I just want to say thank you for all the work you have done on laser engraving/cutting. Because of you, I recently purchased a 50w laser. I am still learning how to use it, but I have gained invaluable knowledge from watching your videos. Thank you so much!
Thanks for that. Many a design has come off Autocad without bridges. I've grouped and edited cut order then remembered I hadn't inserted bridges and then reverted to CAD and inserted them and started grouping, cut editing again. Glad to know that RDWorks can save my lack of memory
To take off paint residue.... let it dry a bit. Then get a cotton cloth and put in it a one of the scrap holes. Wrap the cloth tight... put turps or meths on the cloth at bottom and rub across the paint. The flat bottom will only take off the excess on the surface !
Hi Thanks for the tip. Although I did make a batch like this, I have subsequently reverse engraved into clear acrylic and left the film on until the paint has fully hardened. The peel off then leaves perfect edges that need no cleaning. However O greatly appreciate your advice. Best wishes Russ
Thanks Russ another item in RD works I never knew was there ! incidentally I am still using ver 10 so I thought maybe its now time for me to update (I find with software if it works leave it alone), but the bridge feature is there also in ver 10 and works great, I havnt yet found or been told what is better in later versions, I ran ver 24 for a while on another machine and could'nt find anything new so stuck with ver 10. By the way I found the plastic on one side of the perspex brand horrible stuff when engraving (the side with all the blue writing) so I now peel it off and replace with paper application tape, leaves surface perfect especially on clear.
Hi Rus, l must say l stumbled across your videos and have been absolutely drawn into watching you. You have inspired me to go out and purchase a laser cutter or even make one. Don't ask me what l will do with it, but l guess l just like to build things and keep the brain matter going. Bloody good work.
Curious on your thoughts if you have a minute. The cleaning of your bed seems so much easier and less dangerous than a honeycomb bed. I know anodized aluminum absorbs/transfers the majority of the energy as demonstrated in some of your previous videos and your doHICky. Since the bed is normally always well out of the high energy density focus range, how well do you think an anodized aluminum bed would perform at reducing or completely removing reflection? With an under powered laser I often have to slow down on some of my cuts when I need to do thicker materials and I must remove film on both sides to prevent a flame(From time to time I cut half inch on a K40(Very slow cut to get any sort of a clean~ finish)) and the reflection is insane if I have any bed really. I will one day of course upgrade to something more powerful but this has me interested in finding a solution. The idea of little to no beam reflection sounds wonderful if you can merely absorb the energy after the cut. On the chance that it is feasible I do understand that there are other things to consider such as heat transfer/build up and what not, but I would love to get some discussion around it if you have some thoughts on the subject? Side note: I thoroughly love and greatly enjoy your videos and your process of learning, exploring and experimenting.
Hi Phillip Mild steel ( 65% reflective) is less reflective than raw aluminium (98% ) or stainless steel (96%). I have used tables with all these metals. I know it does not sound correct but metals have a crystallographic structure when in their solid state and it is that structure (not the surface shininess) that causes the reflection. Mild steel does not reflect in quite the same way as aluminium or stainless steel. Instead of straight reflection, the the beam gets scattered as it hits the mild steel surface. This dispersion automatically reduces the energy density of the reflection. I use mild steel BUT you will still get reflection damage if your material is too close to the surface . With my 60watt tube, I find that raising the work 15 to 20mm off the table completely fixes any reflection issues and with some materials with a higher damage threshold 10mm clearance will suffice.. However. just as you propose, anodized aluminium WILL absorb the excess energy and there will be no need to worry about heating because aluminium is an extremely good heat conductor. 1.5mm to 2mm will work well but the problem will be durability. Yes, anodizing is hard but if it gets too mucky and you find that acetone will not remove the burnt on debris, using abrasive will soon wear through the anodizing because it is only a few microns thick.. The other solution is to use a sheet of acrylic because this will absorb the extra energy in the form of surface damage (evaporation). This works well on my pin table but after a while the top surface damage causes the sheet to distort. I have still not found a better material than mild steel although I did find that an piece of thick granite worktop was an equally good substitute. Best wishes Russ
I've noticed that if I use alcohol on clear acrylic (not HDPE or other plastics) I get cracking due to the chemical reactions... Hexane, dishsoap, or other more gentle cleaners are safe for use on clear acrylic....
Hi Joe It's a mistake I'm sure we have all made. Isopropyl alcohol is a very mild solvent but will still soften the surface of acrylic to allow the built-in stress cracks to propagate.. It si very normal to generate edge crack stresses when solvent cement is applied to joints. I rarely have this issue because I use a mild form of cement intended for PET. It takes a few more seconds to bond but usually produces crack-free joints. I suspect you were trying tomremove the white dusty looking haze that settles on acrylic when you engrave it?# Best wishes Russ.
I would normally not remove these from the frame but do 50 all on one sheet. Leaving them attached and on a flat MDF surface provides total stability. for painting. and I have tried spraying as well , because the frame provides masking. However you get paint run off onto the external edges which is unsatisfactory hence the brush method. I just did small batches of 10 for the purpose of this video and the card box I was using was not flat. OK for demo but not for production. Thanks for comment Best wishes Russ
Have a question for you. I am on video 70 something on the playlist. Have you considered or tried running an inert gas with the air assist? Argon, nitrogen, or helium come to mind. Just a thought for your tinkering.
Hi Jeremy It is a suggestion I have had many times but I have never tried it because air is free and compressed gasses are not. I imagine that you are suggesting it as a way to stop the brown marks that can occur when you engrave or cut. As you get further into the series , yo find that I begin to decode the cutting and engraving processes in great detail. I begin to understand the way that our beam of light transfers it'e energy to make the material it hits "self harm" itself by molecular excitement. Now that I understand the way that these factors interact I can cut "brown-free" but the edges will always be scorched brown but not charred with carbon . I can engrave cleanly by understanding the balance of power, airflow across the workface and absolute minimal air assist.. On organic materials the whole point of 2D engraving is to mark the surface with scorching. IF an inert gas prevents that oxidation process then the outcome would be pointless. For 3D engraving you do require material removal without scorching but that again can be achieved by finding the right balance of speed and power to catch the "burning' process at the correct point in it's cycle. I do have a colleague who will lend me bottle of Argonshield gas to experiment with. I may well test it in the near future just to show the effects. Thanks for the thought though Best wishes Russ
thank you so much Russ..... really you are doing always useful video lab about RDWorks..... stupid who put unlike !!!!!!!! except if he do it by mistake his unlike and he has to remove it.... not fair at all..... Russ helping you with his time and test in his lab works...... all the best Russ
Hi Alt My concern for statistics is absolutely zero. I do not monetize this channel despite several companies trying to encourage me because I do NOT want to force you guys to suffer unwanted advertising. I am just e selfish old guy enjoying himself and letting the world look over his shoulder for free. I will gladly learn from people with evidence but those with opinions count for nothing. Many do not even have a machine!!!. Thanks for your kind words Best wishes Russ
Russ...Been watching about 3 months(got my laser two weeks ago) I don't Know if you have covered this yet... but WOULD YOU be will to make a " state of Current Knowledge " for 2019 Video where you go from the laser tube thru beam combiners to the laser head , red dot pointer and laser deck...telling us what your current understanding of each item is? Sort of an all current Information video...Of course your'e the best and have given me much insight in to my laser...Many , Many thanks. Best Wishes.
Hi Dwight This series is an "over the shoulder" record of my learning journey with this machine and process. It obvoiusly shows my slow progress to a complete understanding of this complex mix of physics and CNC technology. Each of the subjects you mentioned have been explored in detail but by the very nature of what I am doing they are each a process of discovery and understanding and not a set of tutorials. When I have completed my current investigation into lenses and their interaction with various materials, I do plan to put a set of subject focused demonstrations/tutorials to make it easier for people to gain a more rapid understanding without having to plough through all my mistakes. I think 2019 will see a conclusion to the Learning Lab series because after lenses there is little left to explore or understand. I have never intended to pimp my basic machine up to some thing radically different by adding different servos, bearing systems etc. No, I have just discovered and fixed fundamental design issues and have tried to explore exactly what the extreme operating capabilities are for such a budget piece of CNC kit. Understand your tube czcams.com/video/2F5O-1TH8b0/video.html Beam combiners czcams.com/video/OAFChFo0KE0/video.html My advice is steer clear of these devices . Pay a bit extra for your tube and get one of these SPT tubes that has a factory set and n eatly integrated beam combiner. The rated output is AFTER the beam combiner so you will not be losing 5% power as you do with a 3rd party bolt-on. www.cloudraylaser.com/collections/spt-laser-tube/products/spt-laser-tube-tr90-tr100?variant=12801293189171 Make sure you scroll down the web page Watch some later videos and you will see that I am a 1% fan of the honeycomb table and 99% against it. It may seem opinionated but ALL Chinese machines lack a basic understanding of air flow management THROUGH the machine. The designers have never used them in anger and will have no concept of what I am talking about and the factories only assemble them and never use them so they are not to bleme.. Thanks for the comment Best wishes Russ
@@SarbarMultimedia Russ...Sir...I do feel like I have learned so much from you...and I am grateful for your series on Lasers for My part of course I feel as if I know you personally (although that is not true)...I did not know that you would get the beam combiner from the factory..I had thought since you went to Florida you did n't like them...anyway I was hoping you would Sum up all the subjects you have spoken about...I enjoy watching the videos and will continue to watch them. Thank again for your time.
@@dwightbauer6705 Hi Dwight I am not a fan of 3rd party beam combiners because they are absolutely impossible to perfectly aligh with the beam and you suffer a power loss penalty (which nobody speaks of) . Two possible uses for a red beam that perfectly mimics the course of the invisible laser beam. First claim is usually to aid beam alignment/mirror setting. Just stop for a few moments and look beyond the marketing hype. You will have to set your beam up accurately in X,Y and Z first BEFORE you can set the red beam up to try and mimic it. So NO it does not aid beam alignment, you have to know how to do that the scorch method anyway.. Beam alignment is not an everyday problem. When you have it set correctly, it does not change I have not touched my Lightblade machine for almost 3 years and the only reason I have fiddled with my China Blue machine is when I fitted a replacement head...........so when is it going to help you align your beam??? The second claim is for a through-the-lens red dot. to help align your beam start point. If this is all you want a beam aligner for then accurate alignment is not required. Near enough will be good enough provided your red dot marks the spot where your beam will finally fall. This will be fine provided you are using a zinc selenide (yellow) lens. I personally find that the best all round CUTTING lens is a 2" gallium arsenide plano convex lens. The problem here is that gallium arsenide does not transmit visible light so the red dot will not work with this lens type.. Obviously a factory preset SPT tube where red and laser beams are set perfectly will help with both situations ....except the gallium arsenide lens issue. Best wishes Russ
I have a k40 laser with a dead tube.. Can I replace it with a 40-50 watt laser? Will the power supply give me enough to get at least 30 watts out of the new 40-50 watt laser? I figure if you under power a bigger tube, it might last longer?
Hi My first question is , are you sure you have a dead tube? Tubes do not just drop down dead unless there is mechanical damage to the tube and you can see sparks inside or the gas mix had leaked away. The tube may not be delivering any laser power but it should still appear to be working . The pink glow in your tube is the nitrogen in the gas mix ionizing. Although you can consume the CO2 in the gas mix and lose laser power, the nitrogen will always be there so you will always see the pink beam even if the tube is "dead". If you have no pink beam and your machine stopped working suddenly, then the chances are that it is your HV power supply that is dead and the flyback transformers are not generating the thousands of volts required to ionize the nitrogen or it could also be a failed switch circuit. Are you still sure about the dead tube? Your K40 is run by a very basic analog controller and requires a special power supply like this www.amazon.com/Cloudray-Laser-Supply-Engraver-Cutter/dp/B079MHKQXF/ref=sr_1_1?m=A2M1Y79D9F74M8&qid=1561184320&s=merchant-items&sr=1-1 Your current tube is probably a B grade tube if it is the one supplied with the machine and you will be lucky if you are getting even 30 watts from it. A genuine A grade replacement that will just drop into your machine and will give between 40 and 45 watts output will be this SPT tube sold as a rebadged Cloudray tube. www.amazon.com/Cloudray-50-70W-L1000mm-Dia-50mm-Cooling/dp/B07BDKFDFZ/ref=pd_rhf_se_s_cr_simh_0_9?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07BDJ6J95&pd_rd_r=86cabd3b-ec5d-4e43-8dca-e50ea872f1da&pd_rd_w=jhPDb&pd_rd_wg=NULIT&pf_rd_p=67aa5820-8762-4202-90ba-881bb99c913c&pf_rd_r=XK6RN75FE5BW8FNFR4GK&refRID=XK6RN75FE5BW8FNFR4GK&th=1 It seems expensive here on the Amazon site (commission?? plus shipping from China) where as at the Cloudray site you can see it at half the price (CR35) but now you need to check out the stupid DHL delivery charge. Your experience so far is likely to be bad because of the B grade tube and B grade power supply fitted to your machine.Fit a proper tube and power supply and you will have a transformed machine. You have an ammeter fitted and this tube is a long life tube so do not run it at more than 18mA and it should last 3 years or more. Best wishes Russ
Hi Fred In US most acrylics are paper covered but here in Europe/UK 95% are plastic covered. The film is specially designed to be laser safe and is a few steps up from candle wax in its composition. There is no pvc element so fear not, however, I congratulate you on your suspicion and caution. Always be safe with plastics. Best wishes Russ
@@SarbarMultimedia Thanks for the reply. That's an interesting piece of information. I had read, but not confirmed, that cast acrylic is vinyl covered, while extruded acrylic is paper masked (in the US). I could have the attributes reversed, however.
@@freddotu Hi Fred When I have been working in US, I have only ever encountered paper cover so maybe you are right . It's worth checking with distributor or manufactures website if in doubt. Best wishes Russ
@@freddotu In the U.S. most of what I see is paper backing on cast, and plastic on extruded. I do receive cast acrylic occasionally with plastic backing, but I don't believe that I've ever received extruded acrylic with a paper backing. In my experience they do have very different considerations when cutting a client's work. I would think that the lower melting point of extruded acrylic would be a factor in why paper backing might be a less desirable choice. Great question BTW.
Hello Russ... wondering if you have a presence outside of you tube... website or anything. Wondering you on the side you sell any of the gizmos (targets, etc) that can be purchased as a way of support/thank you. I'll post another message with just my email, I've read you have a means of instantly reading and deleteing those?
Hi Steven Thanks for the comment and yes I would normally recognize these to be tabs or tags. However , maybe that's why it's taken me so long to recognize the Chinese term "bridges". Best wishes Russ
Hi Sir, could you experiment on acylic welding using the laser for mass production? cant really make it work using the videos i seen in youtube, really need your expertise to figure it out. thanks!
The videos you have seen on line are done by university students as part of their degree course. I have experimented with the technique and it could have limited uses. It.s not really welding by my definition. It exploits the fuming properties of methyl acrylate as it evaporates. Like steam the vapour will condense (the white film on the surface of your job) and because it is a condensate it also acts as a glue which is why it is almost impossible to remove the white film except by polishing. When you put sheets together this condensate seeps between the sheets in an random and unpredictable way. That is what seems to be bonding the sheets together at the edges. The edges of the material also go through a very thin liquid phase during cutting and the liquid phase also adds to the bond strength by healing over the join with a few microns of melt. You may not have seen this: czcams.com/video/Nz8dfCKvCLQ/video.html They do explain some details and limitations. They also mention that they "think the process works by"......hey, they are researching and touting this process, surely it is essential to understand how the process works. They also quickly mention later that it does not work for all acrylics. It's a great idea but I can see only limited uses for it. Play for yourself and experiment , it's cheap and easy, requiring no special skills or tools. Best wishes Russ
Hi Joseph Try this. It's issue 38 and the one I am currently using without issues. www.rd-acs.com/Private/Files/de49e1ea0e9d44aab3ed9724053c7035.rar Best wishes Russ
I just want to say thank you for all the work you have done on laser engraving/cutting. Because of you, I recently purchased a 50w laser. I am still learning how to use it, but I have gained invaluable knowledge from watching your videos. Thank you so much!
Thanks for that. Many a design has come off Autocad without bridges. I've grouped and edited cut order then remembered I hadn't inserted bridges and then reverted to CAD and inserted them and started grouping, cut editing again. Glad to know that RDWorks can save my lack of memory
Great job Russ. Good to see you again.
David Attenborough impersonation 🤣 got me for a second there... great video thanks.
Thank you! And I must say I heartily agree with your opening monologue!
Great video thanks Russ.
I like it thanks Russ!
To take off paint residue.... let it dry a bit. Then get a cotton cloth and put in it a one of the scrap holes. Wrap the cloth tight... put turps or meths on the cloth at bottom and rub across the paint. The flat bottom will only take off the excess on the surface !
Hi
Thanks for the tip. Although I did make a batch like this, I have subsequently reverse engraved into clear acrylic and left the film on until the paint has fully hardened. The peel off then leaves perfect edges that need no cleaning. However O greatly appreciate your advice.
Best wishes
Russ
Thanks Russ another item in RD works I never knew was there ! incidentally I am still using ver 10 so I thought maybe its now time for me to update (I find with software if it works leave it alone), but the bridge feature is there also in ver 10 and works great, I havnt yet found or been told what is better in later versions, I ran ver 24 for a while on another machine and could'nt find anything new so stuck with ver 10. By the way I found the plastic on one side of the perspex brand horrible stuff when engraving (the side with all the blue writing) so I now peel it off and replace with paper application tape, leaves surface perfect especially on clear.
Hi Rus, l must say l stumbled across your videos and have been absolutely drawn into watching you. You have inspired me to go out and purchase a laser cutter or even make one. Don't ask me what l will do with it, but l guess l just like to build things and keep the brain matter going. Bloody good work.
It's called a tab in most nomenclatures.
Curious on your thoughts if you have a minute. The cleaning of your bed seems so much easier and less dangerous than a honeycomb bed. I know anodized aluminum absorbs/transfers the majority of the energy as demonstrated in some of your previous videos and your doHICky. Since the bed is normally always well out of the high energy density focus range, how well do you think an anodized aluminum bed would perform at reducing or completely removing reflection?
With an under powered laser I often have to slow down on some of my cuts when I need to do thicker materials and I must remove film on both sides to prevent a flame(From time to time I cut half inch on a K40(Very slow cut to get any sort of a clean~ finish)) and the reflection is insane if I have any bed really. I will one day of course upgrade to something more powerful but this has me interested in finding a solution. The idea of little to no beam reflection sounds wonderful if you can merely absorb the energy after the cut.
On the chance that it is feasible I do understand that there are other things to consider such as heat transfer/build up and what not, but I would love to get some discussion around it if you have some thoughts on the subject?
Side note: I thoroughly love and greatly enjoy your videos and your process of learning, exploring and experimenting.
Hi Phillip
Mild steel ( 65% reflective) is less reflective than raw aluminium (98% ) or stainless steel (96%). I have used tables with all these metals. I know it does not sound correct but metals have a crystallographic structure when in their solid state and it is that structure (not the surface shininess) that causes the reflection. Mild steel does not reflect in quite the same way as aluminium or stainless steel. Instead of straight reflection, the the beam gets scattered as it hits the mild steel surface. This dispersion automatically reduces the energy density of the reflection. I use mild steel BUT you will still get reflection damage if your material is too close to the surface . With my 60watt tube, I find that raising the work 15 to 20mm off the table completely fixes any reflection issues and with some materials with a higher damage threshold 10mm clearance will suffice..
However. just as you propose, anodized aluminium WILL absorb the excess energy and there will be no need to worry about heating because aluminium is an extremely good heat conductor. 1.5mm to 2mm will work well but the problem will be durability. Yes, anodizing is hard but if it gets too mucky and you find that acetone will not remove the burnt on debris, using abrasive will soon wear through the anodizing because it is only a few microns thick..
The other solution is to use a sheet of acrylic because this will absorb the extra energy in the form of surface damage (evaporation). This works well on my pin table but after a while the top surface damage causes the sheet to distort. I have still not found a better material than mild steel although I did find that an piece of thick granite worktop was an equally good substitute.
Best wishes
Russ
I've noticed that if I use alcohol on clear acrylic (not HDPE or other plastics) I get cracking due to the chemical reactions... Hexane, dishsoap, or other more gentle cleaners are safe for use on clear acrylic....
Hi Joe
It's a mistake I'm sure we have all made. Isopropyl alcohol is a very mild solvent but will still soften the surface of acrylic to allow the built-in stress cracks to propagate.. It si very normal to generate edge crack stresses when solvent cement is applied to joints. I rarely have this issue because I use a mild form of cement intended for PET. It takes a few more seconds to bond but usually produces crack-free joints. I suspect you were trying tomremove the white dusty looking haze that settles on acrylic when you engrave it?#
Best wishes
Russ.
Great video as always. Maybe if you had a rubber table (or sheet) under the parts they would not move while brushing the gold paint.
I would normally not remove these from the frame but do 50 all on one sheet. Leaving them attached and on a flat MDF surface provides total stability. for painting. and I have tried spraying as well , because the frame provides masking. However you get paint run off onto the external edges which is unsatisfactory hence the brush method. I just did small batches of 10 for the purpose of this video and the card box I was using was not flat. OK for demo but not for production.
Thanks for comment
Best wishes
Russ
Have a question for you. I am on video 70 something on the playlist. Have you considered or tried running an inert gas with the air assist? Argon, nitrogen, or helium come to mind. Just a thought for your tinkering.
Hi Jeremy
It is a suggestion I have had many times but I have never tried it because air is free and compressed gasses are not. I imagine that you are suggesting it as a way to stop the brown marks that can occur when you engrave or cut. As you get further into the series , yo find that I begin to decode the cutting and engraving processes in great detail. I begin to understand the way that our beam of light transfers it'e energy to make the material it hits "self harm" itself by molecular excitement. Now that I understand the way that these factors interact I can cut "brown-free" but the edges will always be scorched brown but not charred with carbon . I can engrave cleanly by understanding the balance of power, airflow across the workface and absolute minimal air assist.. On organic materials the whole point of 2D engraving is to mark the surface with scorching. IF an inert gas prevents that oxidation process then the outcome would be pointless. For 3D engraving you do require material removal without scorching but that again can be achieved by finding the right balance of speed and power to catch the "burning' process at the correct point in it's cycle.
I do have a colleague who will lend me bottle of Argonshield gas to experiment with. I may well test it in the near future just to show the effects.
Thanks for the thought though
Best wishes
Russ
thank you so much Russ..... really you are doing always useful video lab about RDWorks..... stupid who put unlike !!!!!!!! except if he do it by mistake his unlike and he has to remove it.... not fair at all..... Russ helping you with his time and test in his lab works...... all the best Russ
Hi Alt
My concern for statistics is absolutely zero. I do not monetize this channel despite several companies trying to encourage me because I do NOT want to force you guys to suffer unwanted advertising. I am just e selfish old guy enjoying himself and letting the world look over his shoulder for free. I will gladly learn from people with evidence but those with opinions count for nothing. Many do not even have a machine!!!.
Thanks for your kind words
Best wishes
Russ
Russ...Been watching about 3 months(got my laser two weeks ago) I don't Know if you have covered this yet... but WOULD YOU be will to make a " state of Current Knowledge " for 2019 Video where you go from the laser tube thru beam combiners to the laser head , red dot pointer and laser deck...telling us what your current understanding of each item is? Sort of an all current Information video...Of course your'e the best and have given me much insight in to my laser...Many , Many thanks. Best Wishes.
Hi Dwight
This series is an "over the shoulder" record of my learning journey with this machine and process. It obvoiusly shows my slow progress to a complete understanding of this complex mix of physics and CNC technology. Each of the subjects you mentioned have been explored in detail but by the very nature of what I am doing they are each a process of discovery and understanding and not a set of tutorials. When I have completed my current investigation into lenses and their interaction with various materials, I do plan to put a set of subject focused demonstrations/tutorials to make it easier for people to gain a more rapid understanding without having to plough through all my mistakes. I think 2019 will see a conclusion to the Learning Lab series because after lenses there is little left to explore or understand. I have never intended to pimp my basic machine up to some thing radically different by adding different servos, bearing systems etc. No, I have just discovered and fixed fundamental design issues and have tried to explore exactly what the extreme operating capabilities are for such a budget piece of CNC kit.
Understand your tube
czcams.com/video/2F5O-1TH8b0/video.html
Beam combiners
czcams.com/video/OAFChFo0KE0/video.html
My advice is steer clear of these devices . Pay a bit extra for your tube and get one of these SPT tubes that has a factory set and n eatly integrated beam combiner. The rated output is AFTER the beam combiner so you will not be losing 5% power as you do with a 3rd party bolt-on.
www.cloudraylaser.com/collections/spt-laser-tube/products/spt-laser-tube-tr90-tr100?variant=12801293189171
Make sure you scroll down the web page
Watch some later videos and you will see that I am a 1% fan of the honeycomb table and 99% against it. It may seem opinionated but ALL Chinese machines lack a basic understanding of air flow management THROUGH the machine. The designers have never used them in anger and will have no concept of what I am talking about and the factories only assemble them and never use them so they are not to bleme..
Thanks for the comment
Best wishes
Russ
@@SarbarMultimedia Russ...Sir...I do feel like I have learned so much from you...and I am grateful for your series on Lasers for My part of course I feel as if I know you personally (although that is not true)...I did not know that you would get the beam combiner from the factory..I had thought since you went to Florida you did n't like them...anyway I was hoping you would Sum up all the subjects you have spoken about...I enjoy watching the videos and will continue to watch them. Thank again for your time.
@@dwightbauer6705
Hi Dwight
I am not a fan of 3rd party beam combiners because they are absolutely impossible to perfectly aligh with the beam and you suffer a power loss penalty (which nobody speaks of) . Two possible uses for a red beam that perfectly mimics the course of the invisible laser beam. First claim is usually to aid beam alignment/mirror setting. Just stop for a few moments and look beyond the marketing hype. You will have to set your beam up accurately in X,Y and Z first BEFORE you can set the red beam up to try and mimic it. So NO it does not aid beam alignment, you have to know how to do that the scorch method anyway.. Beam alignment is not an everyday problem. When you have it set correctly, it does not change I have not touched my Lightblade machine for almost 3 years and the only reason I have fiddled with my China Blue machine is when I fitted a replacement head...........so when is it going to help you align your beam??? The second claim is for a through-the-lens red dot. to help align your beam start point. If this is all you want a beam aligner for then accurate alignment is not required. Near enough will be good enough provided your red dot marks the spot where your beam will finally fall. This will be fine provided you are using a zinc selenide (yellow) lens. I personally find that the best all round CUTTING lens is a 2" gallium arsenide plano convex lens. The problem here is that gallium arsenide does not transmit visible light so the red dot will not work with this lens type.. Obviously a factory preset SPT tube where red and laser beams are set perfectly will help with both situations ....except the gallium arsenide lens issue.
Best wishes
Russ
I have a k40 laser with a dead tube.. Can I replace it with a 40-50 watt laser? Will the power supply give me enough to get at least 30 watts out of the new 40-50 watt laser? I figure if you under power a bigger tube, it might last longer?
Hi
My first question is , are you sure you have a dead tube? Tubes do not just drop down dead unless there is mechanical damage to the tube and you can see sparks inside or the gas mix had leaked away. The tube may not be delivering any laser power but it should still appear to be working . The pink glow in your tube is the nitrogen in the gas mix ionizing. Although you can consume the CO2 in the gas mix and lose laser power, the nitrogen will always be there so you will always see the pink beam even if the tube is "dead". If you have no pink beam and your machine stopped working suddenly, then the chances are that it is your HV power supply that is dead and the flyback transformers are not generating the thousands of volts required to ionize the nitrogen or it could also be a failed switch circuit. Are you still sure about the dead tube?
Your K40 is run by a very basic analog controller and requires a special power supply like this
www.amazon.com/Cloudray-Laser-Supply-Engraver-Cutter/dp/B079MHKQXF/ref=sr_1_1?m=A2M1Y79D9F74M8&qid=1561184320&s=merchant-items&sr=1-1
Your current tube is probably a B grade tube if it is the one supplied with the machine and you will be lucky if you are getting even 30 watts from it. A genuine A grade replacement that will just drop into your machine and will give between 40 and 45 watts output will be this SPT tube sold as a rebadged Cloudray tube.
www.amazon.com/Cloudray-50-70W-L1000mm-Dia-50mm-Cooling/dp/B07BDKFDFZ/ref=pd_rhf_se_s_cr_simh_0_9?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07BDJ6J95&pd_rd_r=86cabd3b-ec5d-4e43-8dca-e50ea872f1da&pd_rd_w=jhPDb&pd_rd_wg=NULIT&pf_rd_p=67aa5820-8762-4202-90ba-881bb99c913c&pf_rd_r=XK6RN75FE5BW8FNFR4GK&refRID=XK6RN75FE5BW8FNFR4GK&th=1
It seems expensive here on the Amazon site (commission?? plus shipping from China) where as at the Cloudray site you can see it at half the price (CR35) but now you need to check out the stupid DHL delivery charge.
Your experience so far is likely to be bad because of the B grade tube and B grade power supply fitted to your machine.Fit a proper tube and power supply and you will have a transformed machine. You have an ammeter fitted and this tube is a long life tube so do not run it at more than 18mA and it should last 3 years or more.
Best wishes
Russ
Does cutting the vinyl masking with the laser create chlorine gas damage?
Hi Fred
In US most acrylics are paper covered but here in Europe/UK 95% are plastic covered. The film is specially designed to be laser safe and is a few steps up from candle wax in its composition. There is no pvc element so fear not, however, I congratulate you on your suspicion and caution. Always be safe with plastics.
Best wishes
Russ
@@SarbarMultimedia Thanks for the reply. That's an interesting piece of information. I had read, but not confirmed, that cast acrylic is vinyl covered, while extruded acrylic is paper masked (in the US). I could have the attributes reversed, however.
@@freddotu
Hi Fred
When I have been working in US, I have only ever encountered paper cover so maybe you are right . It's worth checking with distributor or manufactures website if in doubt.
Best wishes
Russ
@@freddotu In the U.S. most of what I see is paper backing on cast, and plastic on extruded. I do receive cast acrylic occasionally with plastic backing, but I don't believe that I've ever received extruded acrylic with a paper backing. In my experience they do have very different considerations when cutting a client's work. I would think that the lower melting point of extruded acrylic would be a factor in why paper backing might be a less desirable choice. Great question BTW.
Hello Russ... wondering if you have a presence outside of you tube... website or anything. Wondering you on the side you sell any of the gizmos (targets, etc) that can be purchased as a way of support/thank you. I'll post another message with just my email, I've read you have a means of instantly reading and deleteing those?
It is called a "tab" in the cnc field.
Hi Steven
Thanks for the comment and yes I would normally recognize these to be tabs or tags. However , maybe that's why it's taken me so long to recognize the Chinese term "bridges".
Best wishes
Russ
Does Light burn have similar option?
Hi Polis
I don't think so , yet. I'm sure it's on the "to do" list
Best wishes
Russ
Hi Sir, could you experiment on acylic welding using the laser for mass production? cant really make it work using the videos i seen in youtube, really need your expertise to figure it out.
thanks!
The videos you have seen on line are done by university students as part of their degree course. I have experimented with the technique and it could have limited uses. It.s not really welding by my definition. It exploits the fuming properties of methyl acrylate as it evaporates. Like steam the vapour will condense (the white film on the surface of your job) and because it is a condensate it also acts as a glue which is why it is almost impossible to remove the white film except by polishing. When you put sheets together this condensate seeps between the sheets in an random and unpredictable way. That is what seems to be bonding the sheets together at the edges. The edges of the material also go through a very thin liquid phase during cutting and the liquid phase also adds to the bond strength by healing over the join with a few microns of melt.
You may not have seen this:
czcams.com/video/Nz8dfCKvCLQ/video.html
They do explain some details and limitations. They also mention that they "think the process works by"......hey, they are researching and touting this process, surely it is essential to understand how the process works. They also quickly mention later that it does not work for all acrylics. It's a great idea but I can see only limited uses for it. Play for yourself and experiment , it's cheap and easy, requiring no special skills or tools.
Best wishes
Russ
Hi my version is v8.01.7 There is a way to download the last version thanks
Hi Joseph
Try this. It's issue 38 and the one I am currently using without issues.
www.rd-acs.com/Private/Files/de49e1ea0e9d44aab3ed9724053c7035.rar
Best wishes
Russ