Laser Cutter

Does anyone have experience of using a modern laser cutter such as https://hpclaser.co.uk/co2-laser-cutters/ls3040/ ?

What do you want to know?
We run 4 at work, and I know a very good laser guy - Dominic @ Smoke and Mirrors

Dave

As with most similar machines, the specs seem to lean towards engraving and are rather vague on what you can (usefully) cut.

I would tell them exactly what you want to cut and ask them whether it will adequately do the job.

I have its very much cheaper cousin and am surprised at how good it is. There is a ton of youtube videos out there that go quite deep into the ins and outs of them.

Regards.

David.

I am very pleased with my K40. A few simple mods and work size is 230 x 310 and will cut 3mm MDF in one pass, 6mm in 2 passes. Cost round £350.

What thickness will the K40 cut in plywood EB?

Peter, I have only cut MDF I don't have any suitable ply to try. I would expect it to perform the same, depending on on the quality of the ply.

What I like about MDF cuts is the clean edge it leaves.

When you cut it with a saw you get a soft edge. A laser cut sort of quarterizes it.

I only have laser power set at 24% for those MDF cuts.

Edited By Engine Builder on 30/10/2021 17:34:02

This may be useful:

Using laser cutters

I work at Kitronik

Dave

Edited By Dave S on 30/10/2021 18:23:57 - fix the link

Edited By Dave S on 30/10/2021 18:26:37

Thank you everyone who replied to my initial enquiry.

After some consideration the Orion Motor Tech 50W was selected as it has the facility to modulate the laser power under software control, thus being able to minimise burning at corners, for example.

The first cut produced

and the second cut:

Which some of you may recognise as a narrow gauge coach side.

The modelling was conducted on LibreCad running under linux on a laptop computer.

The input to the laser cutter was by Lightburn

Pmm1

Hi,

How are you finding the OMTech? I've just ordered the 60W model and now waiting for it to be delivered. My partner will use it for her work as she's a self employed designer and I get to tinker with it. I'm just hoping it runs more than it needs tinkering with! I've now got to rearrange the garage, waiting on an insulated roller door being fitted and work out where to run the extraction.

Dave

That's reassuring to know. I'm going to download the trial version of lightburn and play around with it before it comes and watch some videos etc. I'm in no rush to get going so want to set everything up first, maybe cut some test cards and do a ramp test etc. I think it may be 6" ducting so I need to add a vent in the garage, I'm just hoping it's not 8" as I initially thought they were 4". Looking forward to getting stuck in with it though, hopefully it'll arrive this side of Xmas so I can start in my week off work. Out of interest there's actually a really good OMTech Facebook group full of useful information and posts if you haven't come across it.

Yes it seems to be quite highly regarded, I've just downloaded the free trial to have a play with but will purchase it when that runs out. Thanks for the tips, at the minute it's still all a bit baffling to me but hopefully when it arrives and I get going it will all start to make sense. I'd forgot that I wanted magnets too, thanks for the reminder, I'll get them ordered along with some material.

I'd debated running it out the door for now, but I'm about to get a roller door fitted and I'm not even sure if you can have them part way open or not. Sooner or later I'll end up having to add a vent anyway though so I may as well just bite the bullet and get it done. I'm just a bit apprehensive about drilling a 6" hole through the wall of my house as the garage is integral. I plan to build a trolley too, the 60w does come with castors but the machine will be too low to the ground without some sort of trolley and when I rearrange the garage I'll put the workbench next to the laser for my laptop.

I'm thinking I'll run the water pump for a while and then upgrade to a chiller if I find I use it for longer run times, although that's another few hundred quid. I'd also like to upgrade to a decent in line extractor, AC infinity cloudline S6 seems to be the recommended one. Do you get much smoke from yours? With a lot of this I'll just do it as I go, so if it's smokey then I'll upgrade the extraction etc.

Dave

Part of the reason I've gone for the insulated roller shutter door as an upgrade from my current up and over is to reduce the draught in the garage and hopefully warm it up by helping to retain any heat. To begin with I'll try running the standard extraction I guess but just open the door to the house to supply more air as the garage is integral.

Hopefully my extraction will be no more than 2m, I plan to run it straight up the wall behind the laser and outside as high as I can get it. Where do you buy your material from? I see lots of people saying that you should only by laser specific ply due to some being bad quality, doesn't cut as good or even contains glue that gives off dangerous fumes. I haven't yet even looked where to source any.

Interesting to know about the cooling, I'd just assumed that the heat from the tube was enough to warm the water fairly quickly but it's good to know you can run for a couple of hours at a time with no issues. I'll see how I get on and then maybe add a chiller during summer if it's required.

Did you use the digital ammeter that comes with the machine or have you added an analogue like lots of people seem to do?

In regards to the repeatability and set up, that group I mentioned earlier has lots of free files that help with set up so as test cards to dial in your settings and little adapters to easily and quickly set your focus length (after a ramp test) if you don't already have them.

Thanks for all the information, its really helpful.

Dave

Thanks I'll take a look there.

I've ordered mine through eBay, it's a Chinese seller but says it's UK stock. I have my doubts but we will see. I did check with OMTech though and it is one of their resellers. It says it will turn up this week but if it doesn't I'm in no rush as I won't set it up until the door is done and I can have the space in the garage back

Ah fair enough, lots of learning for us both to be doing then. Pretty excited about it though, I've only got a lathe at the minute so it's a nice addition to the garage.

Dave