Fireworks MX 2004

[mikesc]

Get some scrap leather of a similar type* ( colour / weight ) to the wallet..Test on that..keep testing until you have the exact setting that you need..no rush.

*Make sure that if the wallet is veg tan that you get veg tan, ( veg tan wallets are usually cow or calf ) or if it is chrome tan that you get chrome tan..if it is chrome tan , it will probably be calf ( usually smooth finish ), or goat ( usually sort of "pebbly" looking ) ..might even have a label in it that tells you what it is...or be "stamped" somewhere..."Genuine something".

Btw..If you eventually want to do "carving",  a very light burn is an easy way to get very accurate drawings onto leather to give you fine lines that you can then work on with your tools..a laser line of only a few px wide serves as a good guide for a swivel knife, or for cut outs with a scalpel blade..You can "burn" out a design completely with just the laser, but you may get charred edges that you don't want, depends on what the final colour will be.

If the lines on that artwork are to close ( I still have not had time to test burn it here ) I can "open" the design up a bit..leave more "white space".

If you have a graphics tablet, you could work on a copy ( always make a copy and work on that ) yourself..Don't need a Wacom, there are some very very good  graphics tablets coming out of China now for far less that are "plug and play" on windows...large surfaces, with all the "bells and whistles"..right up to Cintiq equivalents ..for far less money..

Edited September 26, 2019 by mikesc

[mikesc]

Paul..go to that other thread that you started about the laser..read my last post

Sorry mate..steered you wrong earlier in that thread..Follow that last post I just made in that thread.. to "untick" that box in windows ..and you'll be able to see your.exe files..

.and maybe your size boxes might work ..or not..that might not be related..

[toxo]

5 minutes ago, mikesc said:

Paul..go to that other thread that you started about the laser..read my last post

Sorry mate..steered you wrong earlier in that thread..Follow that last post I just made in that thread.. to "untick" that box in windows ..and you'll be able to see your.exe files..

.and maybe your size boxes might work ..or not..that might not be related..

Will do mate. Will have to eat humble pie re the size boxes. Turns out the num pad isn't working on the laptop and can't get it to work. Can input using the top numbers. 

[mikesc]

red faces all round eh :)..

You can get separate number pads for laptops ( they don't all have numbers at the side, some, with small keyboards, only have numbers along the row below the "F" buttons row )  ,that connect via a USB..here they cost around €10.oo retail...and I pay about €3.oo wholesale..They are "plug and play" on win.

That will get you around that problem..

[toxo]

8 hours ago, toxo said:

Mike, you are one clever man. God knows how long this would've taken me. Burning as I speak. almost there on card. Extremely anxious about ruining a really nice wallet though. 

Not had  time to look at software yet.

[mikesc]

Glad the burn worked :)

[RockyAussie]

that is a very fine result @mikesc and @toxo. I hope to see more in the future.

[toxo]

3 hours ago, RockyAussie said:

that is a very fine result @mikesc and @toxo. I hope to see more in the future.

How lucky was I to find someone like Mike who is as helpful as anyone could ask for AND has the same machine?

Still fine tuning.  There is a learning curve and if you change the height you have to remember to re-focus the laser. It's fairly slow but you can do a few lines and pause it to see if it's right then change the settings and carry on. I'm not artistic so stuff like this is a way i can customise my projects.

[RockyAussie]

26 minutes ago, toxo said:

There is a learning curve and if you change the height you have to remember to re-focus the laser.

Getting that focus spot on is a real surprise deal at times. I found that I can get that dot as small as can be and it still can be out from the best. I make up a wedge shape box /\ in thin cardboard and set it to do some lines up it. Where it cuts through I find the middle and then adjust for that height. If you have a check on the dimensions of the laser housing it may be 33mm square the same as mine. To enable it to run for a lot longer I made up a housing to take a bigger fan and also give me a manual Z lift at the same time for easier focusing. One turn = 1mm. Here's a picture that'll give you the idea. The temp gauge helps me to check that she's not getting over hot occasionally. The funnel is to give further air assistance if required and is held in place by magnets for easy removal. This one is for my 2.5 and as well 5.5 watt lasers. Let us know if you are ready or want any more info on it.

Brian

[toxo]

My God, I'm surrounded by genius! You're an absolute wizard with that 3D printer Brian. That sloping card trick is a cracker. I find it quite hard to judge the focus point especially with my eyes being old. I'll certainly be trying that. How do you cater for a radiused profile?

I'll look into another fan. At the moment I've had it running for 20/30 mins with a pedestal fan running with no problem. Don't know how long it would take to do the full size but I'm thinking significantly more than that.