Bought another laser engraver.

[dikman]

I have one of those little hobby thingy's, which is good fun to play around with, but after reading a few posts decided I had to have something bigger (still not sure what I'm going to do with it but I just HAD to have one!). It's a 10w diode, comes with air-assist and a roller unit for doing bottles/cans etc. I nearly bought a 40w CO2 but realised the diode will be more versatile for my likely needs. It's a Vevor brand and I noticed their other models were advertised with a discount code but not this model, so I put the code in and it worked! Got 5% off!.

I'm still not sure where I'm going to put the bloody thing when it arrives. 

[Dwight]

Move the telephone . . . you can put it on your nightstand . . . lol

You'll have fun with that roller unit . . . my son and DIL love the glasses I did for them for Christmas

Put their names and an image of their house on them . . . 

May God bless,

Dwight

[toxo]

10 hours ago, dikman said:

I have one of those little hobby thingy's, which is good fun to play around with, but after reading a few posts decided I had to have something bigger (still not sure what I'm going to do with it but I just HAD to have one!). It's a 10w diode, comes with air-assist and a roller unit for doing bottles/cans etc. I nearly bought a 40w CO2 but realised the diode will be more versatile for my likely needs. It's a Vevor brand and I noticed their other models were advertised with a discount code but not this model, so I put the code in and it worked! Got 5% off!.

I'm still not sure where I'm going to put the bloody thing when it arrives. 

LOL. I think you might be my bruvver from another muvver.

I'm the same. I read these posts and I almost talk myself into NEEDING one. I have to pull myself up and remind myself that I've not long talked myself into NEEDING a £1500 clicker press to do that job and don't talk to me about the lack of space.

[dikman]

8 hours ago, toxo said:

LOL. I think you might be my bruvver from another muvver.

Well, I am a Brummie (and an Aussie), so maybe.........

Just shipped so as long as Australia Post don't lose it should be here in about a week. Wracking my brains (well, what's left of them) trying to work out where to store it. Leatherworking/reloading shed is full, garage has a car one side and a sandblasting cabinet/welder/Pfaff 335 edge binder/Triumph Bonneville clogging up the other side so no room there. No room in the house (not that I would use it inside). Other shed is full - lathes/grinders/assorted other stuff, wife said no more sheds!!!!

Might have to mount it on a board and hang it on a wall when not in use.

[KYCat]

17 hours ago, dikman said:

Might have to mount it on a board and hang it on a wall when not in use.

While I haven't done this myself, there are several YouTubers out there that mount their lase to a piece of plywood which is then mounted to a wall with a hinge. Swing it up to cut/engrave and fold back when done. Some folks even use it in the vertical position.

[toxo]

My little 3000mw lives on a shelf over the Bell skiver at the moment.

[Bert03241]

On 3/3/2024 at 7:59 PM, dikman said:

I have one of those little hobby thingy's, which is good fun to play around with, but after reading a few posts decided I had to have something bigger (still not sure what I'm going to do with it but I just HAD to have one!). It's a 10w diode, comes with air-assist and a roller unit for doing bottles/cans etc. I nearly bought a 40w CO2 but realised the diode will be more versatile for my likely needs. It's a Vevor brand and I noticed their other models were advertised with a discount code but not this model, so I put the code in and it worked! Got 5% off!.

I'm still not sure where I'm going to put the bloody thing when it arrives. 

Not sure why you think the diode will be more versatile . My co2 can do much more then a diode and do it a lot faster

[dikman]

Yes, a CO2 will be faster and will cut thicker stuff but the diode has a finer laser "point" and should provide more detail in engraving. Plus this one is significantly cheaper than a CO2 unit (excluding the K40-type units which are generally referred to as a "tinker's delight", to coin a phrase). And the CO2 units are bigger and much heavier, and considering I'm already struggling to find a home for this open-frame unit a CO2 unit is out of the question.

[kgg]

On 3/4/2024 at 2:59 AM, dikman said:

but I just HAD to have one!

We need our toys.

kgg

[kgg]

On 3/4/2024 at 9:56 PM, dikman said:

wife said no more sheds!!!!

You need to be a jailhouse lawyer and follow the letter of the law. Add an extension to one of the sheds. However you may have to build a doghouse as well.

kgg

Edited March 6 by kgg

[Bert03241]

5 hours ago, dikman said:

Yes, a CO2 will be faster and will cut thicker stuff but the diode has a finer laser "point" and should provide more detail in engraving. Plus this one is significantly cheaper than a CO2 unit (excluding the K40-type units which are generally referred to as a "tinker's delight", to coin a phrase). And the CO2 units are bigger and much heavier, and considering I'm already struggling to find a home for this open-frame unit a CO2 unit is out of the question.

Well I'm not sure about the finer laser point , I've done the Aztec Calendar on a 3.5" coaster, that pretty fine work for sure. But yea it is bigger and need more room I get that. Looking foward to seeing some of your work. 

[dikman]

Adding an extension would be relatively simple but it then puts the shed into the category of needing council approval and I'd rather not go down that path!!!

Bert, don't get me wrong I would have loved a CO2 laser (I'm well aware of their advantages) but it just wasn't practical, unfortunately. I'm currently watching youtube vids trying to learn to use Lightburn (another learning curve, sigh).

[kgg]

21 minutes ago, dikman said:

I'm currently watching youtube vids trying to learn to use Lightburn (another learning curve, sigh).

I am going to assume you are use to using a CAD program for your 3D designs. I would do your design there and then use a Snipping Tool type program to capture the design and save it as jpg or gif which I think Lightburn will be able to import. That may cut down some time.

kgg

[Dwight]

I messed with light burn a while . . . finally gave up . . . went back to LaserGRBL and it does everything I need.

Maybe I'm just not fasisteecaited enough to use lightburn . . . 

May God bless,

Dwight

[dikman]

kgg, no, I haven't used a CAD programme, I started to learn a couple of times but for some reason I couldn't maintain the interest. The closest I've come is messing around with Photoshop. Lightburn should do everything I'm likely to need without any other programmes so will be worth the effort, it looks like it will be easier than a 3D CAD programme (no shortage of tutorials on youtube).

Dwight, if you can use LaserGRBL then I reckon it shouldn't be too hard to step up to Lightburn, don't sell yourself short, but I guess if Laser GRBL is working for you that's all that matters.

[kgg]

6 hours ago, dikman said:

Lightburn should do everything I'm likely to need without any other programmes so will be worth the effort, it looks like it will be easier than a 3D CAD programme (no shortage of tutorials on youtube).

As long as it works for you that is the main thing.

kgg

[dikman]

Arrived yesterday so started putting it together, finished today. It was well packed and overall quality is pretty good. Assembly was ok but the instruction books leave a lot to be desired, having watched some youtube vids helped a lot!!!  I'll hook up a laptop later too make sure everything is talking properly but I won't be trying it just yet as burning something in the house won't go down too well and it's too bloody hot to do anything outside (it's Autumn here but we're having our first real heat wave, 40*C is no fun outside).

Next job is to cut the board to size and make some brackets so I can attach it to the board.

The cylinder on the left is a variable speed air supply for the air assist, the other thingy is the roller unit for engraving cylinders, bottles, glasses etc.

[dikman]

Started playing with the engraver today, I was printing a test grid on 10mm plywood and thought it was producing a lot of smoke so stopped it and found a few holes burnt through!! Luckily I'd put a sheet of steel on the table first and this was a bit scorched! I also tried a piece of aluminium, it engraved ok but I don't think it will cut through (doesn't matter anyway, engraving only is fine). I'm going to try and cut a maker's stamp, maybe out of hardwood first, to see how it goes (lots of smoke ahead!).

I bought a cheap Toshiba i5 laptop some time ago and it's perfect for this, I can leave it down in the shed with the engraver.

[Bert03241]

I design in corel draw. It was a bit of a learning curve for sure and I have nowhere learned it all just what I need for engraving  and still learning more.

[dikman]

I made a maker's stamp using jarrah, a dense Australian hardwood. Lots of charring, smoke and smell! It actually worked, inasmuch as the fine detail was there but I overlooked the fact that structurally the wood is very delicate and the lettering fell apart as soon as I touched it.

Next was some Zenolite, this is a hard perspex with a thick coloured acrylic coating in this case white. It worked beautifully while engraving the white coating but once it burned through that and into the clear perspex it got interesting. The laser went through the perspex and started burning into the wood layer underneath. I had read that it won't cut clear perspex so this just confirmed it. The smell was not good even though I had a fan blowing over it next to an open door. I have an old kitchen rangehood that I'll rig up as an exhaust fan as in wet weather I can't keep the door open.

All good fun.

[Bert03241]

try Delrin

Edited March 17 by Bert03241

[dikman]

On my list of stuff when I'm next near the plastics shop. Tried some aluminium, it cut through the powdercoating and while it etched the ally it wouldn't cut very deep (also what I expected). Lots of other materials to experiment with.

[dikman]

I found what I thought was 1/4" thick black perspex to try and make a maker's mark stamp. Judging by the smell it's probably bakelite! Anyhow, after experimenting with various speed/power settings it actually worked - sort of. The image is too small so some of the detail is lost, but as a proof-of-concept it worked, with an acceptable impression left in the leather. Next step is to buy some Delrin, which should work better, and scale up the image a little, which should make the stamp lines more substantial.

[toxo]

1 hour ago, dikman said:

I found what I thought was 1/4" thick black perspex to try and make a maker's mark stamp. Judging by the smell it's probably bakelite! Anyhow, after experimenting with various speed/power settings it actually worked - sort of. The image is too small so some of the detail is lost, but as a proof-of-concept it worked, with an acceptable impression left in the leather. Next step is to buy some Delrin, which should work better, and scale up the image a little, which should make the stamp lines more substantial.

Well done dikman, you gotta love a speriment doncha.

[dikman]

Yeah, it's all good fun.