Hmm, do tell. This implies you did have a fire, just not from cardboard!
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Tidbit: I used a straight cut bit (as opposed to up cut or down cut bit) as I was hoping to minimize tear out. My result was… OK. It got compliments from a local business man who was relaying the templates to the client in a delivery (of other items) from the local store to the job site.
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I’ve had a couple of things catch fire. For example, I was cutting Halloween luminary bags like this one:
The air assist line got tangled and disconnected, and the bag started burning. The fire melted the air assist nozzle and cracked the laser lens. I had to wait for a new lens out of China.
Tidbit: I used a straight cut bit (as opposed to up cut or down cut (aka compression) bit) as I was hoping to minimize tear out.
Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll give it a try. Also, I might try a burr bit to see what that would do.
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That is some impressive looking work!
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Wow. Laser nightmare.
Early on with my big cabinet for my 100w CO2, I was getting horrific vibration and could not figure out why. Turned out my little compressor (for air assist) in the back lower cabinet, was not tied down right, and was just walking all over the metal base of the cabinet. Naturally the air assist hose eventually came loose, and I started seeing flare ups, which led to me discovering not only that the hose was loose, but that the compressor was not tied down. I promise you it’s tied down now (to it’s rubber footed things). Vibration issue solved.
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Hey, do you mind letting us know which NEJE diode laser you have? I’m interested. Also are any pics posted here on the forum about how you have it mounted etc?
A compression bit has a section of upcut and a section of downcut. Compressing toward the middle of the bit. They leave clean edges, but need to be full depth.
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Cardboard prototyping is amazing. Cuts fast, sticks together with tape, uses materials we usually recycle or compost, trims with scissors for easy iteration,spray glues together for various thicknesses…
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I have the NEJE A40640 laser module. There are a number of people on this forum using this module. This was my first module, but others who have upgraded to this laser were impressed. If all you to do is cut thinner materials like cardboard, then the NEJE A40630 might be a good choice. It is only a third the cost but is over half as powerful as the more expensive module.
The NEJE laser modules are plug-and-play with the Rambo board and recent V1 firmware, and I think the SKR Pro boards as well. Other control boards usually require a firmware update.
As for mounting, I wanted to be able to quickly switch between the laser and the router, so I designed a mount that fits inside the Primo Makita mount. I don’t know if this will fit the new LR3 or not.
A ZIP file of this mount can be found on this topic. I think the ZIP contains STEP as well as STL files. I don’t know if this mount will fit the new LR3 as is. If you want this mount, and it requires changes for the LR3, I’d be glad to work on it.
A couple of different people have done air assist nozzles for this laser as well.
When I purchased this module last September, it was the best one I could confirm. The specs for laser modules are a cesspool of lies, so it is hard to sort out “best.”
Since last September I’ve spotted a couple of other interesting modules. One has similar optical power to the NEJE, but it focuses to a smaller point, making the cutting power greater. And in the last week, I spotted a laser with four beams (the NEJE A40640 has two beams).
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Well, it does, but I’m still looking for an alternative mount.
Ah, yes. Sleepy brain. Not sure how I forgot that.
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I’m thinking that a variation of the original pen mount that I remixed for the LR3 could be modified to hold one of these laser modules. I’ve been considering making a new version of that that has some type of a quick release, so that there is a base that stays mounted, and attachments for different tools that could be quickly swapped in and out.
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What kind of laser features are supported through the board? For instance are you referring to power supply? On off for start and stop? Power settings for options of cut depth?
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When you all cut with laser on either Primo or LowRider, do you just use dust collection for smoke/fumes? Or do you build enclosure with fan and duct etc?
What kind of laser features are supported through the board?
It is not the board, but the Marlin firmware that has the support. V1 sells the Rambo and the SKR Pro, so they have tested the laser support and enable in the firmware for those two boards. Laser support is not enabled for the Marlin versions V1 maintains for other boards. About seven lines of code need to change in the configuration file to enable laser support for these other boards.
As for the type of support, I’m not sure I can tell you the internal technical details. It enables inline laser commands (using the S parameter of G0 - G4 g-codes), and I believe there is some power scaling based on changing feedrates due to acceleration changes. The is a substantial quality improvement for both cutting and engraving using this method over the old method of using fan g-codes to turn on and scale the laser. I believe I also read here that further laser improvements have recently been made in Marlin, but I don’t think they have made it to the V1 releases yet, though they should be in the V1 daily builds.
As part of Marlin laser support, there is an enable pin, but my laser module does not use it. As for power, there is nothing in the laser support that controls the power supply directly. The support just provides a PWM signal that is used by the laser module to moderate the power (including setting it to zero). Personally, I use an IOT relay and fan g-codes to control the power to my router and my laser power supply…and my air assist.
As for smoke, my “shop” is, unfortunately, in a well ventilated and unheated space. The most I do is run a fan to pull some smoke away from where I’m hanging out during laser cutting. This is not a solution for a proper shop.
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Just to throw a wrench in the works…the new unreleased bleeding edge of our Malrin builds do not have the laser enabled. That is because Marlin just released a huge Laser update that fixes a lot of timing issues. So I will hopefully be testing and updating our firmware for new release to take advantage of the new hotness.
The current release does still have the laser enabled to be clear.
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Regarding smoke extraction, you probably will need something to vent the smoke outside, even if you operate in a garage or other mildly vented space. I use a dust collector blower connected to a small box with 1/4” honeycomb cell 1” thick aluminum on one side, with exhaust sealed to one of my lower garage vents. The honeycomb is used is like this:
I supported it off the bottom of the box using 1” galvy angle bracket material 1” from the edges and 6” on center, screwed to the bottom. The bottom of the box is lined with thin alum sheet so it won’t burn.
You can also use a regular vacuum as long as you have a way to vent exhaust outside with it. My shop vac has an exhaust port for example. Usually vac noise makes it better to just run a long suction hose and park the vacuum outside.
[edit: If you will be cutting mostly, even if just cardboard, I would recommend trying the bigger 40W Neje with 2 diodes. You mostly hear it recommended for cutting thicker woods, but the fact is with all that power you can plow that much faster through lesser materials as well. Moving a more powerful laser faster also typically results in cleaner less charred cuts. Otoh if you plan to also etch dithered images etc, then a 2.5W laser may be better suited. The neje are hard to control for etching, and the 2.5w can cut cardboard but a bit slower. I personally have both lasers; 40w neje for cutting, and 2.5w ox laser for etching.
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