yikes.. Murphys law. it couldnt have done that on a 5 minute project. hate that for you Sam.

 

Hey Sam. Hope everything is going well. I'm still enjoying learning with the cnc. I'm just curious why you decided to go with belt driven x and y axis instead of an acme rod like the z axis?

 

Very impressive. What kind of laser did you get? Is it difficult to change between it and the router. This is really interesting!

 

That is awesome! You're going to have to forgive my stupidity again, because I have questions.
What exactly does the air assist do? and why do you need it? When you say air pump? Is this an air compressor? or is the air pressure much lower in your "air pump" than a shop air compressor? The plastic adjustable/flexible hose is what the air is going through? correct?

 

Sam, what do you do for the fume extraction since your machine does not looks like it's closed in?

 

Air assist moves the smoke out of the way which can have an effect on the effectiveness of the laser during the cutting/engraving process.

And yeah, you need to ventilate the area pretty well as while wood fumes are not necessarily toxic, any chemicals on the wood if any, or plastics or non natural materials will have toxic fumes..

 

Sam is going all out.. I'm waiting for him to add a water jet to it

 

Sam, I think I may have to copy this too.... what thickness wood will that laser cut through? Will it engrave into metals?

 

I was wondering if the laser like you have could burn a photographed image into wood. So, you are saying that the laser will, but your controller will not? Would it be possible with my setup (cpu and blackbox controller?) Also, are you still using fusion to design your creations or are you using something like lasergrbl or lightburn? I know I am full of questions, but I have a few more. The laser that is just like yours is out of stock it seems. Were there any others that you looked at that you would have gotten that are in the same price range?
Thanks again for all the help!

 

Are there some (laser diodes) that are relatively inexpensive that you recommend?

 

Sam, the one that you bought and the ones you suggest have the PWM (adjustable output power to do grayscale engravings) that Peter is talking about?
Thanks!

 

Hello I am interested in this machine and I would like to know if you can help me with the purchase and installation.
what is the total cost of the parts to begin with
I'm in Senegal (West Africa) https://twitter.com/senfablab

 

Hey modu. I followed sam’s build and basically copied it exactly. The only big difference was I use a computer connected to black box controller (from open builds store) and he used a stand alone controller and external drivers/(I believe an arduino board). My costs I believe were around $2000 This does not include the computer as I already had it. Sam has a list of everything he ordered. Like he said there are a few things he ordered that are not necessary. I believe everything was ordered from either the open builds store, eBay or Amazon. Sam has lots of good pictures and much more insight than me, but I will be glad to help any way I can.

 

Sam...looking at building a 4x8 myself and just came across this...awesome build! Wondering what types of feeds and speeds you can do with a 1/4 and/or 1/8" bit in things like MDF, Plywood, and solid wood like oak or pine? Looking to do some 3d carving on a larger scale...

Thanks...AndyDoc

 

Andy, Like I said before we copied Sam’s build. We usually run 1/4” bit at 100”/min in mdf and plywood; usually with about 40-50% of the bit width set as step over and pass depth and haven’t had many issues. With 1/8” bit we have used at same speed and same settings, but we have had some some issues where the belt slips and the cut gets off. So, typically we run 1/8” a little slower.
you want to do some 3D carvings? I am interested in this. All we have tried is 2d and we are very green to everything cnc routing. What are you using to design/manufacture your 3D designs? We are using fusion, but I haven’t played with 3D much at all.

ps. We have cut some oak and pine with 1/4” bit at those settings with no issue as well.

 

Thanks a bunch. A friend has this idea he wants a carved wooden door (something like this link). I've been running a Shapeoko2 since 2012 and upgraded it to ~20x20...but looking for something that could cut a full sheet. I use and LOVE Fusion360.



would going to a larger belt help with the slip?

 

Interesting. I am guessing the black box and it’s internal drivers won’t work at 48v? We actually never returned the external drivers like you have, but I haven’t wanted to take on the task of connecting them with an arduino. However, if you see that it is a huge benefit I would probably do it. As we have had issues of cuts getting off when you push the speeds.... (seems to be with smaller; bits don’t know why). I like you thought it was belt slipping....