Fireworks MX 2004

[RockyAussie]

15 hours ago, toxo said:

How do you cater for a radiused profile?

I am not knowing what you mean by this question ???

Temperatures here can reach pretty regular about 40 degree C so for me keeping the temp down may be more relevant than in the UK. I like the laser to be able to run for at least an hour or more if I want and as mine is in an enclosure for better fume removal AND eye protection I need a more direct cooling method than the standard set up. The pedestal fan or an air conditioner works pretty well in an open arrangement but not so if you want to extract the fumes. This pic shows my somewhat modified laser as at the moment. The rails,acrylic panels and extraction fan and all of those extra bits set me back probably about $500 and for my eyes and lung health and other around me, that sounded alright to me. Set of glasses cost nearly that.

[mikesc]

Your installation looks like a Bang & Olufsen machine . :)

I think Paul is talking about burning curved objects..with a radius , like aluminium cans..pens etc ?
They normally require a system to make them revolve about their own axis, so as to keep the laser focus the same.
Some machines have such systems built in..or you could build your own, syncing with the laser is the hard part.

Slight curvature can be done without that..To test how well a design will burn onto a slightly curved surface, like say a spectacles case, wrap the surface with thin card, like the Chinese call the "kraft paper", that these small machines come with..Then run a lower power burn on the wrapped case..The flatter the surface the better, but the kind of curvature that is on the back of the non glass backed mobile phones, is not normally a problem.

Writing a name around a tin of beer would be a problem without a syncro system..but writing it along the tin..doable..just not with letters bigger than say 36pt.

Better to burn a flat piece of leather wrap that around, and make a koozie eh Brian :)

How does Croc burn ?

[RockyAussie]

58 minutes ago, mikesc said:

Your installation looks like a Bang & Olufsen machine .

The machine was originally an Elksmaker A3 purchased through Banggood and I gave it a few mods to do poster size stuff.

I have not had any call to do any curved or radius stuff so until then...... Yeah the beer coozie on the flat is the way to go and easy. Believe or not I have not yet tried to burn in Croc, in the laser anyway. I will give a try sometime. I think I may have posted this pic of a stubby cooler before before but ....

 

[toxo]

Brian. I love the way you spend money to get the absolute tool for the job. Loving the box. I have to check where the dogs are every time I switch it on. What's the criteria for eye protection re: the panels? is it just the colour? Density?

Mike. Re: the profile, of course you're right. Just started to learn to crawl, not about to start running. I'll put up some pics of the wallet that I want to print on. From what you've said I'll not need worry but but i might reduce the size and print on an inside leaf first just to be sure. I just wanted to show it from a design point of view. My wallet was about done and I was looking for a pattern. Then, whilst looking for something else I came across this wallet which I'd bought some years ago in a wholesalers. For me the thing is perfect. if you look closely it even had clear plastic pockets which I tore off. Clearly it's a commercial thing and an obvious spoof on Levi's but how do they get those edges so perfect on such thin leather?

 

 

 

[mikesc]

You want to try to burn the image on that area in the wallet where the Visa card is ? What are the measurements of that space..( in mm ) without going over any stitching lines.? I can shrink the image to fit .

How do they get smooth edges..
"how do they get those edges so perfect on such thin leather?"
Ask Brian ( or Danne ) they are the perfect edge people around here..actually their edges are better than the ones on that wallet..

[RockyAussie]

15 hours ago, mikesc said:

How do they get smooth edges..
"how do they get those edges so perfect on such thin leather?"
Ask Brian ( or Danne ) they are the perfect edge people around here..actually their edges are better than the ones on that wallet..

 

Although I do this type of edge coat edging every day I have never really got round to doing a tutorial on it as yet. This link to Danne's tutorial is similar enough to my own and perhaps more applicable for small volume jobs - https://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/85026-finishing-edges-tutorial-with-edge-paint/?tab=comments#comment-575922

A bit of my own methods can be seen in this post of mine - https://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/86675-how-i-make-crocodile-skin-leather-belts/

Some more can be found in some of my other posts which can be fond fairly easily by looking at my profile here and then looking down the list in the (about me) section.

 

18 hours ago, toxo said:

What's the criteria for eye protection re: the panels? is it just the colour? Density?

The black acrylic I have used on the sides is not see through and covers 90% of accidental viewing and the top green is there just as an extra safety when viewing the job on the run. It is not a extra special grade bought in for the job, but I have found that it seems to be better than the cheap glasses they provide with these lasers. Unlike your earlier statement about being surrounded by genius's that is not true in my case as I have found my self guilty tooo often at seeing the laser beam in action with out having my goggles on. The green top thankfully has helped in my case but I can not say that this is the right thing to do. I tried to find some method of putting it to some safe testing procedure and could not find anything useful. It is certainly less glary than looking through the goggles supplied.

[toxo]

23 hours ago, mikesc said:

You want to try to burn the image on that area in the wallet where the Visa card is ? What are the measurements of that space..( in mm ) without going over any stitching lines.? I can shrink the image to fit .

How do they get smooth edges..
"how do they get those edges so perfect on such thin leather?"
Ask Brian ( or Danne ) they are the perfect edge people around here..actually their edges are better than the ones on that wallet..

Thanks Mike. I should be able to shrink it on F\W.  Ill try before bothering you. If you can simplify the image for carving I'd appreciate it.

[toxo]

8 hours ago, RockyAussie said:

 

Although I do this type of edge coat edging every day I have never really got round to doing a tutorial on it as yet. This link to Danne's tutorial is similar enough to my own and perhaps more applicable for small volume jobs - https://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/85026-finishing-edges-tutorial-with-edge-paint/?tab=comments#comment-575922

A bit of my own methods can be seen in this post of mine - https://leatherworker.net/forum/topic/86675-how-i-make-crocodile-skin-leather-belts/

Some more can be found in some of my other posts which can be fond fairly easily by looking at my profile here and then looking down the list in the (about me) section.

 

The black acrylic I have used on the sides is not see through and covers 90% of accidental viewing and the top green is there just as an extra safety when viewing the job on the run. It is not a extra special grade bought in for the job, but I have found that it seems to be better than the cheap glasses they provide with these lasers. Unlike your earlier statement about being surrounded by genius's that is not true in my case as I have found my self guilty tooo often at seeing the laser beam in action with out having my goggles on. The green top thankfully has helped in my case but I can not say that this is the right thing to do. I tried to find some method of putting it to some safe testing procedure and could not find anything useful. It is certainly less glary than looking through the goggles supplied.

Thanks Brian. I'll look at the links later. Here's something to chew over... I'm an ex fabricator/welder and the light I think is way stronger than the laser? The green screen was always glass. Also, modern screens are what they call auto dark. They work with a battery and the screen is clear until you strike an arc when it goes dark automatically (strangely enough). The other point with the modern screens is that they're adjustable for darkness to suit your eyes. You had to physically change screens in the old type. What all this means I have no idea but I just throw it out there for you genius' to chew over and come up with the ultimate solution