Buy Once Cry Once... What would you buy and why?

I did small jewelry in black acrylic and in wood (first attempts):




Wood (last one) has been darkened with a small flame thrower (blowtorch?).

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Thank you for your responce LouiseCarstens. I may end up with the Nova 51 as well. The ability to run full sheets of plywood makes it very desirable.

Beautiful stuff, is the charcoal residue a concern for damaging clothes?

:beers:

Sas

Not really, once you swiped it. The effect is quite light, not real charcoal.
You can also put some varnish on it.

You are welcome. Those full sheets also save a lot of money.

Some of my photo’s is not good quality and some taken while busy with jobs. Hope it helps.
Baby mobile



It is probably part of the evolution ;.) When the laser adventure started and the lasers cost a fortune, many started with a diode laser, if you as a private person were brave and had enough money, you bought a superpower 5.5 Watt diode laser!!! Great to get started with lasering, but very quickly you would like more power or a larger work surface option. It often became the legendary K40 CO2 laser, which could cut - everything (almost :wink: ). Then we have 2 machines standing in the workshop… However, the biggest problem with the K40 is its limited working area of 320x230. We can’t live with that in the long run… Then we buy again, the biggest CO2 laser we can afford or that fits through the workshop door. Fortunately, we could (maybe) sell our beloved K40, there isn’t much space left in the garage either. So we now have 2 or 3 laser machines.
In the end, as the technical development looks like, everyone who has followed the same path buys or dreams of a fiber laser of one kind or another.

I primarily work with my 60Watt CO2 laser (OMT) and am quite satisfied. I have cut 15mm acrylic and can make clearly visible drawings on paper with the same machine. Earrings, jewelry boxes, boxes in general in all sizes, pictures, lamps, warning signs, corona shields in acrylic, coconut mats, flat glass, slate plates, technical parts…
If I had to make a living from my work with the laser alone, I would have bought a fiber laser a long time ago, but now it has to wait a little longer.

It’s a fantastic journey and I hope you find as much pleasure in it as most people here in the forum.

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… not to 3 %, but my centering Targets I engrave of 0.08mm paper with 8.75 % max and 8.25 min power (60 watts CO2).

Notice # 6, here is the (line) speed 20mm/s is quicker as in No. 3, it is enough for the square to be drawn completely. If I raise up to 8.50% in my power then I burn hole in the corners.
In Fill Mode, with 8.75% in Power I can run from 50 to about 300 before it becomes invisible, best result is with approx. 100 mm/s.
No. 2 is with 100mm/s and no.4 is with 200mm/s. Both with 8.5/8.25% power.

I’ve read a lot about how the tube starts to lase… At such a low value, it sounds like how the tube is working just prior to a proper lase. You do get output, at a low level before there is actually a complete lase occurring and the startup current levels are stated to be in the 3 to 5mA range at startup…

I am clueless how to test/check or verify this without the proper equipment.

Unfortunately, this is beyond where you can go without specialized equipment :man_shrugging:


What is the minimum/maximum power set in your Ruida?

Along with the start speed?

I would think if you can lase at such a low value, you should be able to adjust min/max layer power associated with the start speed to allow for not burning the corners. Kind of a fine tuning approach.

Lots of video where the laser doesn’t fit through and they disassemble it… Is this what you had in mind?

The issue with my fiber, is more that I can’t get into it, like I can with the Ruida based system… Very little information on the innards. I have a JPT source manual, but it’s really not clear how the interface works… You can see how it’s controlled, but not how the controller is handling it …

I don’t think I have to mention, the fiber wasn’t an low cost option, and the materials costs are substantially more dealing with metals. They are applicable to many things that I would have never thought of. It does pretty good with the rocks from my backyard… :crazy_face:

I still use the co2 a lot.

:smile_cat:

Hi Jack,
I am not entirely clear what my minimum speed limit is, which has an influence on max/min power, I have not tested that. Especially because the thin paper requires a little more speed. I also thought it was the 10%. But I can definitely determine/adjust the minimum power (and of course also the max power) below 10%, so it fits well with the corners being “filled” but not burned through, there is not even a small hole on the back.
On a daily basis, however, I don’t really need the sensitivity of the low power spectrum very often.

No no, I actually refer a little to myself. I was buying an 80watt 500x700 or 800, but wasn’t sure if I could enter my little workshop with the animal. It turned out that I couldn’t squeeze a folded newspaper between the purchased 400x600 machine and the door frame when the “small” machine came.

Yes, unfortunately, I am aware of it. Still, I am sometimes realistic enough and can overlook the possible order I could handle with the machine and what not. I had to work much more with the sale of the goods than now. My wife and I have both been very seriously ill with the curse of cancer, which is why today we are doing almost only what we really want. We travel a lot in the summer in Scandinavia and the rest of the world. I actually have a seson company :wink: - open in winter.

Bern dk,
Sorry to hear of the dreaded disease. Wife has had cancer and appears to be rid of it, three brothers living, two have cancer one kidney disease. I am the oldest at 90 in a month, and have relatively no issues that demand constant attention.

Have a Merry and Happy Christmas!!!

Thank you my friend. I didn’t mean to spread sadness here just before Christmas, we are both fine right now and living a pretty normal life. My wife is also officially reported healthy again and I am under close control by the doctors and take it as it comes.
I wish you and your loved ones a wonderful Christmas too.

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You spread no sadness Bernd; you reaffirmed the indominable human spirit to prevail against horrible odds. I wish you and your wife happy travels in the coming years. Do you mind if I ask what a “seson company” is?

Thank you very much for your greetings, I will happily return them to you.
“Season company” is a translat fail on my part, sorry for confusion. What I meant is that my small workshop is primarily active in the winter half-year. It is now that I spend all the time I have there or up in the living room/office where I draw and construct, (then my wife also sees me a bit). I process orders and supply family and friends with Christmas decorations and name tags - so everyone is happy.

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Will fiber work with wood? What fiber laser would you recommend that will work with lightburn?

Using a fiber laser engraver on wood is essentially like starting a campfire.

The 1064nm wavelength of a fiber laser transmits partially through organic structures (like wood) based on its shorter wavelength. However, when the beam travels into wood, its absorption can’t be controlled. This reaction is caused by variances in the wood material. Heat builds up, and eventually the wood will ignite.

This creates an extremely dangerous situation. The fire will spread quickly with the wood acting as fuel for the intense heat.

Obviously, this is not the result you want. But, there is another key reason why fiber lasers and wood shouldn’t mix.

Fiber lasers create poor marks on wood.

The goal of any marking or engraving project is to create a mark that is readable, either by human or machine. Uncontrolled absorption, however, results in an uncontrolled mark on wood. This mark looks uneven, with some places charred and others barely identifiable.

This is probably not the result you’re looking for:
Fiber-Mark-on-Wood

The bottom line: Fiber lasers + Wood = Dangerous conditions and poor marks.

Fiber laser and organic materials are not so good …

I will hope that @jkwilborn dropping in and giving a qualified answer I am still dreaming of the such machine :wink:

You do know that he is not the only one with “such a machine” :wink:

of course, the more the better :hugs:

@Sasquatch is correct… You can fiddle with the settings and get a burn, but it’s the wrong tool for the job.

He’s also right that I am not the only one in the fiber boat. :crazy_face:


The only fire I’ve ever had from laser work, was the fiber striking a support that was made out of cork… out of focus but still resulted in an incendiary device.

I think the problem is what isn’t wood, such as the binding glue for manufacturing or the natural occurring tars and other chemicals that is in wood …

:smile_cat: