An intro.

General Forum Stuff...Introduce yourself

An intro.

Postby noel_one » Thu Dec 18, 2014 5:26 am

Hello all.
I'm an old guy.Been going by 'Noel One' since the days of 1200 baud modems. ;) I've worked with my hands for most of my life. I'm a woodworker, by choice. Worked as a mechanic, and done some blacksmithing, welding, machine work and a little Mill work. Never tried my hand at CNC so, thought I would build one and see how it goes. Plan to pick up all the parts to build a 'bulldog' laser cutter and construct it. Then I'm going to try and figure out how to make it 'do stuff.' We'll see what happens after that.
As you may have surmised, I am a total newbie at this end of things. This is going to be one hell of a learning curve. LOL
Just to add to the insanity, I'm hoping to also build a CNC router carving machine.

To that end, I acquired an old 40" wide pen plotter with a roll drum. It has DOS based plotter software with it. <G> I figure it will either be a good base for a router or laser. Not sure which, yet. Either way, it's good some heavy duty parts in it that should prove useful.

Any ideas?

Cheers!
noel_one
 
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Dec 17, 2014 5:48 am

Re: An intro.

Postby TLHarrell » Thu Dec 18, 2014 5:09 pm

I am not sure how much use you're going to get from repurposing those parts. Definitely it won't be solid enough for a CNC machine of any useful size. The linear rails for the laser head and the belt drive system from the plotter may be serviceable. The motors are likely not steppers, so your results may vary greatly. Not sure of the driver boards and feedback for the motors from that thing. Definitely take it apart and have a go with it, but you may find you're pushing a stone up a hill in order to save money on some of the cheaper components. Steppers are inexpensive. But purchasing new is good because you know exactly what you have, and it's not worn heavily from long use.

Awesome for learning, but don't go into it expecting a lot from the old plotter.
40w Full Spectrum Engineering 5th Gen Hobby 20"x12" w/ Rotary Engraver
South San Francisco Bay Area - Sales and Support Representative for Full Spectrum Engineering
408-47-LASER - Skype: whitelightlaser-thomas - Facebook: White Light Laser
TLHarrell
 
Posts: 419
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2011 11:30 pm
Location: Morgan Hill, CA

Re: An intro.

Postby noel_one » Thu Dec 18, 2014 6:26 pm

Thanks for the advice. As I said, I'm totally new to this field. I may just keep it as a plotter, then. The PC I built for my workshop can run it for doing large layout sheets, once I find a source for the pens. Part of my hobby is to build large, 'one off' items like dressers and unique bed frames. (You would be amazed at the market for Gothic/horror 4 poster bed frames <G>) Having a layout plan for the cutting will be a good re-purpose for it.
I've looked around the site a bit and found that most of the bulldog is available in part kits. Think I'll pick up the kits, ($2-300 worth/month) for the next few months, then put it together. It seems a good size for the type of wood/metal projects I have in mind.
I was quite surprised when I read the power range of lasers being used since a commercial site I was on had 'laser engravers' in the 3-500 Mw range. Now I'm wondering what kind of engraving could be done with 1/2 Watt of power.

The CNC Carver is a second project, once I have the laser running.I think it would be a good project to use it for and it would be a good motivator for my learning curve. Being able to automate the cutting/carving of custom finials and plaques would save me a huge amount of time. Then I just need a 3D shape scanner to repro a bunch of the one's I've already made. :lol:

Cheers
noel_one
 
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Dec 17, 2014 5:48 am

Re: An intro.

Postby cvoinescu » Thu Dec 18, 2014 9:31 pm

I thought the first time was a typo, but then you did it again. It's the "Buildlog.net 2.x Laser" (like the URL of this site), not "bulldog". (Sorry for being pedantic, that's just me.) The 2.x laser starts at 40 W. With a 500 mW laser, you can cut paper and card, and burn lines and images in wood, slowly -- but that would be a blue laser diode, not a far infrared carbon dioxide laser tube. With a 40 W laser, you can cut plywood and fairly thick acrylic, and engrave wood at a decent clip.
cvoinescu
 
Posts: 501
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2012 9:12 am
Location: Camberley, Surrey, UK

Re: An intro.

Postby TLHarrell » Fri Dec 19, 2014 7:26 am

If you're doing Gothic 4 poster beds, the first machine I'd look into building would be a large format CNC lathe. You could turn all kinds of neat (and stupidly expensive) decorative posts, even in one piece!

Having a large format printer when doing hand built stuff is definitely worth keeping around if you have the space for it. Depending on the age you may or may not be able to get pens for it. You may end up having to cobble something together that will hold a more modern pen into the holder.
40w Full Spectrum Engineering 5th Gen Hobby 20"x12" w/ Rotary Engraver
South San Francisco Bay Area - Sales and Support Representative for Full Spectrum Engineering
408-47-LASER - Skype: whitelightlaser-thomas - Facebook: White Light Laser
TLHarrell
 
Posts: 419
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2011 11:30 pm
Location: Morgan Hill, CA

Re: An intro.

Postby noel_one » Sat Dec 20, 2014 4:05 am

cvoinescu wrote:I thought the first time was a typo, but then you did it again. It's the "Buildlog.net 2.x Laser" (like the URL of this site), not "bulldog". (Sorry for being pedantic, that's just me.) The 2.x laser starts at 40 W. With a 500 mW laser, you can cut paper and card, and burn lines and images in wood, slowly -- but that would be a blue laser diode, not a far infrared carbon dioxide laser tube. With a 40 W laser, you can cut plywood and fairly thick acrylic, and engrave wood at a decent clip.


Sorry for not calling the Buildlog.net2.x laser by it's proper name. I misread it the first time and it stuck in my head. I thought it was a 'Bulldog.' laser. Which, by the way would also be a pretty cool name for a tool system. <g>
As I said, I am quite the newbie to this end of things. I was totally thrown when I found this site and was reading 40+Watts for a laser. My first thought was, "well then, what can you cut with 1/2 a watt?" The second thought was, "Probably not much. " ;)
Cutting/engraving on wood and acrylic would be stellar for most of my needs. I'm wondering about doing some fine line engraving on metal. Perhaps if I washed the metal (primarily copper and bronze) with a 'pickle solution' to discolor and darken the surface?
Cheers!
noel_one
 
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Dec 17, 2014 5:48 am

Re: An intro.

Postby noel_one » Sat Dec 20, 2014 4:33 am

TLHarrell wrote:If you're doing Gothic 4 poster beds, the first machine I'd look into building would be a large format CNC lathe. You could turn all kinds of neat (and stupidly expensive) decorative posts, even in one piece!

Having a large format printer when doing hand built stuff is definitely worth keeping around if you have the space for it. Depending on the age you may or may not be able to get pens for it. You may end up having to cobble something together that will hold a more modern pen into the holder.


I have a 9' long rotating drum router fixture, for shaping work on the posts but much of the carving and detailing is done on plaques or finials, which are affixed to the posts and bed frame. Much of that work is done by hand or with small tools. If I could rough them in with a laser or CNC carver/router, it would speed up the process a lot. Arthritis in my hands is slowing me down a bit. <smile>

The plotter is quite elderly and a bit of a space hog. It needs room around the machine. It is quite robust though. The software that came with it was DOS based and had a Windows 95 Service pack addition. The pens are not available from HP anymore but a friend tracked me down an overseas source that 'do the job' although they are a little thick. 1.75mm as opposed to the original .5mm pens. I'll keep it around if only to use for the layout drawings. If it had a pen carousel, I might be tempted to use it for poster work or something but, it's only a single pen. I hate throwing away functional equipment, which is why I have a 25 year old bandsaw. <G>
noel_one
 
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Dec 17, 2014 5:48 am

Re: An intro.

Postby TLHarrell » Mon Dec 22, 2014 4:55 pm

You could do much more than just rough the decorative parts in. It is entirely possible to do finish passes with a suitable cutter and barely have to hit them with some sandpaper to complete them for finishing. Sounds like for your woodwork it'd be good to go with a couple machines. One being an indexable lathe. With this you could fully 3D carve anything round. The other would be a standard 3 axis CNC machine. Match the bed size and Z axis movement to your normal work sizes. Z axis would be cutter length plus material thickness at minimum. My CNC is 25"x25"x5". I primarily cut acrylic parts for custom computers. Thickest stuff I currently do is 1.25" acrylic 3D fan grills with a 1.5"x1/4"dia cutter.

If you would like to see some serious finish quality, check out this video. It's a 5 axis machine milling aluminum into a motorcycle helmet. It even includes a design on the surface done entirely by varying how the cutter runs! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnIvhlKT7SY
40w Full Spectrum Engineering 5th Gen Hobby 20"x12" w/ Rotary Engraver
South San Francisco Bay Area - Sales and Support Representative for Full Spectrum Engineering
408-47-LASER - Skype: whitelightlaser-thomas - Facebook: White Light Laser
TLHarrell
 
Posts: 419
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2011 11:30 pm
Location: Morgan Hill, CA

Re: An intro.

Postby noel_one » Tue Dec 23, 2014 4:40 pm

TLHarrell wrote:You could do much more than just rough the decorative parts in. It is entirely possible to do finish passes with a suitable cutter and barely have to hit them with some sandpaper to complete them for finishing. Sounds like for your woodwork it'd be good to go with a couple machines. One being an indexable lathe. With this you could fully 3D carve anything round.
If you would like to see some serious finish quality, check out this video. It's a 5 axis machine milling aluminum into a motorcycle helmet. It even includes a design on the surface done entirely by varying how the cutter runs! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnIvhlKT7SY


You make some good points. I decided to build the laser _first_ for a number of reasons, including it's ability to cut thin wood rapidly. I also make small boxes, jewelry and keepsake mostly. I sell a lot of them locally so, in many ways, they are my 'bread and butter.' ;) I also have space issues. My shop is jammed into an elderly single car garage where I presently have: 24" Bandsaw, 9" bandsaw, router table, 9' Drum router mount, table saw, free standing drill press, table top drill press, 6' bed wood lathe, 12" flat planer, 5' edge and finishing planer, 12" belt sander, 3' bed Sander table and a wood stove for heat. I mounted most my heavy units, including two of three workbenches, on wheels so I can 'park' them against the wall when I don't need them so, I can use the center of the room as a work space. Space is tight. LOL. I'm still trying to figure out where to set up the plotter but, fortunately, it has a wheeled base. :)
noel_one
 
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Dec 17, 2014 5:48 am

Re: An intro.

Postby TLHarrell » Tue Dec 23, 2014 4:54 pm

You're basically set up like me. Crammed. I'm in half of a one car garage. Laser is in a 2' deep bumpout next to the garage door. I built a wall through the center. Behind the wall is laundry/storage/my office. I have cabinets/bench mounted down the side wall and on the center wall. When I got the CNC, I built a giant "kitchen island" which gets in the way of some of the workbench and goes up against the garage door. I have a 25x25x5 CNC on that, along with a tabletop belt/disc sander, drill press, buffer and small band saw. I also have a sandblast cabinet (for frosting parts) on a rolling cabinet (from IKEA) that I can push out the door as it gets in the way of the drill press and band saw. When the weather is nice, I set up on a table outside the door. I could really use a 2 car (or bigger) garage. I could take over the world with that kind of space (or just figure out how to cram it with more tools).
40w Full Spectrum Engineering 5th Gen Hobby 20"x12" w/ Rotary Engraver
South San Francisco Bay Area - Sales and Support Representative for Full Spectrum Engineering
408-47-LASER - Skype: whitelightlaser-thomas - Facebook: White Light Laser
TLHarrell
 
Posts: 419
Joined: Thu Jul 28, 2011 11:30 pm
Location: Morgan Hill, CA

Next

Return to General Discussion

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 24 guests