Nicely done! We have a VersaLaser at work that I'm allowed to use. I use it to cut some prototypes out of 1/16" PVC. And I can cut puzzles for the kids. ;-)
I started off with an RF 30 watt Universal.inc laser and now I have a 100 watt Glass tube laser made by CNColetec from China. I have had it for about 1.5 years and it's still going strong. Get the biggest CO tube you can afford. After you have had one for a while you will want to go bigger and more powerful. 80 watts seems to be the all round price/performance ratio to buy. I hope you have fun with it. Use a glass lens red pointer if you can as plastic will melt. :-)
Those are pretty nice adjustments and finding ways to save money is great. Don't you just love it when you fix something with your own hands? :) you really appreciate things that way. Hope you really have fun with that machine. And good luck with making the video to show the difference. :)
Thanks, yes I've seen the Kern cutting steel and it seems to cut just fine. I think the thing to do is to buy a tube, build a power supply and have a play, albeit carefully. Thanks again for your help,
Hey Lozza. It moves to make room for the rotary attachment or big jobs like boxes etc and to focus the lens. It was more versatile like this instead of making the lens assembly move up and down which would increase the mass of the head making it less effective at top speeds and would probably lead to lost steps on the motors. thanks for having a beak at it. :-)
Really impressive piece of work. We're looking at getting a £120k 5-axis CNC router at work and CNC stuff like this fascinates me. I'd love to make something like this myself some day but I'd probably end up burning a hole through my head.
That's Pretty neat I must say. And for the posts from people saying you have too much spare time. Id like to see any of them build a co2 laser. I have over 12 years Working on trumpf co2 lasers and coaxial resonators as well.
Hey Harvey, I was just reading your comment again and I remember that when cutting steel plate, especially thin stuff, the plate warps a heck of a lot so you would need a height controller for the lens or you need to go bigger on the laser power to cut faster.
Hi Mr Huang, The laser beam is directed around the table by mirrors which are aligned with the use of a small red laser pointer that is coincident with the CO2 beam. A beam combiner lens is used for this and is set up right on the output of the laser tube at 45 deg to the main beam.
To engrave in metal you must use YAG laser or for cutting out shapes from metal a plasma cutter is the best! I believe that this is a CO2 laser that can be used for cutting, marking, engraving anything but metal. It's quite a cool thing to have a laser engraver built all by yourself ... but ... it does not have any safety protection installed on it! i would not enter that room while it's on! :) On the other hand YAG is much more dangerous. Nice work !
The craftsmenship of the mechine and the fact that all of it is hand made including the lazer is with out dought some of the best work that I have seen. You must have had to build the control system as well I bet and even the lazer is air cooled, and the fact that it does not damage the supporting media beneath the product being cut is most impressive. How much did it cost to make and did you write the program that runs it yourself?
OK, thanks. I had such a project too, and still have that 60W laser diode in the cupboard. Now, to find the time, energy and components to actually do the work... that's another story. I fear it will soon end up for sale...
Congratulation's for setup ! the x-y table and driving it's pretty simple and are a lot of info on net. Could you please tell us : - how did you aligned the mirrors ? - how did you you made the focusing ? (working distance , kind of lens ) - I have seen an air intake. Regards, Daniel
To hell with making a laser etcher/cutter. You have done that. Interested in working on a project together. I make hand made one-of-a-kind jewelry in red brass, sterling silver and nickle. Your system could cut my production time down to nothing. I hesitate to call my work jewelry because I seldom employ jewels or stones. Mine are etched using traditional intaglio processes with nitric acid and asphaltum as a block. I think you have the answer to my problem of 'greening up' my production line.
Whether you are exceptionally talented, brilliant, clever, gifted, etc. matters not to me. YES IT DOES!!!! Please put me on your emailing list if you plan to make these or sell plans on how to make this amazing device.
ok, i have read through all the comments thus far. awesome machine, humble builder. have the patient to answer almost every one. how small feature can this laser cut? can you cut a gear with the triangle like 1mm? can cut carbon fiber/fiber/balsa wood? i'm interested to build one for RC Hobby use... built plane with it.
wow thats incredible, i always wanted to make one of these. i tried finding information to acess the computer port but could never find anything, if you know of any way of accessing the ports through java or c please help me out if you can. i have started to become rusty at programming because i couldnt find the way to access the computer ports so i dont know as much as i use to. still really nice job, its so clean and professional, more than professionally built!!
Good job & congrats! What program are you using and what do you have underneath the project to prevent damage from the laser beam to the machine and fire hazard to the floor? Thanks for posting
with great work man ship like yours making boats etc, sell them then hire some one to program it for what you want. could make some great art work and sell it. very nice . great video . thanks canada.
This is very cool, I am researching Laser cutters after finishing my CNC Mill. Laser would be a much better choice for cutting the foams I currently use. do you have a build log or plans anywhere for sale or otherwise? Thanks Jon
Hey good work. Beautiful device. Is it home built? Is the actual laser head remote to the device? I didnt see any cables during the first part of the video. Secondly, what software are you using for the cnc controls?
Hi Richard! Can you explain me how to direct the beam of your CO2 tube into a tight nozzle? (And so how you translate a horizontal beam into a vertical one?) Thanks
Nice build. Your laser head seems quite small (the one on the gantry), or is the laser module static? if so, how do you manage the beam into the moving gantry?
I laughed so hard at that last line...Well at least now all your hard work has paid off. Do you use this machine to turn a profit or is it mainly for hobby use?
My school has a 250W laser cutter, but I still couldn't etch my name into a brass plate. It just tarnishes the metal because of the heat. I didn't dare slow it down too much--I was afraid the laser could reflect back and fry something.
Hi there, I thought your laser project was wonderful, I was wondering though, optically, appart from the basic laser tube what else is required in terms of light guides, lenses etc. is required to produce something capable of slowly cutting 1mm mild steel plate?
Thanks for answering, I see the laser is down, but how do you guide the beam from the discharge tube to the work piece?, do you use lens, optic fibers?, I remember to have read, is not possible to guide IR light with common optic fibers.
I have a small cooler for cooling fish tanks but the volume of water is too great and it's not too good at it's job. I will buy a small refrigerator and put a tank of water in it and run a few coils of tubing through it to cool the water flow. Small bar fridges are pretty cheap and you can keep drinks in it too...:-)
In regards to the 100w laser cutting the table couldnt you just prop things youre cutting abit higher on the table so there isnt such a tight focal point on the table and adjust the Z axis to accomodate?
i think you could make a flat ceramic coated table. It looks your laser could mess with dropped object. i mean your table is ... problem with already cut object.
with mechanics its all make sense, but how to programm this machine to make it understand what to print. you can write procedures to make each engine rotate and laser on/off procedure as well, the question is how to convert the B&W image in some sort of code that you programm will accept it and know what to do.
If I'm not mistaken your CO2 Laser Tube is probably at least 600mm long ? Where is it mounted ? How does the laser get to the head ? Can you please provide a link to these design details.
How anybody could have the skill to actually make that machine is totally beyond me. I am in awe!
Nicely done! We have a VersaLaser at work that I'm allowed to use. I use it to cut some prototypes out of 1/16" PVC. And I can cut puzzles for the kids. ;-)
Wow. Just wow.
Both the movie and the laser cutter are pure art in motion.
Wow ! Impressive. It is one of things you can just watch for hours and never be bored.
I was about to click on another video but stayed cause Into the Ocean was playing. Flipping love Andy Mckee!
Now that is totally PRO man. Wicked precision, smooth machining. Great video!
I started off with an RF 30 watt Universal.inc laser and now I have a 100 watt Glass tube laser made by CNColetec from China. I have had it for about 1.5 years and it's still going strong. Get the biggest CO tube you can afford. After you have had one for a while you will want to go bigger and more powerful. 80 watts seems to be the all round price/performance ratio to buy. I hope you have fun with it. Use a glass lens red pointer if you can as plastic will melt. :-)
Those are pretty nice adjustments and finding ways to save money is great.
Don't you just love it when you fix something with your own hands? :) you really appreciate things that way.
Hope you really have fun with that machine. And good luck with making the video to show the difference. :)
Cool. I ran a plasma cutter for years, brings back memories.
Very cool..........I built my CNC router in fall of 2006. It still has me excited
Thanks, yes I've seen the Kern cutting steel and it seems to cut just fine.
I think the thing to do is to buy a tube, build a power supply and have a play, albeit carefully.
Thanks again for your help,
Hi Richard,
Thanks for that, I will bear that in mind.
All the best,
Harvey
Hey Lozza. It moves to make room for the rotary attachment or big jobs like boxes etc and to focus the lens. It was more versatile like this instead of making the lens assembly move up and down which would increase the mass of the head making it less effective at top speeds and would probably lead to lost steps on the motors. thanks for having a beak at it. :-)
I know nothing about Laser tables. But I love Andy McKee.
Hi Richard, I was impressed by your retracting table. It gave me an idea to use for my cnc machine. Thanks!!!!!
30 watts laser, incredible. Nice peace of work man!
Really impressive piece of work. We're looking at getting a £120k 5-axis CNC router at work and CNC stuff like this fascinates me. I'd love to make something like this myself some day but I'd probably end up burning a hole through my head.
Awesome MUSIC choice too!! Andy McKee rules!! Great video and work, dude!!
That's Pretty neat I must say. And for the posts from people saying you have too much spare time. Id like to see any of them build a co2 laser. I have over 12 years Working on trumpf co2 lasers and coaxial resonators as well.
Really Cool. It makes me want to finish my LASER project.
Nice touch with the song:)
Impressive work to creak this master paice of a home machine.
thats amaisng trully you have skill and the song makes it all that much better
Hey Harvey, I was just reading your comment again and I remember that when cutting steel plate, especially thin stuff, the plate warps a heck of a lot so you would need a height controller for the lens or you need to go bigger on the laser power to cut faster.
Hi Mr Huang, The laser beam is directed around the table by mirrors which are aligned with the use of a small red laser pointer that is coincident with the CO2 beam. A beam combiner lens is used for this and is set up right on the output of the laser tube at 45 deg to the main beam.
Great song... Really thanks for your help!(Rapimodel-Poland)
Very nice video and project. Thank you so much for sharing! Truly an inspiration.
To engrave in metal you must use YAG laser or for cutting out shapes from metal a plasma cutter is the best!
I believe that this is a CO2 laser that can be used for cutting, marking, engraving anything but metal.
It's quite a cool thing to have a laser engraver built all by yourself ... but ... it does not have any safety protection installed on it! i would not enter that room while it's on! :)
On the other hand YAG is much more dangerous.
Nice work !
I would kill for one of those, lol, that thing is really impressive
The craftsmenship of the mechine and the fact that all of it is hand made including the lazer is with out dought some of the best work that I have seen. You must have had to build the control system as well I bet and even the lazer is air cooled, and the fact that it does not damage the supporting media beneath the product being cut is most impressive. How much did it cost to make and did you write the program that runs it yourself?
Great vid!! And nice Andy Mckee song :)
OK, thanks. I had such a project too, and still have that 60W laser diode in the cupboard. Now, to find the time, energy and components to actually do the work... that's another story. I fear it will soon end up for sale...
that has to be the coolest thing ever
Sweet vid - good taste in music - Awsome laser - 5/5 =P
Congratulation's for setup ! the x-y table and driving it's pretty simple and are a lot of info on net.
Could you please tell us :
- how did you aligned the mirrors ?
- how did you you made the focusing ? (working distance , kind of lens ) - I have seen an air intake.
Regards,
Daniel
Simply Amazing.
To hell with making a laser etcher/cutter. You have done that. Interested in working on a project together. I make hand made one-of-a-kind jewelry in red brass, sterling silver and nickle. Your system could cut my production time down to nothing. I hesitate to call my work jewelry because I seldom employ jewels or stones. Mine are etched using traditional intaglio processes with nitric acid and asphaltum as a block. I think you have the answer to my problem of 'greening up' my production line.
Whether you are exceptionally talented, brilliant, clever, gifted, etc. matters not to me.
YES IT DOES!!!!
Please put me on your emailing list if you plan to make these or sell plans on how to make this amazing device.
ok, i have read through all the comments thus far.
awesome machine, humble builder.
have the patient to answer almost every one.
how small feature can this laser cut?
can you cut a gear with the triangle like 1mm?
can cut carbon fiber/fiber/balsa wood?
i'm interested to build one for RC Hobby use... built plane with it.
i love andy mckee. nice suprise
wow thats incredible, i always wanted to make one of these. i tried finding information to acess the computer port but could never find anything, if you know of any way of accessing the ports through java or c please help me out if you can. i have started to become rusty at programming because i couldnt find the way to access the computer ports so i dont know as much as i use to. still really nice job, its so clean and professional, more than professionally built!!
OMGGG IM THE BIGGEST FAN OF ANDY MCKEE AND IM RANDOMLY WATCHING LASER STUFF AND THIS IS PLAYING. :D
you are one clever man!!!!!
Nice job, mate.
Beautiful.
Thanks for useful information.
this is epic.. It's like a commercial one..
Why do I have the feeling you didn't make a work log of it?
absolutely brilliant bit of engineering, baccus. Having said that, may I ask: what is the music playing?
Good job & congrats! What program are you using and what do you have underneath the project to prevent damage from the laser beam to the machine and fire hazard to the floor? Thanks for posting
with great work man ship like yours making boats etc, sell them then hire some one to program it for what you want. could make some great art work and sell it. very nice . great video . thanks canada.
nice work!
Thanks richard lol.. can you inform about lens and mirrors.. what brand in this video?You used chiller refrigerator also?
very good work :)
it is great work !!!!
This is very cool, I am researching Laser cutters after finishing my CNC Mill. Laser would be a much better choice for cutting the foams I currently use. do you have a build log or plans anywhere for sale or otherwise?
Thanks
Jon
Hey good work. Beautiful device.
Is it home built?
Is the actual laser head remote to the device? I didnt see any cables during the first part of the video.
Secondly, what software are you using for the cnc controls?
Great work!
Just one question, what are you using to guide the beam from the tube to the head? Mirrors at the end of the axes?
Hi Richard! Can you explain me how to direct the beam of your CO2 tube into a tight nozzle? (And so how you translate a horizontal beam into a vertical one?) Thanks
very good job!
though, do you have measurments in the average radiation excess? 30W is powerfull enough to radiate a quite large bit. so be carefull.
Good lens system ;)
Sorry. Forget my last.
Got my answers from previous answers.
Nice kit anyway.
Holy good work :)
i think you're right. thanks.
its like a big video game!
or a claw machine
Nice build. Your laser head seems quite small (the one on the gantry), or is the laser module static? if so, how do you manage the beam into the moving gantry?
I laughed so hard at that last line...Well at least now all your hard work has paid off. Do you use this machine to turn a profit or is it mainly for hobby use?
Good choice of music.. Andy Mckee? :)
Make blueprints! I want to make one too!
My school has a 250W laser cutter, but I still couldn't etch my name into a brass plate. It just tarnishes the metal because of the heat. I didn't dare slow it down too much--I was afraid the laser could reflect back and fry something.
Hi there,
I thought your laser project was wonderful, I was wondering though, optically, appart from the basic laser tube what else is required in terms of light guides, lenses etc. is required to produce something capable of slowly cutting 1mm mild steel plate?
Thanks for answering, I see the laser is down, but how do you guide the beam from the discharge tube to the work piece?, do you use lens, optic fibers?, I remember to have read, is not possible to guide IR light with common optic fibers.
Awesome project!
Where did you get the laser?
That's really cool. But will it blend?
This is so awesome :o
excellent
pretty impressive. would you be willing to sell the plans for it?
when it was Homebuilded is it also that much to make ? (costs)
Great job and is the laser AUTO ?
if yes how do you program it? (CNC ?)
some one had a lot of funn!!! yeahh!
Merci pour votre réponse je vais pouvoir avancer ma machine
Cordialement Seb
I have a small cooler for cooling fish tanks but the volume of water is too great and it's not too good at it's job. I will buy a small refrigerator and put a tank of water in it and run a few coils of tubing through it to cool the water flow. Small bar fridges are pretty cheap and you can keep drinks in it too...:-)
Nice work! Does it cut metal?
Nice one.
Whats the cost of the laser head, Can it be incorporated on a cnc router type machine? Very interesting, Thanks!
AWESOME!
In regards to the 100w laser cutting the table couldnt you just prop things youre cutting abit higher on the table so there isnt such a tight focal point on the table and adjust the Z axis to accomodate?
A Plasma CNC cuts copper and Aluminium no problem. Would make a mess of that paper you're cutting though! LOL
i think you could make a flat ceramic coated table. It looks your laser could mess with dropped object. i mean your table is ... problem with already cut object.
with mechanics its all make sense, but how to programm this machine to make it understand what to print. you can write procedures to make each engine rotate and laser on/off procedure as well, the question is how to convert the B&W image in some sort of code that you programm will accept it and know what to do.
If I'm not mistaken your CO2 Laser Tube is probably at least 600mm long ? Where is it mounted ? How does the laser get to the head ? Can you please provide a link to these design details.
Nice work. Watch your fingers!
Have you considered using it to melt sugar into a pattern ?
This video is soo relaxing. Am i weird, lol
This is not bad. But if you slow the speed of the cutting operation, you can cut more thickness, right? try to speed down the cutting process
Yes.
YOU ARE A GOD
Is there some programs who controll the computer serial port ? And the schematics to connect the serial port pins to the table motors ?
Nice
Yes.
Go to synrad dot com and go to applications and then search for Teflon and it will bring up a few. Thanks.
you are good!!!!
wow, do you used a focused diode IR laser or CO2 laser?.
andy mckee!! woooo!