RDWorks Learning Lab 05 Cutting first program
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- čas přidán 8. 07. 2024
- If you own a Chinese laser cutter this little series of videos about me learning how to use the free software provided, may solve the problem of trying to learn from a virtually unreadable manual.
I am nothing to do with RD Works, I am not an instructor and I am no expert. This series will document the essential bits of many hours of trial and error - Věda a technologie
Thank you for these videos man! May you live a thousand years!
You're a star mate. Thanks for sharing. You've saved me ages.
Glad you found it useful. If you have recently bought your machine you might like to jump to the end of the series to see how to test the laser on near full power. I didn't do this until several weeks after I had purchased and now I find it's not working at full power for more than tens of seconds. There is a VERY short period that Ebay cover you for goods that are not as described and PayPal class such problems as a warranty issue and advise taking it up with the seller. The seller is in China and couldn't care less about my problem now that they have my money it may take several weeks before I have a result but I'm now working the problem from a different angle. There are a few more in the Learning Lab series that I can offer but I've now covered all the important programming issues.
AWESOME MATE !!! THANK YOU SOOO MUCH !!
Hi Russ, i need some help please . I've buyed a laser like yours , but cant put my files into my the machine . I've tried to save files from RDworks software as ".ai" ".rld" ".rd" but the machine can't read them . I've made the exactly steps you do with " file -udisk file etc etc " to insert the files into the machine but it doesent works . I tried also to connect the pc both by usb cable and usb key but simply they doesn't exist for the machine . Surely i'm doing something wrong , but what ? First i've opened the right hand door of machine and discovered the usb cable weren't properly connected , i thought it was ok after that but nothing changed ..... Can you tell me which format do you use to save files ? Did you connect your pc via cable or usb? thank you very much
Thanks for making these great videos! From what I've seen with you using that control panel, it looks to be a very primitive way to control a laser job...are we able to use any CAM software to generate gcode that can be sent to the machine, with power levels and feed speeds in the gcode, etc. so the control panel just has to send the job?
another very good video thanks so much
Hi, thanks for all the videos you post on here, they have been so helpful, but I do have a problem, every time I etch, the machine only etches at the top left hand corner, I’ve changed the green box to be position on my lay out page to start top left, and gone into config etc, re interned x and y box to zero but it’s still only etching in top left hand corner not in the middle where I want it to etch, hope you can help.
Hi Michelle
Take a look at your you tube messages
Best regards
Russ
Hi. I wanted to ask you how you can achieve a straight edge on 3mm acrylic when cutting. Im at a power of 65% at speed of 9mm/s. My piece comes out slighty curved outwards, and now im wondering if with 5mm acrylic its more noticeable. If you've had that problem, did you raise material of bed, reduce distance between material and laser surface or any other procedures? Thanks in advance
+Delco Lasers
There are several possible problems here that I have encountered in trying to fix what I think is your problem, which is the squareness of the cut edge
possible causes:-
1) Is your lens tube/head perpendicular to the bed in both planes?
2) Have you done a pulse test into a piece of wood at the ideal focus point ( I guess that's about 19mm below the nozzle if you have 2" focal length lens). Then drop the table by about 6mm and repeat. The dots should coincide. If not there's a beam alignment issue
3)Is your lens fitted correctly? Should be flat side to the work table. Make sure you handle the lens with cotton gloves on or with tissue so that it doesn't contact your skin.
4) With 3 and 5mm thick materials, whether you have a 1.5" or 2" lens, there should not be any noticeable curvature on the edge due to the shape of the beam. It's hardly detectable on 15mm acrylic that I cut with a 1.5FL lens. For 3mm I would set ideal focal point onto the material surface. For 6 to 10mm I raise the table 1mm and for the 15mm I raised it by 2mm Remember I have a 1.5" lens. and 30 watts of power after my lens.
There are videos in the series showing me struggling with all these issues.
Hope this helps a bit
Best regards
Russ
Can you help,
I have a BJB6050 laser machine which has been working perfectly for 2 years for some reason now the X and Y axis are not moving when i down load a program although there is still power going to the laser which cuts through the material without moving it seems more like something to do with the program set up rather than the machine itself, any ideas please
Hi Steve
Several questions
Can you move the head around with the arrow keys?
Have you recently uploaded a recent version of RDWorks?
Do you run the machine from an attached PC that uploads programs or is it is a remote PC and loading files via USB stick
Will your machine run old programs that are still in machine memory?
Best regards
Russ
we are having a hard time trying to figure out where the starting point of the laser will be and the boarders will end up being. we have been working on mirrors to etch. I was wondering if you go over any of these issues on your lesson labs.
Hi Ron
I need a little more information to understand your problem.
You are engraving on the back of a mirror I presume? It depends on where your little green square is sited when you created your program. Engraving an image is not something you generally need to control It starts, scans back and forth across your image and stops . However, I can imagine the possibility with a mirror that you may have 4 distinct corner patterns that you want to engrave each separately to save on scan time
If you click on the blue square beside Sarbar Multimedia, it will open a page with tabs. Click the ABOUT tab and another page opens. Top right there is a MESSAGE button that you can use to send me a private message. Send me your email and we can discuss this off line. I'm sure there is an easy solution once I fully understand your problem.
Best regards
Russ
instead of using the "frame" to see the path or border, is there a setting to find the center of what your cutting or scanning?
Yes. If you go to Config System settings you will be able to set the HEAD POSITION to a central position.. When you draw, you will see that the green square sitting in the centre of your drawing. If you now drive your head to where you wish to start and press the origin button , that is where your head will start and finish. You still might want to press the frame button when you have downloaded your program to make sure you don't run off your material.
Best wishes
Russ.
HI Russ, have a quick question, learned a lot from you learning so far, thanks for that! The question is, where do I adjust the speed the laser head travels from the end of one cut to the start of another? Mine seems to be moving a bit too fast at the moment creating a material jarring with lighter materials, which isn't good for cuts aligning, obviously I could tape down my thin acrylic, but don't feel that should be required.
Hi Uriah
If you go to the USER tab (RDWrks top right) you will find a whole list of machine variables that you can adjust. You will have to have your pc connected to the machine to do this. Press the READ button to see the current machine settings.I think the first Cutting section is where your soution may be. Idle Speed and Idle Accn are the items I would play with to begin with. MAKE SURE YOU WRITE DOWN THE CURRENT SETTINGS BEFORE YOU CHANGE ANYTHING. If I remember correctly, the speed will be set to 300 and the acceleration about 2000.Set the acceleration to about 200 and the speed to about 30 and then press WRITE. With these exaggerated settings you will be able to see if this is the factor you need to work on. If not, set the numbers back to original and press write.
You can safely experiment with other factors using this same method.
HOWEVER, this will compromise the speed of your machine and may not be the root cause of your problem. Put your hand on the worktable to see if there is back/forward movement or side to side movement. If so, try to fix this problem first because a "sloppy table will give all sorts of mis-registration issues
Best regards
Russ
Thanks Russ, you nailed it. My table was fine, I actually have the machine resting on the concrete floor of my garage, and the motorized z table in the machine was stable as well, I decreased the speed to 150 and acceleration to 1000, willing to take a small hit to job speed for quality and material conservation.
Thanks for the feedback Uriah. I have dabbled with the setting in passing but was only 80% sure that was the feature that would fix your issue. So it's great to have confirmation from a third party and someone with a different machine.
All success and best wishes
Russ
Hello! Can you help me ? Now, i have a laser machine CO2, use sensor height live focus system LFS-AP01 and control system RDLC-V6.32.74. But i don't know how to set up auto focus for this sensor auto up and dow when i cut metal and nonmetal. Thank yo very much!
Hi Mahn
I am sorry to say I know almost nothing about this system. I have seen videos of it being demonstrated so I am aware of what it does. I have been to the RuiDa website and there are several operating manuals there to down load but none match your system model number
en.rd-acs.com/down_complex.aspx?FId=n14:14:14&pageindex=1
There is a contact link at the top of the web page so I would contact them directly for a set-up/ operating manual
Best regards
Russ
Hi Russ! congratulations for the video!
I wanted to ask you if you happened upon this strangeness and how do you think you can solve.
By setting the speed below 10mm / s from RDworks to any power, in the press does not turn on the laser, but are toured.
If I force manually from the keyboard instead of 4,5,6,9 at low speed, mm / s the laser cuts. What could it be! Thanks Francesco
+Francesco Lantieri
Hi Francesco
I think I understand your problem but I will go through step by step.
1) The laser POWER cannot be set below a certain %. It depends on your machine . The laser tube will not fire below 8% on some machines and on others it may be as high as12%. There maybe occasions when it is useful to set the power to 1% to make the machine move slowly between two cuts.
2) In the cutting parameters panel there are several things you must do.
Is OUTPUT? will always be YES unless you have drawn a location box for example that you wish to hide. Then that will be on it's own layer and you will answer NO
3)Beside the SPEED and the POWER boxes there is a box called DEFAULT. MAKE SURE THESE ARE BLANK. If these are ticked then RDWorks will automatically ignore YOUR parameters and run with the MANUAL power and speed setting you have set on the machine buttons.
See if this fixes your problem if not we will look further
Best regards
Russ
ps thanks for your kind words
hi , can you please tell me the distance from lazer to the cutting material. I see you use a gauge so what is the focus distance ?
Hi
It depends on the focal length of your lens. The setting piece you were supplied with should tell you from its size what lens is fitted. It will generally be a 2" focal length, in which case the setting piece will be 19mm. If you do not have this setting piece, the quickest way to find out the aprox setting is to drop the table 3" or 4" and then hold a piece of paper about an inch below the nozzle and press the pulse button for an instant. If the mark is big then raise the paper by a small amount and try again. Repeat this until you find a position where the dot is smallest. Guess the measurement and then set the table to that same setting. Now with the paper on the table, raise and lower the table to find the smallest dot, then measure the gap. You will benefit from watching these.
czcams.com/video/WbBPps42iHc/video.html
czcams.com/video/1yMAr75h5O8/video.html
czcams.com/video/61bGzWicRRk/video.html
Best regards
Russ
cheers you are a legend and I am enjoying watching your tutorials.
hi, is there any feature to hold and continue the process when the electricity OFF and back ON again ?
Hi
Sadly no. When the power is turned on again, the machine will auto reset to zero and wait to begin your program again. . Some machines have a separate switch for turning the laser tube on and off, if you have this feature then, provided you have not disturbed the material, you can restart the program with the laser switched off and then pause the program just before the failure point, and then switch the laser back on.
Best wishes
Russ
@@SarbarMultimedia hi thank you for the reply, is it possible if i add ON/OFF SWITCH on Laser line power ?
Hi
If you look at the next video czcams.com/video/ybnT3lECAqs/video.html at around 8min 13 you will see the switch panel on the side of my China Blue machine.The third one up marked laser allows me to separately disable the laser tube. Yes you can add your own switch but be careful because it is switching mains voltage. If you look at the high voltage power supply you will see two sets of input terminals. There will be a 6 way terminal that has all the 5vdc control signals and a mains input terminal that will be 3 (sometimes 4) terminals. You need to intercept the mains in one of those wires to control your tube on/off with a separate switch.
Best wishes
Russ
Hi thank you for your reply..
Hi i have 150w co2 chinese laser machine when i cutting mirror 3mm gold or silver acrylic (power 45 and speed 15) material ll be burn so let me knw how how much i ll give speed and power.
Hi Dyamu
As this video explains there are several clear plastics that are NOT acrylic and several such as PETG, Polycarbonate and ABS can be obtained in mirror format. You can set fire to acrylic vapour but the edge will not burn it just evaporates and leaves a clear edge.. If the edge is brown or yellow then the material is not acrylic. Is there a trade name on the protective plastic film? If so Google it to find out what the material is. Some plastics produce toxic fumes so be careful. see atxhackerspace.org/wiki/Laser_Cutter_Materials
Let me know what you find
Best wishes
Russ
Hi
can you please tell me what is the material of the table mat with nails or where can I get one ??
Hi
That was made from 6mm plywood. It was part of the shipping case that the machine arrived in (as were the nails.
However, I made a significantly better design later on. See czcams.com/video/kMDRzBZTW9c/video.html
whichis made from 8mm thick acrylic
Best regards
Russ
Thank you very much .
MentallFloss x
Thank you ..i have a problem...le bras du laser revient automatiquement à l'angle gauche même lorsque je veux couper ailleurs sur la plate, pouvez-vous me dire comment la régler, de sorte que je puisse couper où je veux sur ma plate
Cliquez sur l’onglet utilisateur. Appuyez sur le bouton lignes et ensuite chercher ce qu’on appelle la POSITION de retour, il doit être configuré à l’origine absolue.Également en bas à droite de la RDWorks il y a une POSITION la boîte avec des choix.Veillez à ce que qui est mis au courant
what version you use ? RD644SG?
RDC 644XG. You can download the manual from here
en.rd-acs.com/Private/Files/4506ea2d7a332f96ce9c.pdf
Best wishes
Russ
Hi there. I need help with fixing my laser machine.. can you please help?
Hi Aziz
Use the You Tube private message system to outline your problem and send me your email address
Best wishes
Russ
I have loaded RDWorks into my PC. When I press test, I am getting a "Test Failed." I am not connected to the 40W Machine. I have followed other CZcamsrs, and nothing seems to be working. I have watched ALL of you videos, and Very Well done if I might say, But I did not see anything about configuring RDWorks to the machine? Any Help would be great, as the Laser program that came with the unit, is One dimensional. Can't set power or other parameters.
Hi Arthur
Loading RDWorks to your computer is only step 1. RDworks is an interface program although some of its tools may give the impression it is a drawing/design program. Yes you can do some very basic things with the drawing tool but the main function is to convert your designs into a machine code file for to the machine to turn your dreams into reality. There are 3 ways to get that program to the machine. One is to save your program to a Ufile (onto a memory stick) and manually plug the USB stick into the top machine USB port. The second is to connect your pc to the machine with a USB cable (or via the ethernet port) and DOWNLOAD the program to the machine from RDWorks. The third is to have your pc and machine connected (as in 2) and just press the START button (bottom right of screen). Saving and getting programs to the machine are dealt with in
czcams.com/video/p8npuHUO5sw/video.html
and
czcams.com/video/ybnT3lECAqs/video.html
To help you configure RDWorks and understand why, take a look at
czcams.com/video/fLSI-z-TdNQ/video.html
and
czcams.com/video/CWZvQXxbR_E/video.html
Best regards
Russ
Thanks. I'll let You know how I make out.
hello! how to set the bed settings start origin on machine? every time i turn off the machine it comes back to the default. how to set it as fix and to start also the base point on bottom left? thankyou.
Hi
You have no control of where your machine runs to at start up. It will always be the back left or back right corner. That sets the main coordinate system for the machine. Take a look at
czcams.com/video/CWZvQXxbR_E/video.html
Hopefully this should answer most of your questions. If not shout out again and I'll try to answer.
Best regards
Russ
yes we dont have control, once i restarted the machine the origin on where it is stop that will be the starting point. unlike other laser, once you go for the origin marked, it will back to base point. i would like to set the machine origin on machine settings and to set the origin on bottom corner so that the whole bed size will maximize and can be use also. thank you for your reply.
yes. please help.
Hi
I have prepared a video answer for you.
czcams.com/video/xwtNiVvSivU/video.html
Best regards
Russ
Thank you. appreciate your kindness mate. already watched the video and what i am trying to say is the initialization of laser machine, once powered on, the head will move forward then the bed settings will changed again the size of bed that was changed in software will move and got vibration if the size will not meet. i would like to ask if the machine initialization of base point can be fix in one place which is bottom left corner then the size also of machine bed will not be move.. Thank you for your continuous support mate.
Good day ! What is Min 1 Power and Max Power 1 - this is understandable. But that means the Power Min 2 and Max Power 2 ??? (5:19)
Hi
They mean nothing unless you have a machine with TWO laser tubes fitted. You just need max and min power 1
Best regards
Russ
Hi Russ, please my laser machine does not cut deep but it only draws lines of what it's supposed to cut. I use RDworks V8
My control panel is just like yours
What do I do
Hi Precious
I now exactly what is wrong because I had exactly the same experience when I bought my first machine. You undoubtedly bought is as an advertised 50 watt tube. A quick check will confirm my guess that is is only 800mm long and is probably labelled K H Laser. In reality this is a reject 40 watt tube from a main tube manufacturer. K H Laser do not make tubes, they just re-label junk tubes and fit them to their machines. The Chinese know that A) you will be technically naive about this technology and B) you will have no way of measuring the power because that requires specialist equipment. Yes this is out and out fraud that has been going on for years.
I am sad to tell you that the only fix is to buy and fit a new tube. However do NOT go looking on Amazon or Ebay. Yes, there are some great bargains to be had but you will be buying junk to replace junk. They are cheap for a good reason. No I am afraid you must buy from a reliable source to get a proper A grade tube
Check out this CR45 tube from Cloudray. It will fit in exactly as a replacement.
www.cloudraylaser.com/products/35-70w-co2-laser-tube-upgraded-metal-head-cr-series?variant=33496778277004
Best wishes
Russ
Thank you Russ 😊
Hi Russ, Thanks for all your help did all the checking you suggested just one red light was lit so email chaps i bought the machine from they have suggested it's the power supply box costing just under £400 + vat a straight swap so i can do it myself will let you know how i get on
kind regards and happy new year
Steve
Hi Steve
I will be interested in the outcome. There are two power supplies on the machine. One is the mains input converter that reduces voltages down and to DC for the Ruida controller (the white box) and for the stepper drives. The other power supply is the high voltage controller for the tube. So, if you have any sort of power going to the stepper drivers or lights on the white box, then I would doubt failure of the mains power supply. The high voltage power supply has nothing to do with any of the issues you described. £400 sounds like a silly cost for the mains power supply and my guess is that you will be getting a new digital controller.....which is the most likely cause of your problems. See
szret.en.alibaba.com/product/60325509137-221513432/Ruida_RDC6442G_CO2_laser_controller_laser_cutting_and_engraving_controlling_system_Control_Card_DSP_controller.html
Best regards
Russ
olá amigo eu faço cortes repetitivos mas a minha maquina está saindo fora 1mm a cada corte que faço qual é a soluçao
oi martins
Envie-me o seu endereço de e-mail através do sistema de mensagens privadas You Tube e eu vou deixar você ter um programa de teste para ser executado. Você vai me enviar uma foto dos resultados e eu vou tentar identificar o seu problema
Cumprimentos
Russ
gmdiferenciadojeans@gmail.com
hai i need parameters settings please help me
Hi
If you go to the Thunder Laser site www.thunderlaser.com/laser-download and look at the bottom of the downloads, you will find all the parameters you want
Best regards
Russ
I have 2 old machines in office but i don't know model number or something to know more about that. On the machine where i can find that. And my machine looks like yours
Add your disguised email address to another comment and I will reply and also delete your comment, You can then send me some pictures
Hi did you paid any inport taxes when you got the laser?
+David Robinson
The machine was already imported and sitting in a UK London warehouse. If there was import tax it was buried in the price I paid. Not even a DHL delivery charge. Quick 5 day delivery.
You are doing a fantastic job here.
I am in the process of buying a lasercutter (living in the Netherlands) but average prices for a 40 Watt cutter are around € 4000,--.
A lot of money and a "little" over my budget.
Your articles show me what can be achieved with a relatively cheap and affordable Chines cutter, which is impressive.
I want to use it to make dials for simulators and wonder if you have experience with that.
Dials are made by applying white paint coat, covered with a black paint coat (several coatings are necessary) on transparent acrylics, and than engraving into the black layer, so the white layer comes through.
Do you think that will be possible with this lasercutter?
+Arend van Oosten
Hi Arend
I would think you will easily be able to do this but I have a simple question. Why clear acrylic? If you require white letters on a black ground why not start with white acrylic and just paint black onto it. A more economic and better way would be to use Black acrylic and cover the surface with paper transfer film (the sort used in vinyl application) engrave through and white fill before you remove the paper mask.
Here is a 50 watt machine exactly like mine (it has a 40 watt tube) and will deliver to Nederlands for an all up price of about 1500 euros
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/50W-CO2-Laser-Cutter-Engraver-Laser-Cutting-Engraving-Machine-1020-650-570-mm-/361346557419?hash=item5421eee5eb:g:2bsAAOSwQTVWALzj#shpCntId
Best regards
Russ
+SarbarMultimedia It has to do with the light distribution in transparent perspex. The panels are being backlit and my experience is that with white perspex light distribution is horrible.
+Arend van Oosten
Hi Arend
Yes I agree now that I know you are backlighting it. However. if you are using LED illumination then you may wish to investigate this
perspex.com/product-ranges/perspex-optimised-performance/perspex-spectrum-led/
I'm sure a quick email enquiry will get you a small sample to play with
I have used this myself for shop signage
Best regards
Russ
Hi Arend
Send me your email via the You Tube private massage system and I will put you in touch with some one doing exactly what you want with a machine like mine. Even if you are succeeding after all this time the contact may be useful.
Best regards
Russ
Sir Our machine is not doing round punch. How we fix it
Hi
There are many possible reasons for this problem but the first thing I would check is that your X and Y scaling are correct Program a 200 mm square and burn it onto a piece of card or mdf, . If the dimensions are not what you have drawn then you need to re-calibrate each axis .
Best wishes
Russ
Hi Russ,
I tried what you suggested to me the problem is still there.
I Default is set for the speed for which the power and I set on the machine power panel (40%) and speed (5 mm / s): launching the cut and does not turn on the laser.
Imposed on the power control panel display but the same speed 11mm / s and the machine cuts ..... ????
Perhaps there is some parameter to be set in the machine panel with the keys ???
Thanks for your time!
Francesco.
+Francesco Lantieri
Hi Francesco
This may take a little effort to solve and that's best done by private email. I don't like people sharing email addresses on public forums so click on the blue square beside Sarbar Multimedia above and you will see some tabs. Click the ABOUT tab and you will se another page. Top right there is a MESSAGE button. You can send me your email address privately there and begin to communicate freely. I may need some pictures.
Best regards
Russ
+SarbarMultimedia
Ok
My e-mail is: frlanti@libero.it.
Let me ask some questions and some evidence that I can document with pictures and texts.
Can you tell me how to change the language from Chinese to English?
Hi Dan
Check out this video
czcams.com/video/UF37pbL2hpw/video.html
Best regards
Russ
I just got my laser cutter two days ago.
Same problem with the display language.
Thanks for the answer.
Hi dear friend double head Machine not
Work double work rong work plz please guide
Hi I recently bought a machine and it’s isn’t able to cut or scan
I’ve tried many things but it hasn’t been working
@@saaudhussain4013 Hi Ssaud
I ask jokingly did you buy a sewing machine or a laser machine?
Add your disguised email to another comment and I will try to help you. I will also delete your comment/email
Best wishes
Russ
Thanks for the quick response:
Can you move the head around with the arrow keys? Answer: No
Have you recently uploaded a recent version of RDWorks? Answer: No, had the same program for about a year now
Do you run the machine from an attached PC that uploads programs or is it is a remote PC and loading files via USB stick Answer: An attached P.c uploaded via a usb cable
Will your machine run old programs that are still in machine memory? Answer: No
Sounds like bad news but let me ask a few more quetions now that the arrows do nothing.
When you turn on your machine I am now assuming that the machine does NOT run to the corner to set 0,0.
If you open the control cabinet and look at the white box unit, can you see any leds illuminated?
Try pushing the head to the switches at 0,0. Now look at the white box to see if any LEDs are illuminated.
Do you have a multimeter? On one end of the white box there is a termination block marked CN0 This is the power into the box. There should be a 24vdc supply at this point. If no then you will need to check for a fuse on the power supply board..
I the white box does have power to it then it may be a failure in the keypad. Beside the CN0 terminal is the input from the keyboard. Make sure this is well connected .
Lets what we have when you answerr these questios.#Best wihes
Russ
Hi Russ, where about is the white box unit?
kind regards
Steve
Hi Steve
If you have a machine like mine then it will be in the electrical cabinet on the right hand end of the machine. When you open the door there will only be the one white box in there with a row of leds and lots of green input/output connectors. You will definitely have a Ruida controller because that's what RDWorks is designed to work with.
Best regards
Russ
Nice share .. need some help
Hi Muhammad
I presume this means that YOU need help? if so then add your disguised email address to another comment and I will reply. I will also delete your comment/email address from public view.
Best wishes
Russ
volume too low