[MadMachines]

how much was the cable chain? and where did you get it?

I have found the sliding doors on vans have the same stuff. If you go to a wrecking yard you can pick it up second/hand really cheap. I got 2 strips from a Chrysler van for $5 here in Australia.

[raphael150]

Hello,raphael150.
Why is it set aside for awhile? Is some thing wrong with the circuit board or the limited power? Have you try THB6064AH?

Hello lihaijiang
It is set aside because I don't have time to work on the machine. I'm a comercial pilot in Brazil, and have only 8 days off for month. In my vacation I will work on it, meanwhile I'm studying about it and figuring out how to install it in my machine.
regards
Raphael

[miljnor]

I have found the sliding doors on vans have the same stuff. If you go to a wrecking yard you can pick it up second/hand really cheap. I got 2 strips from a Chrysler van for $5 here in Australia.

was looking more for a purchase option not a pick a part option....I'm not relying into hunting, demolishing then cleaning and using the parts....would rather have a plug and play solution. I have enough time wasters that I don't want to add another.

[raphael150]

This is the way I have done it. The Z Axis Direction pin# set up in Mach3 and going to the BoB or controller also connects directly to the TTL input shown in this diagram.

Does this help ??

Tweakie.

Hello Tweakie,
I didn't understand weel your sketch-up. Just one doubt more; how do you get the 5volts from Z axis to fire laser? Do I have to use a voltage regulator, or can I setup it on mach 3?
Thank you
Raphael

[mowcius]

Sorry folks for not providing any updates over Christmas - this is mainly because there's been hardly any progress on my machine.

I had to shift it out of the way over Christmas and a load of my alu honeycomb also got damaged

I've pretty much decided to get it working soon as it is with the laos controller board but without any further mods, and then in a couple of months build a new cutter scavenging some parts from this one (tube, mirrors, lens, bits I've added and maybe steppers and power supply).

I'm going to do a writeup on everything I've done/planned to do and what I think worked/didn't work and I'll post a link on here once I've done that.

It's been interesting and I've learnt a lot but I think I have now realised the inevitable- it's never going to be as good as I'd like it in its current form.

Rob (Mowcius)

Oh and on I still haven't received a correct replacement laser lens from the ebay seller... yet.

[Tweakie]

Hello Tweakie,
I didn't understand weel your sketch-up. Just one doubt more; how do you get the 5volts from Z axis to fire laser? Do I have to use a voltage regulator, or can I setup it on mach 3?
Thank you
Raphael

Hi Raphael,

The TTL input comes from the Computer's LPT port as an output pin controlled by Mach3.

Tweakie.

[raphael150]

Hi Raphael,

The TTL input comes from the Computer's LPT port as an output pin controlled by Mach3.

Tweakie.

Ohh my god Tweakie,
How could I never thought about it?! You are a genious!!
So, I can get the 5 volts directly from the LPT cable from computer, and don't need the TB6560 Z axis to control it (I thought I had to use the TB6560 card Z axis to deliver 5 volts to the laser power source)
My God, this is true; the computer deliver 5 volts to the board control, I get this 5 volts direct from the LPT port and conect to the spindle relay (just to have a safe machine operation) and than to the laser TTL.
Thank you very much for the tip!
Have a nice 2012
Raphael

[Tweakie]

Ohh my god Tweakie,
How could I never thought about it?! You are a genious!!
So, I can get the 5 volts directly from the LPT cable from computer, and don't need the TB6560 Z axis to control it (I thought I had to use the TB6560 card Z axis to deliver 5 volts to the laser power source)
My God, this is true; the computer deliver 5 volts to the board control, I get this 5 volts direct from the LPT port and conect to the spindle relay (just to have a safe machine operation) and than to the laser TTL.
Thank you very much for the tip!
Have a nice 2012
Raphael

Raphael

The output from the Computer LPT port is TTL logic (it may be 0 - 5 volts or it may be 0 - 3 volts depending on the age of your computer). If you run through your spindle relay, that will introduce unwanted delay and cause you problems (like 'dots' at the start and end of lines). The first two TTL in my circuit are there to provide the necessary buffering to give safe machine operation.

Hope this helps.

Tweakie.

[TLHarrell]

If anybody's interested, I've done some further modifications to my laser (Full Spectrum 40w Hobby Gen.4). I posted a YouTube video showing some details of it. Best part is I have optimized the X and Y axis, adding about 3/4" of cutting area to each.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1ZNBix7dZw]Full Spectrum Engineering 40w Hobby Laser Modifications - YouTube[/ame]

[esmondperry]

Hey, do you want to see more videos on the lase machines....

you can get it here...
NeedhamLaser's Channel - YouTube
Sample video of Rotary laser machine:-

[data2700]

Hi, thanks for your great post and all of the detail very useful for me and it helped me when I ordered my cheap chinese laser from Ebay. I know this post is a bit dated but the information is still very good. Can you or anyone reading this suggest any alternatives for the exhaust fan or describe what you have done (if anything) to improve the exhaust fan? The 40 watt laser I have comes with the usual suction fan, but I find when cutting acrylic the fumes are excessive and I would really like to minimize them for health/safety reasons.

Thanks!

[Tweakie]

Hi, thanks for your great post and all of the detail very useful for me and it helped me when I ordered my cheap chinese laser from Ebay. I know this post is a bit dated but the information is still very good. Can you or anyone reading this suggest any alternatives for the exhaust fan or describe what you have done (if anything) to improve the exhaust fan? The 40 watt laser I have comes with the usual suction fan, but I find when cutting acrylic the fumes are excessive and I would really like to minimize them for health/safety reasons.

Thanks!

Many have added additional blowers etc. to resolve this issue (there are some related threads here OPLaser support forum ? View topic - Upgraded my laser exhaust).

In my workshop I have an overhead, ducted, extraction system which is pretty efficient and quiet but it was expensive to install.

Tweakie.

[data2700]

Many have added additional blowers etc. to resolve this issue (there are some related threads here OPLaser support forum ? View topic - Upgraded my laser exhaust).

In my workshop I have an overhead, ducted, extraction system which is pretty efficient and quiet but it was expensive to install.

Tweakie.

Thanks for the link and tip on overhead exhaust you have given me a few more options I hadn't considered I am going to test out an inline extraction "booster" fan on the existing hose and see if that works but if it doesn't one of the venting methods in your link looks perfect... and quiet, which is just what I need.

Thanks!

[bluestorm]

Hi, Just wondering where you connected the LED lights to? also the red laser dot.

I've made a bit of progress on the build but my other new toy arrived on Thursday so I've been out playing on that...

My new one on the right - been getting it good and muddy.

Anyway - laser cutter wise, my replacement lens arrived:

Umm, looks a little big... and scratched. Time to try again and test the ebay seller a bit more.

This picture shows better the amount of space I left when I moved the board. All wired up and ready to go. Wiring colour scheme is retarded - red and black for L & N, or red and red for L & N, or red and black for signal...
There are also two connectors that are the same with the same colour wiring. One's signal and one's 230V AC :withstupi

Then my cable chain arrived!
Yeah it'll go something like that. Looks pretty big for the size of the machine but with the honeycomb grid and that it makes it look awesome!

Newly modified mirror mount on attached to the opposite side of the stepper (so it's behind the X axis track). Yeah it hits the back of the chassis before the buffer stops it - I'm going to have to shift it forwards a bit anyway (might require a completely new mount) owing to how thick the mirror holder actually is.

Then the mirror and lens holder will have to go something like that.
I need to make a new mount anyway to attach the cable chain and other things to.

I chopped some out of the aluminium section to allow the X axis track to get closer to the front of the machine (as the laser's now at the rear of it) - I'm going to have to remove more of it and the black section so as not to obstruct the top roller's path.

With the front buffer removed, I get about 20mm more before the bearing holder hits the stepper pulley. I can hack a bit out of that but I'm not sure if it'll be enough. Like many of these modifications, it's going to be a tight one!
My other option is to move the whole X track up slightly but that would involve moving the laser tube and first mirror up as well as modifying a bunch of other stuff so I'd rather not go there unless I really have to.

All pictures (and extra ones) with captions are all still here: https://plus.google.com/photos/11491...53382930806001 if you want another look at anything.

So my plan of maybe cutting by this weekend may have been a long shot but things are still moving on. Looks like it might be a few more weeks then - which is kinda good as I'll have been paid again so I can buy more cool stuff for this.

[Gweikelasers]

Good DIY work!

[WolverineX]

Great thread mowcius!
I just bought a Chinese SH350D Laser Cutter from eBay, going over it with a fine tooth comb and just about to attempt to clean and align the mirrors to make sure everything works as good as it should before I leave feedback. However I have to say, at this point I am very happy with it. I like the idea of the Alloy honeycomb, and LED lighting as it's a simple modification and within my capability. Did you get the LED's from eBay?

[the.sniper]

@Mowicus: Thanks for the great posts. I know its been a loooong time. Hows your machine performing and whats in the news for you?

@WolverineX: I too just bought a 40W China laser. I have not even tested it and its slowly in pieces as Im going down the same/similar path as Mowicus.


-Sam