Yeah. It seems like he bought some parts from him and said he bought the plans. But then also modeled it in fusion for the changes he wanted to make
I’m intrigued by the Fiber lasers and what they can do with metal.
It’s pretty cool that they make the little portable ones too that you can carry around and engrave on anything
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The one without the glass tube, is new to me. I assumed fiber would be the easiest though.
I mean whatever they cut aluminum with at sendcutsend is the end goal right?!
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I remember seeing something about a new type recently that wasn’t fiber but I can’t remember what it was called now
And yes I would love to be able to cut stuff like they can. But that won’t be this build lol
RF lasers don’t need chillers, last longer and have some other benefit as well.
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Currently I’m trying not to think about this till next year.
It does seem that costs for diode lasers make building one a marginal proposition at best, further fabrication currently estimates $2500US with home built cooler- about the same as a cheap CO2 of similar 3000 x 500 work area.
I am inclined to get 20 w diode laser to work out what I need, then go from there. Not being able to cut clear stuff is a bummer if not a deal breaker!
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I looked at that series of videos a while back and I scared myself when it came to pricing up the cost of the extrusions for the outer case…it was an eye-opener. If I was still interested in a CO2 laser I would be looking at alternative options for the case. I still have the (unused) optics and supports I ordered from China languishing in a bin somewhere around here but as you are using imperial I assume you are in the US and postage from here to there doesn’t bear thinking about either! Good luck with your build.
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Was also going to mention the comment about the RF.
Didn’t really know about them until last week, when I was researching the Thunder Bolt (I think). Thunder’s newest “desktop” laser.
Water cooling for Johnathan isn’t as much a challenge as for me, being the garage isn’t climate controlled. The lasting longer and being slightly cheaper however….
I need to do some research on these RF lasers. Mine will be in a non climate controlled garage in FL so it definitely gets hot in the summer time. I was just hoping to go cheap with ice in a cooler until we could make some money with it then do an upgrade. But if we can run a different laser that doesn’t need it at all that’s even better.
Also does anyone have any opinion on controller or steppers for this? I made a comment on one of @DougJoseph youtube videos and he is the one that got me thinking about the Ruida controller instead of running a jackpot. But that’s a whole different can of worms for me so definitely looking for opinions on that. I’d like to see some decent speed out of this build. With a 100w tube it should be able to cut at a decent speed but engrave it should be able to do much faster.
On my diode laser if I want to do a gray scale image I have to really slow it down so it doesn’t get all erratic with the speed. Not sure what causes that. Guessing it’s processing power and it’s lagging. But I truly don’t know. So if I’m going to have the ability to go much faster I need a controller that can keep up with it
Ok did some quick RF research. HAHAHA. Yeah this will be a CO2 laser for sure lol
Cloudray Metal CO2 Laser Tube For CO2 Laser Engraver Marking Machine (40W CR40C) https://a.co/d/6h2cfaD
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The moving parts are so much lighter, the bought ones come with tiny steppers. A decent stepper and probably la rger pulley and you are in business.
Make sure your spot size is reasonable and as large as you can get it that helps a ton. If you need speed, add 20T pulleys (or larger) and you can go 20% faster (or more).
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Yeah I really think your steppers should be perfect for this.
And at the price of the other controller I think I’ll start with a jackpot or skr for much much less and then upgrade to the other later if I’m still not getting the speed I want.
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Interesting to me, that the cloud ray laser, shows the 40W at 2900, the 30W at 2000.
Knowing the thunder bolt, (a 30w RF) sells for 5000.
And the similar desktop 30w - 50w IR’s sell for 4000 to 5000, makes it seem like there is a huge markup on the IR lasers, OR the bolt is low on the profit margin right now, and will increase with demand.
RF laser and CO2 laser power ratings are not directly comparable. A 30W RF is like a 60 or 90W co2. In the end the best one depends on the type of work you want to do. For me cutting is not a concern, I only do small etching occasionally so a tiny diode is fine…I just want to build a big laser I don’t have a use for it.
Well either way you want grbl, the skr can do it but I have not actually done it. The jackpot is probably the better choice and easier to setup.
A large pulley like a 30T plus probably puts you in the right speed and power range. Who know maybe more. I would have to look at some typical etching speeds to know for sure. Just remember, the way lasers are currently built (just like most CNC’s) they are rotated by 90 degrees. You want the axis that is in motion to be the small one. That will allow for faster acceleration +and-. It can still have the same footprint just move the other axis.
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pfft…as if that matters…
On that same note…I am not sure what it takes to add the camera for adjustments but that seems ideal. So make sure whatever you choose having that lid camera seems like a must have feature.
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Roger that. I only mentioned skr because I seem to find myself with a few spares now lol. But I actually have some plans for them already. I’m 99% sure I’ll run a jackpot on it. And I will research some larger pulleys for the steppers.
Cutting will be the main focus for this laser. I will still have the primo with the diode for doing engraving if needed.
I did just pick up the lightburn camera to add to the primo laser so we will see how that goes. And if well I will want to add one to the co2 laser as well
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OMG that is crazy good. Easily pay for itself!
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