Big Ol' Laser, by Awesomenesser

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Re: Big Ol' Laser, by Awesomenesser

Postby gene » Thu Jul 21, 2011 2:22 pm

Appreciate all the information you provided on your build. Very helpful
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Re: Big Ol' Laser, by Awesomenesser

Postby Reversity » Thu Jul 21, 2011 10:50 pm

Hey Awesomenesser - Great work -

Any chance you can snap another pic of your electronics board that is the reverse of the angle your current one is?
Reversity
 
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Re: Big Ol' Laser, by Awesomenesser

Postby awesomenesser » Sat Aug 27, 2011 12:55 am

How do you fire the laser from Gcode using mach3? I read about the E1P0/E1P1 commands but I don't quite understand how to use them. We tried just inserting E1P0 and E1P1 as commands in our gcode file but mach3 complains about how there is an illegal character. Is there anything that I do not have setup?

I never did get the E1P0/E1P1 commands working but I did get the laser cutting by changing the gcode commands M3 and M5 to " activateSignal(OUTPUT1)" and "deactivateSignal(OUTPUT1)" respectively. I can just build a simple post processor to replace enable and disable the laser when needed.
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First Cut

Postby awesomenesser » Sat Aug 27, 2011 5:34 am

It works!!!

I finally got my laser all set up and running with mach3. After a few issues with getting the laser to fire with gcode commands and the fact that I don't have a table surface or skins I finally have it cutting. Here is a picture of a 6" grey code wheel that I cut and a picture and a video of a 3" wheel being cut. I am using a 6$ sheet of 1/16" glass from the hardware store as a temporary cutting surface, it works fairly well if you don't cut the same spot for a long period of time.

6inGreyCodeWheel.jpg
6 inch Grey Code Encoder Wheel


3inGreyCodeWheel.jpg
3 inch Grey Code Encoder Wheel


Link to the Video (in HD)

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Exhaust Fan

Postby awesomenesser » Mon Aug 29, 2011 3:55 pm

I finally got my exhaust fan mounted and ready to go. I decided to get a 6" 424 CFM inline fan (link). I that I would have been fine with the 4" model but I just wanted the 6" just in case my run will be much longer in any of my future houses (Right now I only run about 3 ft). Because I rent my current house I figured they would not appreciate me boring a 6" hole in the side of the house so I created a window enclosure. I also got a variable fan control module from my local hardware store so that I can vary the output.

Here are a few pictures:
P1000783 resized.jpg
A picture of the enclosure from the inside.


P1000786 Resized.jpg
A picture of the enclosure from the outside.
awesomenesser
 
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Re: Big Ol' Laser, by Awesomenesser

Postby dirktheeng » Wed Aug 31, 2011 9:06 pm

That's pretty nice. I have to do something very similar.
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Re: Big Ol' Laser, by Awesomenesser

Postby awesomenesser » Thu Sep 01, 2011 11:19 pm

I spent some time this weekend figuring out how to contain my liquid cooling system inside the laser. I finally got it figured out, I was able to contain it in the corner under the laser tube. Below are some pictures of my configuration. Since I do not have my skins yet the radiator is just hanging there but it will be mounted 2 inches off the rear skin with some standoffs. I had some crazy angles in my configuration so I had to go get some 90 degree elbows to reduce the tube crimping. I also purchased a flow rate sensor from futurlec (link I got the second one) and then purchased some adapters from mcmastercarr (Part Number 5357K33). i will be using an AVR to read the speed and alert me with an audible alarm / shutoff the laser if the flow rate drops.

The liquid loop goes in the following order: Reservoir -> Pump -> Radiator -> Flow Sensor -> Tube (Mirror Side) - > Reservoir

P1000830 (Custom).JPG
Front view of the tube routing.


P1000821 (Custom).JPG
Side view of the tube routing.


P1000820 (Custom).JPG
Rear view of the hanging radiator.


P1000824 (Custom).JPG
Top view of the fill port.


P1000815 (Custom).JPG
The flow rate sensor mounted to the extrusion. (It is not attached yet)
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Re: Big Ol' Laser, by Awesomenesser

Postby bdring » Thu Sep 01, 2011 11:58 pm

Those picture are so great. That looks cooler than any pro laser I have ever seen.
Bart
"If you didn't build it, you will never own it."
bdring
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Re: Big Ol' Laser, by Awesomenesser

Postby tylerv » Fri Sep 02, 2011 4:08 am

That is super-cool, and very similar to what I want to do once the funding coems through.. ;)

Any lessons learnt the hard way or things you'd do different next time?
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Re: Big Ol' Laser, by Awesomenesser

Postby artwood_decor » Fri Sep 02, 2011 4:52 pm

Agree. That looks so cool and professionally done.
Lots to learn form your build.
Keep us updated, and thanks for posting links for the parts used (I didn't need to ask for them :D )
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