned a few things in my travels down the long path to success and if any body needs some help then let me know and I will try and fix you up as best I can.
I use a 30 watt ULS RF laser, some photocopier mirrors for the flying optics and a 2" focal length ZnSe lens. I have a couple of other lenses but I haven't tried them yet.
I started off with the software from Solustan with their Linkmotion product and progressed to the Leetro controller from them just before Xmas but they still can't get it working properly and have stopped emailing me. I bought the Leetro solution from lightobject.com a few weeks ago and will install it as soon as I get the time. The DSP really is great to watch and is light years ahead of the software only solution. You can push it way past the boundaries of what the machine can handle.
I might hang around here for a while and see what you guys get up to. My wish list is for a 100 watt laser from Parallax as they look pretty darn good to me. I can't afford a FR one so I will make do with a good quality USA one.
One thing I did notice with the Chinese tubes is that you have to use them as soon as you get them as the epoxy resin holding the ends together contaminates the gas over a period of time and reduces the output power. I have the unused paper weight to prove it

Richard.