[ISAIAS]

good morning !

fiirst thanks alot for all information i have from you guys i finaly build my first cnc and works great with a awt 550 w router but i want upgrade for a laser cutter to cut 3 mm mdf or plywood can somebody help me what is the more cheap device for it ?


thanks again !

[neurofen]

You cold buy yourself a ready made 40w co2 laser cutting machine from ebay which are only about £300. Strip the mirrors, co2 tube and psu to install on your cnc.

Otherwise a 6-10w laser diode would do the trick but obviously a lot slower.

As you have a router already attached to your CNC though maybe you should stick with that as it will do it a lot quicker, at least than the laser diode.

If you are worried about the dust associated with cutting MDF, laser cutting it also comes with its own hazards as the fumes it gives off are also toxic.

[elephantcnc]

Here's a video: 130W*Laser*Cutting*3mm*Plywood, If you like this laser machine, you could email me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywBN...ature=youtu.be

[AllenOmnicnc]

Laser machine making house
https://youtu.be/CgWBcS8l9QQ

[erik65]

3mm MDF? a 40W or 50W CO2 laser will do. Don't get a 130W laser, it's overkill, which is an understatement, and a 130W machine will be huge, just because of the lenght of the laser tube. And take care of a decent fume extraction system otherwise you won't have much fun for long with your laser lense. The fume of the burnt wood will waste it pretty quick.

[elephantcnc]

This machine in the video is 1390 laser cutting machine, can use 130w laser tube. For this machine, just see the carving effect is ok. so that we only used about 10% of the power.
Of course,can use 40-60W laser tube to carve a 3mm plywood.

[elephantcnc]

This machine in the video is 1390 laser cutting machine, can use 130w laser tube. For this machine, just see the carving effect is ok. so that we only used about 10% of the power.
Of course,can use 40-60W laser tube to carve a 3mm plywood.

[SignWave]

An 80 watt laser will cut 1/2 plywood all day long. It will also cut 3/4 inch acrylic sheet. 3mm mdf is a cake walk. a CO2 laser tube WILL NOT cut carbon fiber, aluminum, or poly-carbonate... and you should avoid ALL products that contain vinyl in the name.. ie PVC. Do not attempt to mount a laser ontop or beside your router. I thought the same but the router will have detrimental effects on mirror alignment. if a mirror goes out and you get a shot in the eye.. the fun is over not unlike the fun n games phrase... Even worse...set some thing on fire and watch your shop burn to the ground.....You are better off getting a dedicated machine with an enclosed work area OR build your own... But be careful.. It seems that there are chinese companies out there and they are more than willing to help you..they will get your money and send you your parts and you will realize that they sent you their garbage! and what then? send it all back at your expense? yeah.. dont ask me how I know this.. but I am really wondering what their driving factor is.. If you bite the hands that feed you.. soon you will starve.... I have been bit and because I have lost my business, I cannot buy new machinery.. Does this vicious cycle make sense?

Tell Sinjoe and BJ Reci... they are both less than credible.. OR perhap[s.... they simply have no time for "the little guy"... ???

Elephant CNC.& Omnitech.. what is your stance on your competitors poor business practices?

[elephantcnc]

An 80 watt laser will cut 1/2 plywood all day long. It will also cut 3/4 inch acrylic sheet. 3mm mdf is a cake walk. a CO2 laser tube WILL NOT cut carbon fiber, aluminum, or poly-carbonate... and you should avoid ALL products that contain vinyl in the name.. ie PVC. Do not attempt to mount a laser ontop or beside your router. I thought the same but the router will have detrimental effects on mirror alignment. if a mirror goes out and you get a shot in the eye.. the fun is over not unlike the fun n games phrase... Even worse...set some thing on fire and watch your shop burn to the ground.....You are better off getting a dedicated machine with an enclosed work area OR build your own... But be careful.. It seems that there are chinese companies out there and they are more than willing to help you..they will get your money and send you your parts and you will realize that they sent you their garbage! and what then? send it all back at your expense? yeah.. dont ask me how I know this.. but I am really wondering what their driving factor is.. If you bite the hands that feed you.. soon you will starve.... I have been bit and because I have lost my business, I cannot buy new machinery.. Does this vicious cycle make sense?

Tell Sinjoe and BJ Reci... they are both less than credible.. OR perhap[s.... they simply have no time for "the little guy"... ???

Elephant CNC.& Omnitech.. what is your stance on your competitors poor business practices?

Dear SignWave, :wave:
We are the blue elephant CNC Machinery Co., Ltd., Our goal is to be first Brand CNC Manufacturer & wholesaler Platform.
So that we will not do anything to affect our brand reputation, the quality of the machine is the most important, in order to make our company in the international long-term development.

[ArgusLaser]

Dear SignWave

I like your black humor, but very professional comments.

Very sorry for your bad experiences, it was your supplier's lost to lose such a professional client who can handle the trouble shooting and has the potential to selling equipment.

In fact, there are thousands of laser equipment manufacturer in China, but professional well-knowed facotries are not many, the quality and price can be quite different, there is no such thing as free lunch, cheap price can always have a reason.

Glass laser tube is a comsumable part, every brand like Reci, EFR and Yongli could have problem randomly, I can say that cause we used all of these brands, and also Synrad, Coherent an Rofin. So the most important thing is that if your equipment supplier can give you a strong back-support or not. Normally the tube factory will not reply to you directly if you are not buying from them directly, they will only take the responsiblity to who they sold. Mostly, bigger buyer like laser equipment manufacturer can give them bigger pressure, and you are right, they will have no time for "the little guy":bat:

Not all Chinese factories as poor as you said, but I hope you can choose a reliable supplier next time.

New Year's wishes and good luck.

Eric

[SignWave]

Thank you for the compliments and reply Eric. Appreciated.

I am still left at a loss for words.. I can understand that a large tube factory is possibly unable to reply to a "one off" client. There are bigger fist to catch.. but the things is.... A client like me.. and possibly others might have use for only one machine now. but with some ingenuity. many more in the future. If there is no faith. There is no business. No matter.... As you say, there are many competitors in the Asian market. Im sure that the money will be spent elsewhere. One mans loss is another mans gain... Its ironic really. I like to treat ALL my customers like they have 50,000.00 to give to me for services. Even if they only ever spent 5 dollars and are happy, the possibility that that will tell someone about my good works could mean I get 50005.00.... Do you understand?

What happens if too much current is applied to a laser tube? Will it lase or does it simply not fire at all? If a tube is not provided sufficient current This also prevents it from firing? Correct?

[ArgusLaser]

Dear SignWave,

Equipment manufacturer or laser tube agent plays a very important role to service for the client, the client's using experience has deep relationship with that. Generally, if you have any problem with the laser tube during the warranty period, the tube factory will express the replacement tube for free, but some equipment manufacturer will charge some fees, that is the difference.

What happens if too much current is applied to a laser tube? Will it lase or does it simply not fire at all? If a tube is not provided sufficient current This also prevents it from firing? Correct?

If too much current is applied to a laser tube, the laser tube will still lase, but it is overload work, the life-span of the laser tube will redeuce quickly.
If a tube is not provided sufficient current, the laser tube may have no enough power to lase, and the laser power supply keeps in starting state always, the resistant is much higher than that of laser tube normal working state, thus, the laser power supply may get burned due to the long time over heat.

Warm regards
Eric

[SignWave]

Thank you Eric,
I appreciate your reply.

I applied 45mA to a 130w (150peak watts ) Tube and no lasing occured.

Reci power supply said "open cct on high voltage - high volatege leaking"

What might have happened here? Any idea?

cheers! Rick

[ArgusLaser]

Dear Rick,

please check if you can see the light inside the tube or not. if you can see the light, but no laser comes out, that is may caused by overload, normally output current should not over 35mA.

Reci power supply said "open cct on high voltage - high volatege leaking"

Check if there is fire sparking in the high voltage side of the tube, check if it is the Insulation issue, or the tube inside may lose gas.

Regards
Eric

[SignWave]

Dear Rick,

please check if you can see the light inside the tube or not. if you can see the light, but no laser comes out, that is may caused by overload, normally output current should not over 35mA.

Check if there is fire sparking in the high voltage side of the tube, check if it is the Insulation issue, or the tube inside may lose gas.

Regards
Eric

Oh no... can a tube lose gas? how does that happen? This tube sat for a year.... My last tube was in use for 4 years no gas loss or power loss....

I will try to fire again in a day or so. I have to find a miliameter for cathode line.
Any idea where I can buy one?

[ArgusLaser]

If the lens of the laser tube is crack or the sealing of the laser tube has problem, the gas can run out of the tube.
Long time use 130W for engraving, or the lens of the tube is polluted, can both cause the lens crack.

Sorry, I have no idea what do you mean by "miliameter"

[SignWave]

thank you Eric,
You are very helpful. I am grateful.

As far as I know this tube is supposed to be brand new never used.

a milliammeter..... bad spelling this:

I would like to find one that show 0-50 mA.

these are images of my tube. what do you think?








OP, I sort of highjacked your thread.. Sorry about that. Still much to learn with the present topic.

[ArgusLaser]

I would like to find one that show 0-50 mA.

Like this?Attachment 347064

From your tube picture I can not tell anything my friend. These pictures just can prove that the tube is not break.

[SignWave]

Like this?Attachment 347064

From your tube picture I can not tell anything my friend. These pictures just can prove that the tube is not break.

Thank you,

I am still unsuccessful trying to fire tube. I pressed the test fire button on the controller, I saw light inside anode end but nothing else. Highvoltage static charge sits on outside of anode.... very dangerous.

I think that I was sold bad product in a very dishonorable way. Now I have to get new tube also....

[ArgusLaser]

you can see the light it means the power supply have no problem.
The light only appear in the anode side, but can not reach to the cathode, that means the gas inside is losing, resistance is increase, voltage can not breakdown.
It's true you need change a new tube. If it is brand new, and still in warranty period, you can ask your supplier send you a new tube freely.