bermudahwin Report post Posted March 20, 2019 I have just had delivery of my new laser etcher / cutter, initial set up was straight forward, and an initial run at very low power has given me great hope of it fulfilling my expectations totally. Once I have got used to it, I will post an update and critique of the machine. It has been a pleasure dealing with Grant at Nova Robotics, he has an eBay store and is a genuine enthusiast. That's all now, need to go and eat... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RockyAussie Report post Posted March 20, 2019 WOW some serious power there. Congrats. Pictures? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bermudahwin Report post Posted March 20, 2019 Pictures tomorrow, I am sitting down to dinner at 22:20 and I am well food focussed. I am keen to try personalisation, and also multiphase cutting of intricate shapes, on various leathers. Tests worked well on 6 mm each dog lead leather. H Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GrantNOVAROBOTICS Report post Posted March 21, 2019 Kind words Mr Bermuda - thank you. Some pics meanwhile Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bermudahwin Report post Posted March 21, 2019 Thanks Grant, they're better photos than I'd be able to take. You may be interested in some of the 3d printer threads too. Harry Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GrantNOVAROBOTICS Report post Posted March 21, 2019 That would definitely be interesting Sir Grant B Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bermudahwin Report post Posted March 21, 2019 On 3/20/2019 at 10:11 PM, RockyAussie said: WOW some serious power there. Congrats. Pictures? It was Grant at NOVA Robotics that built it for me, it has some upgrades to standard, and having the bigger bed is a great opportunity. The high power running at lower wattages, gives me great flexibility in depth of engraving etc, but its all very new, and shiny. Grant will be getting many questions over the next couple of weeks regarding how to do this and that with it, but one key point where mine differs from the one pictured is that mine has extended legs so that I can decorate, personalise finished items, up to 4 or 5 inches high, by sliding them under.... will photograph when I get to that stage. Best Harry Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RockyAussie Report post Posted March 21, 2019 2 hours ago, GrantNOVAROBOTICS said: Kind words Mr Bermuda - thank you. Some pics meanwhile Looks nice. I checked out the web site and I do have to ask how you come to get 5 hours continuous run time with 15 watts? Is this conditional on being run in an cooled air conditioning room? The temperature here runs hotter than ideal when the machine is not even on. See picture showing an average day temperature in centigrade. Do you sell the 15 watt piece by itself? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bermudahwin Report post Posted March 21, 2019 3 minutes ago, RockyAussie said: Looks nice. I checked out the web site and I do have to ask how you come to get 5 hours continuous run time with 15 watts? Is this conditional on being run in an cooled air conditioning room? The temperature here runs hotter than ideal when the machine is not even on. See picture showing an average day temperature in centigrade. Do you sell the 15 watt piece by itself? I don't sell anything but leathergoods and Financial Consulting.... I understand that IF I were to run it at full power, it would not be a happy bunny too long, the phrase used was @a Mclaren will go at 200+ MPH for a while then need maintenance, but will cruise at 100MPH for ages@, which makes sense to me. The first scraps we tested were very waxy heavy leathers, and very dark, the machine was running at about 45% power and hapilly branded the leather (I have specific orders for this kind of function, and will post a pic when I have done the next one). We then used some scrap veg tan tooling hide and went right down to almost too low to see, and got some stunning results. Again I wil post a pic when I have it as a decent 'test' piece. @GrantNOVAROBOTICS makes these and is following this thread, he will be better placed to answer your query above. I will also email him to ensure he picks up on the point. Best Harry Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GrantNOVAROBOTICS Report post Posted March 22, 2019 Good evening Gents. Re 15 Watt Laser information... 15 Watts / 15,000mW is it's MAXIMUM on power. Thee lasers are Pulsed at a high frequency & at their full power output.... They are either ON or OFF..... there is no in-between. so at their 50% power output level, they are in the ON state for 50% of the time.... this allows a small recovery time for the laser diode to disperse heat during its duty cycle. YES this generates heat in the laser module itself, but the unit is enclosed in a large box-section heat-sink which is fan assisted, thereby allowing it to run for several hours with no problems. In all fairness to the Laser Diode Module... it should not be pushed much more than 50% of it's rated output.... to compare - my BMW X5 is rated at 250hp with a top speed of some 140 Miles an hour..... but the engine & transmission won't last long at maximum speed all day every day. However, it will easily do 200,000+ miles at 70 miles an hour, all day every day for years on end..... These Diode lasers are much the same in their capabilities. At the power levels & movement speeds to get clean engravings, we are probably looking at about 15-20% output at 50 to 100mm/sec travel speed or less, & the laser can probably run all day without issues - (provided it has forced air cooling). I would expect the operator to start flagging before the laser does As per some trial tests when I delivered the machine, it was producing nice sharp etchings of Tan Leather at some 8% output with a travel speed of some 60mm/s... and will run at this output level Indefinitely or until the operator falls asleep & does not re-start the next work operation. Understand also, that we also have the luxury that the engraving leather works are a given size, & the materials will need swapping out frequently - allowing the laser module to cool further still. ***As a point of interest, the laser module's heat sink will likely only get warm to the touch even with a 50% power duty cycle of an hour or more any way. To ensure reliability of these machines, the power supply units have a 400% redundancy, 300% redundancy for the power electronics pushing the X/Y carriage motors, & the laser cooling fan unit pushes 400% more air through it than actually required. When I started developing & testing these lasers & support electronics 2 years ago, I tortures the lasers, motors & electronics to find the weaknesses. There are some budget items available out there to save a few pennies, but in the end i decided to get the BEST available, & use the Best fan cooled power supplies, the best motherboard electronics & the best lasers available.... then I over cooled the whole lot just in case some thing was over-looked. This has resulted in some robust engineering & electronics that I am very proud of. Customer Care is something Nova takes great pride in... considering a person can spend £700 of their VERY Hard-Earned money with my business... it is only fair that their new toy simply works, year on year & keeps the customer smiling & earning money. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GrantNOVAROBOTICS Report post Posted March 25, 2019 Nova mail address = NovaRobotics.UK@gmail.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GrantNOVAROBOTICS Report post Posted April 14, 2019 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/192888020182?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
