Buildlog Title: UL-25E "surplus" Laser Engraver rebuild
Builder: lasersafe1
Member Since: 2009-11-27
Sunday, August 1st 2010 - 11:32 PM
Someone asked me how I connected the DSP to my laser and steppers. This is the schematic.I will also upload the DSP parameters shortly.
Attachements...
TYPICAL MINIMUM OPERATIONAL CONNECTIONS.pdf- (Array KiB) Downloaded 31 times
Tuesday, March 9th 2010 - 2:25 AM
bdring wrote:OK...I take back my statement on overkill !
Okay, it may be, but then again you should see the picture in the ULS tech manual. I would post it but the manual is copyrighted. It calls for a MINIMUM of 235 CFM at 6 inches of static pressure. That is for a 7 foot hose run. They have a table of various lengths. The 23-30 foot run requires a blower rated at 625 CFM at 6" static pressure. It goes on to say the blower must be mounted on the outside of the building either on the roof or on a cement pad next to the building.
I guess I don't understand this part?? Why outside?? Is it because the centrifugal fan is good for suction but not good for discharge through a long tube? Edit: I now know why. If there is any leak in the suction line there is no problem with poisoning the air inside the building. If there is a leak in the discharge, no problem, it's already outside.
Someone else posted the manual for this system. Section 2 discusses the air flow system. http://www.hltlasers.com/reference/25-50PSRevisionB1.pdf
Comment from: bdring on Tuesday, March 9th 2010 - 2:10 AMOK...I take back my statement on overkill !
Tuesday, March 9th 2010 - 2:06 AM
Oh This really SUCKS!Made a trip to the local dump to drop off an old lawnmower. Hey! What's that over in the scrap heap? An old furnace blower!
I snagged it and took it home. Runs great! Can't beat the price! It has something like a 1 HP direct drive motor (on the opposite view). Now I simply need to make adapter plates to adapt to my 4" laundry vent line.
The only downfall is that it needs 220V, but I can use an autotransformer to step up 120.
Tuesday, March 9th 2010 - 1:56 AM
Rebuild COMPLETE!Yes, I will still continue to make small improvents, but for the most part I consider this unit to be complete since it buttons up tight and performs the tasks that I need it to perform. The thing runs great! I thought I may need to up the motor size for my X sweep motor, but I can make it fly quite fast and it doesn't ever slip. Video coming later.
There was less room than I thought there would be once I mounted all the various power supplies. It didn't help that I had a mix and match of items that needed various powers. 12V pump, 24V motor, etc.
Notice the piece of Tygon tubing at the front output of the laser tube? I did this because the whole corner lens assembly is sealed and there is a ZnSe window to let beam into the main work area. This tube now makes the seal complete. No dust means no mirrors to clean. I assume the original Synrad had something similar to seal it up.
Notice the ground lead going to the cathode? I don't use a connector at all on the anode or cathode. I scrape the lead with a razor blade to expose clean metal and then I wrap the freshly stripped wire around this lead. I then squirt hot glue over the wire and lead to seal it up. No air means no corrosion. I discovered in my day job that 1/4 inch of hot glue can hold off 100,000 volts, so now I use it everywhere whenever I want a nice insulator. It also makes a sturdy connection that can't accidentally fall off.
Closing up the corner mirror box.
Rear Covers now in place. Looking Tight!
Isometric view of rear enclosure.
Thursday, March 4th 2010 - 5:28 PM
There were a couple of "Gotchya" moments when I first laid out the water flow. An example: I initially went from the bottom of my reservoir to the top of the radiator. Then from the bottom of the radiator to the suction line of the pump. When I would fill the reservoir there was an air bubble trapped in the radiator that would not clear even when I started the pump. This is because the bubble would be forced downward but would overcome this force because it wanted to float.I reworked the line so the bottom of the reservoir goes to the bottom of the radiator. Now when I fill the system it fills from the bottom up all the way through all components and clears the air from the lines.
Comment from: buildsomething on Thursday, March 4th 2010 - 2:38 PMLooking really good and well laid out.
I like your chiller unit and water resevoir...nice touch. Once I get mine up and running that I will have to do that as well. At preent its just a 5 gallon bucket with a small 12 volt boat bildge pump in the bottom.
Keep up the good work.
Richard
I like your chiller unit and water resevoir...nice touch. Once I get mine up and running that I will have to do that as well. At preent its just a 5 gallon bucket with a small 12 volt boat bildge pump in the bottom.
Keep up the good work.
Richard
Comment from: bdring on Thursday, March 4th 2010 - 3:54 AMThat looks great.
There is no such thing as "overkill". Half the reason we do these things is to have something we can be proud of.
There is no such thing as "overkill". Half the reason we do these things is to have something we can be proud of.
Thursday, March 4th 2010 - 3:14 AM
New pictures of some recent progressThe 40W DC High Voltage laser tube is now mounted in place of the original Synrad. Some might view this as a crime, but the more I use this tube, the more I like it. I may switch to an RF laser in the future, but I'm a year into my first tube and have seen no problems at all.
I used Tygon tubing exclusively for all water lines. The tube has a 1/4" ID that perfectly mated with the nipples on the laser tube. My pump actually had a 5/8" nipple on it, but with careful heating and stretching of the Tygon over a cone shaped object, (tip of a tube of silicone caulk), I was able to stretch the 1/4" ID tube all the way for a nice tight fit over the pump nipple. The Tygon can also be heated and stretched to reduce the diameter. It gets soft at 190F, so putting the end in a pot of boiling water makes it easy to work.
I made my water reservoir out of 2" schedule 40 PVC. A normal cap on the bottom and a screw-off cap on top for filling the system. I drilled and tapped the side of the PVC for hose nipples. Seems strong. No leaks.
I didn't go with a flow meter yet. The pump and radiator coils are from a surplus chiller, so they should be very reliable. I tapped a third hole in my reservoir that is presently plugged. This plug can be removed and I can insert a thermister in the return stream. This is the only place in the system where there is a "fountain" stream through air as the fluid enters the reservoir. I can build a circuit that applies current to the thermister to heat it and then reads the resistance once a second, which is proportional to temperature. If the stream is present over the thermister it will be held at the cool water temp and will not self heat. If the flow stops, the thermister will self heat and trip the laser off. It isn't as cute as the spinning flow meters, but it has no moving parts to fail and should be trouble free. The entire upper section gets covered by a steel enclosure that hangs off the yellow tabs up top. This covers all electrical lines and the laser tube. The only exposed items beneath this enclosure will be the water pump, the radiator, and the bottom of the reservoir.
The next picture shows my new adapter plate that lets me put the new DSP control interface on the front of the unit. I added an E-Stop button and a 12pin keypad. The keypad can be used for a number of functions once I program a PIC to read it. A couple example applications:
1. Password entry for machine startup.
2. Press * then enter desired table height. (for stepper controlled Z)
3. Code to start or stop exhaust fan. (Fan not needed for glass, granite, rocks, etc.)
4. ??? Many other things I haven't thought of yet.
Thought about adding an LCD for this keypad as well for better PIC to keypad user interaction. Can always add this later.
I may scrap this panel later and start over. I bought an Arduino with TouchShield Slide, so I could make an interactive control panel with touch screen. The TouchShield is really nice with bright colorful OLED display. Way overkill for this application though. http://www.liquidware.com/shop/show/TSL/TouchShield+Slide
Thursday, February 11th 2010 - 1:41 AM
pixpop wrote:I thought you had a picture showing the compartment where the original laser was mounted, but I can no longer find it.
The reason I'm interested is that I have one of those lasers and am trying to figure out how to mount it. There are no mounting holes anywhere on the thing, and it looks as though I need to build some kind of clamp that will attach it to a wall or base somehow. Mine is water cooled, so I don't need to allow space for the fans, and I could potentially clamp it anywhere along its length.
It does have a baseplate that's attached with a large number of countersunk screws. I could possibly remove a few of those screws, and use those (threaded) holes to mount it from below.
I'm surprised that they provide no mounting mechanism. I would think that any application would need a means to position the laser securely relative to some optical element, so the optical path is not affected by vibration, or thermal expansion, etc.
Anyway.. was there any evidence left in the machine that might show how the laser was attached?
Neil
I "think" the laser that came with this simply slid into the chamber with the fans. I don't know. I didn't have a still picture of it, only the video of arrival. Looking at the cover that I took off I can see a couple of screw holes in the back side, but they are tapped. This wouldn't make sense for grabbing a laser housing that might be tapped. I just don't know.
Comment from: pixpop on Wednesday, February 10th 2010 - 8:45 PMI thought you had a picture showing the compartment where the original laser was mounted, but I can no longer find it.
The reason I'm interested is that I have one of those lasers and am trying to figure out how to mount it. There are no mounting holes anywhere on the thing, and it looks as though I need to build some kind of clamp that will attach it to a wall or base somehow. Mine is water cooled, so I don't need to allow space for the fans, and I could potentially clamp it anywhere along its length.
It does have a baseplate that's attached with a large number of countersunk screws. I could possibly remove a few of those screws, and use those (threaded) holes to mount it from below.
I'm surprised that they provide no mounting mechanism. I would think that any application would need a means to position the laser securely relative to some optical element, so the optical path is not affected by vibration, or thermal expansion, etc.
Anyway.. was there any evidence left in the machine that might show how the laser was attached?
Neil
The reason I'm interested is that I have one of those lasers and am trying to figure out how to mount it. There are no mounting holes anywhere on the thing, and it looks as though I need to build some kind of clamp that will attach it to a wall or base somehow. Mine is water cooled, so I don't need to allow space for the fans, and I could potentially clamp it anywhere along its length.
It does have a baseplate that's attached with a large number of countersunk screws. I could possibly remove a few of those screws, and use those (threaded) holes to mount it from below.
I'm surprised that they provide no mounting mechanism. I would think that any application would need a means to position the laser securely relative to some optical element, so the optical path is not affected by vibration, or thermal expansion, etc.
Anyway.. was there any evidence left in the machine that might show how the laser was attached?
Neil
Buildlog Author Comment: lasersafe1 on Thursday, February 4th 2010 - 2:33 AM Comment from: bdring on Wednesday, February 3rd 2010 - 1:27 PMYou could be right about the Math error. To test your theory, try making the math more integer friendly. Make the engrave resolution an exact multiple of the image resolution (in steps) and make the stepover and exact number of steps too.
Buildlog Author Comment: lasersafe1 on Wednesday, February 3rd 2010 - 12:59 PM Comment from: bdring on Wednesday, February 3rd 2010 - 3:39 AMHow is the new controller working? I assume the problems with the last one are gone.
Tuesday, February 2nd 2010 - 12:45 AM
Wow! It has been a busy weekend. I've been testing the DSP controller on my smaller U40 laser, cleaning the ULS laser, and making these log entries. There is now a wealth of knowledge presented for you all to interpret. The engineers at Univeral Laser Systems designed a fine piece of machinery. I would gladly recommend them to anyone who is considering a new purchase of a full blown commercial unit.Tuesday, February 2nd 2010 - 12:20 AM
Now here is the part that will make the ULS engineer cry (or laugh??)First I need to cover up the old controller keypad and find a way to mount the new DSP controller.
I might just put it in the upper lid as shown. Then again, I might want to do some moves with the lid up, so it will be better
to fabricate a box that fits the front profile.
- DSC01993.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1445 times
Then all I need is a laser. I'm going with the 40 watt DC sealed unit. At a couple hundred dollars a pop, I really feel like I can do some damage without investing several thousand dollars in an rf tube. The tray below my hand looks just about right for holding the high voltage power supply
- DSC01994.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1449 times
Monday, February 1st 2010 - 11:59 PM
Look at what I just noticedZ-lift motor mount for an electronic upgrade from the manual focus knob! How nice that they used slots here instead of mounting holes. Obviously this allows you to tension the belt with the motor mount.
Attachements...
- DSC01991.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1449 times
Monday, February 1st 2010 - 11:56 PM
More assembly after cleanupAttachements...
- DSC01992.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1445 times
- DSC01990.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1456 times
- DSC01989.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1451 times
Monday, February 1st 2010 - 11:44 PM
Snow Day!!An amazing thing happens here in Virginia when we get a few inches of snow. Everything shuts down. Work called and they said we were closed, so time to get out the pressure washer and take care of this puppy!
What a difference a day makes! Compare these pictures to the Z-lift assembly video I shot yesterday. Looks like new now
Attachements...
- DSC01982.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1430 times
- DSC01981.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1434 times
- DSC01988.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1427 times
- DSC01986.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1427 times
- DSC01984.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1419 times
- DSC01983.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1419 times
Buildlog Author Comment: lasersafe1 on Monday, February 1st 2010 - 11:19 PM Comment from: buildsomething on Monday, February 1st 2010 - 4:52 PMThose little rollers are used to create a radius for the timing belt to wrap around without causing any stress concentrations and causing the belt to fail during repetitive operations. Not sure if the rollers can be adjusted since that would be a nice way to provide some belt tension as well.
You can see this in one of the pictures posted below.
Richard
You can see this in one of the pictures posted below.
Richard
Comment from: bdring on Monday, February 1st 2010 - 4:05 PMWhat are the little cylindrical looking things in the middle of the flying mirror assembly? They look like little roller bearings
.
.
- cyls.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1220 times
Monday, February 1st 2010 - 2:57 PM
Flying mirror assembly after cleanupHere is where we get the answer to that nagging question. The flying mass is 3.5 ounces. To this I guess you would consider the belt and belt friction to be another item to add to the total mass, but this is still very light indeed.
The wheels are made from a very hard plastic and they do contain small roller bearings. The drive belt tensioner and belt clamps are a pretty slick design.
Attachements...
- DSC01980.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1231 times
- DSC01979.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1239 times
- DSC01978.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1222 times
Monday, February 1st 2010 - 1:22 AM
First corner lens detailAs I mentioned in an earlier post, the first corner lens is mounted in a box behind the engraving area. Neither it nor the laser will see the air environment of the cutting area because the laser passes through a window to the cutting area. The details of the following images should give you an idea of the adjustment capability.
Attachements...
- DSC01957.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1259 times
- DSC01956.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1247 times
- DSC01955.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1248 times
- DSC01954.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1250 times
Monday, February 1st 2010 - 1:12 AM
XY rails removed for closer inspectionAttachements...
- Flexure mount. Screws marked with green adjust the flex of the mirror assembly. The screw marked with red adjusts the X belt tension
- DSC01976.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1259 times
- Y mirror Flexure mount. The item with green dots is one solid machined item that can flex for mirror adjustment in the x plane
- DSC01975.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1257 times
- lens holder shown when it engages the optical interrupt sensor for home position
- DSC01972.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1256 times
- Underside of X mirror/lens assembly
- DSC01971.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1252 times
- opposite Y carriage with tensioner screws
- DSC01969.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1249 times
- picture of entire side belt
- DSC01968.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1241 times
- Another view of the belt tensioner. One of two on the Y axis timing belts.
- DSC01966.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1243 times
- underside of X drive motor assembly showing wheels engaged in the groove
- DSC01967.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1237 times
- Y stage drive motor. 2 amps. 0.9 deg/step NEMA17
- DSC01962.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1238 times
- The dual shaft NEMA17 motor driving the two Y stage timing belts
- DSC01958.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1234 times
- Side view of belt tensioner on Y axis.
- DSC01965.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1230 times
- Top view of belt tensioner assembly on Y axis
- DSC01964.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1230 times
- Entire XY rail assembly removed from enclosure
- DSC01963.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1232 times
Sunday, January 31st 2010 - 9:39 PM
X sweep motor. You're not going to belive this!Attachements...
- NEMA 17 .375" thick pancake stepper motor
- DSC01949.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1249 times
Sunday, January 31st 2010 - 9:28 PM
X sweep mirror and lens mount detailAttachements...
- The X stage (sweep) mirror and lens assembly (mirror and lens removed)
- DSC01948.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1246 times
- The X stage (sweep) mirror and lens assembly (mirror and lens removed) (plan view)
- DSC01943.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1248 times
- The X stage (sweep) mirror and lens assembly (mirror and lens removed)
- DSC01942.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1239 times
- The X stage (sweep) mirror and lens assembly (mirror and lens in place)
- DSC01941.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1233 times
Sunday, January 31st 2010 - 9:10 PM
Y stage mirror mount detailsHere are some details about the Y stage mirror mount. The mount is well designed and uses a method called the "flexure" mount. The flexure mount is nice because it is machined from one solid block of metal. The thinner section of metal allows the mirror section to be slightly adjusted as the metal "flexes". The flex allows pure X plane motion without any twisting that could cause a Y plane motion.
Attachements...
- Y stage flexure mount top view with mirror
- DSC01946.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1233 times
- Y stage flexure mount top view without mirror
- DSC01945.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1227 times
- Y stage flexure mount orthoganal view
- DSC01944.JPG (Array KiB) Viewed 1232 times
Sunday, January 31st 2010 - 8:39 PM
And yet another with an even faster raster.Sunday, January 31st 2010 - 8:28 PM
A sister model in operationI found another Youtube video that shows this same machine under the "Hermes" brand. In this video we can see the rastering. It is going to blow your mind when you see how small the stepper motor is for the X motion.
Sunday, January 31st 2010 - 7:29 PM
Arrival Inspection videoThe unit has arrived and it looks like it will do quite nicely for a shop cnc laser. It needs some serious cleanup. I will tear it down completely and pressure wash the bare container before rebuilding it. During the teardown I will take some detailed photos of the various hardware pieces. This should help all the DIY'ers with clues about the way the professionally engineered units are built.
Now some might think that showing detailed pictures of the innards of this laser is somehow a violation or a revealing of company secrets that belong to Universal Laser Systems. I gave this some thought and I have justified it with the following: This unit was built in August 1996. If any company were interested in reverse engineering this product for commercial gain then I'm sure they obtained their own detailed photos by September 1996. There are no "secrets" to reveal. If some part of this is patented, then the text and images of the patents are also public knowledge. A hobbiest can use any information, whether it is patented or not, for the construction of a personal machine.
Sunday, January 17th 2010 - 9:51 PM
bdring wrote:One of the people (forum member jedediah) who worked on the Andrew Kilpatrick project, recently contacted me. They appear to have made more progress than the web page suggests. They did more work on the EMC2 HAL for engraving. He sent me a picture of his work. It is as good or better than anything I have yet to produce with my Mach3 and EMC2 Hacks.
I'll wait to see what he has to post in his own words. If we don't hear from him, I'll post the additional links he gave me.
Indeed! I contacted Andrew and tried to get more info about the HAL, but he didn't have much to give me. As we have discussed before, Linux should be better than any windows program for jobs like this that require precise timing. I really liked many of the things I saw in EMC2, but it was also lacking some of the features that I was familiar with in Mach3. Perhaps I didn't give it enough time and thought. Once I have finished this UL-25 rebuild, I will have two engravers. I believe I will put the commercial DSP controller in the UL-25 and the M40 will be sold. I would like to get the M40 up and running in a demostrated manner with the EMC2 before offering it for sale. It needs to offer both Vector cut and raster engrave.
Sunday, January 17th 2010 - 6:01 PM
Arranging for ShipmentThis was an experience.
I began by asking the seller the dimensions of the unit once the legs were removed. I also needed to know the approximate weight. Answer: 36" by 30" by 24" tall. 235 pounds according to his bathroom scale.
The weight and dimensions immediately ruled out Fedex or UPS normal shipping methods. Out of curiosity I looked at the Fedex Freight shipping method and got an answer that surprised me. $650.00
Sorry Fedex.. "NO SOUP FOR YOU!"A friend told me about Greyhound for shipping. They travel across the country every day with extra space in their baggage compartment. It seems that they decided to make some extra money by selling this space for shipping goods. You simply drop off at a local Greyhound bus terminal the the person can pick it up from a terminal across the country. Interesting.... I looked at their pricing and indeed it beats the pants off Fedex and UPS, but unfortunately my unit was still too big for Greyhound.
Next I went online and got quotes from several freight companies. There are many items that can alter the cost, like pickup and drop-off methods. The long haul trucks don't typically have a lift bed or forklift, so if you want pickup or drop off at a residence, they would need to send a smaller truck out, adding about $40 on each end.
Since I had sweetened the deal on my offer to pay for shipping prep, it wasn't too much to ask for the seller to drop off the unit at a freight terminal. The terminals have a forklift to get it from his pickup and into the warehouse. From there it will travel by long haul from Arizona to Virginia. I have a friend that works at a company with a loading dock, so I have arranged the dropoff to occur there. This saves a little more cash on the receiving end since the long-haul truck can pull in to the loading dock.
The seller told me that he had access to a pallet, so I asked him if he could drop by Harbor Freight and pickup a set of four ratcheting ties downs and the 1000ft roll of 16" plastic stretch wrap. When shipping by freight it just needs to be tight on a pallet. No need for a box. I figured the pallet would add 40# to the weight, so I adjusted the quote request to 270 pounds.
The quotes I received from various online shipping companies ranged from $240 to $600. ALL of them claim that they are giving you an 80% discount from the normal fee.
Total Shipping cost after all is said and done: $241.36 from RedhawkGlobal.com. This is less than $1 per pound, so it looks pretty good to me.
Sunday, January 17th 2010 - 5:19 PM
The PurchaseStep 1 : Finding the deal
How does one find a deal like this? It's simply a matter of checking for new postings every single day.
Step 2 : Making contact
We all know that these deals won't last long. You need to contact the seller immediately and get as much information as possible. Many sellers will write a posting that says "Local Pickup Only". Don't let this discourage you. You can always arrange for a shipping company to come to the persons house and make the pickup. Ask the seller if they will hold it for you for at least one day while you research the purchase. Most good people will keep their word and hold it even if other offers come in that day. See if they will send more pictures and give more details.
Step 3 : Closing the deal
If you are satisfied that the seller is a straight shooter and this is the deal you want, make the offer and ask the seller to confirm the question.. "Do we have a deal?"
For my purchase I did the quick math in my head to figure out component value. I knew that the Synrad and controller were gone, but the enclosure, steppers, belts, rails, mirrors, lens, and other parts still made this a good deal in my book. I considered the fact that he was asking $350 and could easily get this from a local call, so I sweetened the deal by $100 to lock it in and another $100 to cover his time and effort to prep it for shipping. I would be the one arranging and paying for shipping from Arizona to Virginia. I told him that I would pay by a check that I would send by Fedex overnight. My offer of $550 was accepted.
Check sent.... fingers crossed.... Hope this isn't a scam.....
Sunday, January 17th 2010 - 4:25 PM
Now of course there is always the possibility that I just got totally scammed. This unit is supposedly on the truck right now making its way from Arizona to Virginia. If it does not arrive, this log will magically disappear. If it does arrive, this log will cover:1. The purchase
2. Organizing the shipping
3. Photos of the system as received.
4. Detailed photos of the mechanics as I break down the unit for a complete refurbishment.
5. The "build" as I put it back together with original and upgraded parts.
Fingers crossed
Here is what I know so far about the unit:
1. The guy who sold it to me is in the engraving business. He wanted to upgrade to a newer unit and Universal Laser Systems (ULS) offered him about $500 trade-in value for this system. In order to fullfil the trade-in, ULS really only wanted to take the Synrad laser and the control board that contains proprietory information. They told him he could sell the remaining parts for scrap, so this is how it ended up on Craigslist.
Sunday, January 17th 2010 - 4:11 PM
When what to my wondering eyes did appear.......... - snap2.jpg (Array KiB) Viewed 2250 times
Comment from: bdring on Sunday, January 17th 2010 - 4:10 PMOne of the people (forum member jedediah) who worked on the Andrew Kilpatrick project, recently contacted me. They appear to have made more progress than the web page suggests. They did more work on the EMC2 HAL for engraving. He sent me a picture of his work. It is as good or better than anything I have yet to produce with my Mach3 and EMC2 Hacks.
I'll wait to see what he has to post in his own words. If we don't hear from him, I'll post the additional links he gave me.
I'll wait to see what he has to post in his own words. If we don't hear from him, I'll post the additional links he gave me.
Sunday, January 17th 2010 - 3:59 PM
Every now and then a deal shows up on Ebay or Craigslist that is too good to pass up.Case in point: I picked up one of the Chinese M40 CNC engravers in zero bid Ebay purchase for $900. I couldn't let that pass when I was seeing the same laser for $1500 elsewhere. I have worked to upgrade it for Mach3, closed loop water cooling, air assist, and stepper controlled Z axis height adjust. Still I have always hoped that one day I could pick up a higher quality system.
I have the skills to build a system from scratch, but I feel that if the right deal comes along then I can simply fix up a system that has already passed the engineering hurdles. Perhaps you have already seen the build log done by Andrew Kilpatrick on his $500 Craigslist laser - A deal than none of us would pass on - http://www.andrewkilpatrick.org/blog/?page_id=914
Let's consider for a moment what he was actually getting for his $500:
1. A used Synrad RF laser - 25 Watt (of unknown operating condition)
2. High quality linear bearing rails. (likely of good condition since they are very hard to wear out)
3. Stepper motors, drive belt and pulley system. (already engineered for highest efficiency movement.)
4. High quality mirror and lens holders. (with mirrors and lens of an unknown condition.)
5. A Z-lift mechanism already built in.
6. A metal enclosure that has already passed the engineering hurdles for air flow and laser safety.
In a breakdown of individual component cost I would think that the stepper motors and rails alone would fetch $500 on ebay, so this was an AMAZING deal!