Laser Cutter

[ABearden]

I've got a few things I want to cut out and prototypes to try, but waiting for the router when it's a 2D cutout or drawing is getting really old. Even worse when I need fine detail (cutting with a 1/32" bit? painfully slow). Solution? Laser time. I thought about throwing in and helping with Dan's, but I've got a lot to cut out so I need one at home. Plus spending Spokane Create time on the laser would take away from the delta; then I fall back into the habit I've been trying to break: too many projects and none of them get finished. Hopefully, the laser helps me finish the resin printer by allowing rapid prototyping for the frame.

Hit eBay, found lots of laser tubes, drivers, and mirrors, but at $200, $250, and $100 average each for the Chinese parts it was looking expensive. Thankfully, a factory in China makes an 8" x 12" laser cutter/engraver (DC-K40III) which gets imported and sold cheap. The whole machine is cheaper than the three components above! My savings account did a little happy dance.

Today I finally had a chance to get it setup and tested. Poured a gallon of distilled water into a pot so I could submerge the aquarium pump that came with the machine, and vented the smoke fan out onto the balcony. Seemed to run fine, but it would only engrave wood. Turned out the laser path was barely on the mirror, defracting off the side and severely reducing the amount of laser actually making it to the focusing optics. A quick bit of calibration and I was back in business. Well, once I remembered to turn the power back up. Heads up for anyone looking to duplicate this, the software is woefully underdocumented unless you can read Chinese and it's interesting to get working. It's a knock-off version of Corel that's been modified with support modules for the laser and requires a USB key much like MasterCAM does.

The tiny 8" x 12" area isn't quite enough for my needs, so the plan is to mount the laser and optics to my ShapeOko and use GRBL to run the laser with the spindle enable and spindle speed outputs (PWM signal to replace the Chinese controller). Once that's in place and operational, I can add 3D printed forced air and vacuum vents to keep the smoke under control and help reduce any flame ups that mar the work surface. Also need to print some covers to put over the optics so I can still use the ShapeOko as a router when I need 2.5D cutting (like the frame plates for the delta) but keep the material chips out.