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Laser Cutters

I believe Gary wanted to know where and how to start The laser cutter he bought came with software but it is not strong enough to do what he has in mind. As an example the lase machine it is like buying a car that has no engine it is not going to take you were you want to go. So you need more powerful software like light burn.
 
  • Dave, I've missed who 'Gary' is, and what their specific post was about.

Hi every one. Just want to get some information on what the best cad that will help me learn how to use my Laser cutting to help me work on Alfred. It's a WeCreat Vision Pro 45W Laser engraving & Cutting Machine. Never own one and hope the good folks her will put me on the right track. Looks like I came to the right place and thank you.
 
Tommyhawk said:
Hi every one. Just want to get some information on what the best cad that will help me learn how to use my Laser cutting to help me work on Alfred. It's a WeCreat Vision Pro 45W Laser engraving & Cutting Machine. Never own one and hope the good folks her will put me on the right track. Looks like I came to the right place and thank you.
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It looks like like the WeCreate does support LightBurn, so I would definitely consider using that to drive the laser.

For CAD I would use Blender. You can use it to trace your drawings, and use the resulting .svg files to send to LightBurn.
Blender has a large internet community, and there are tons of YouTube videos. You just have to look around to find the information to do what you want to do.

A good free drawing program is Inkscape. It has a good tracing function for converting .bmp and .png to .svg files.

I'll try to help with more information if you are interested.
 
Before Lightburn, I just used CorelDraw and the software that came with the laser cutter. It worked just fine. A laser cutter is just a printer and follows the line drawn. Fancier software just make life easier but are not necessary.

stalden9.jpgstalden10.jpgstalden12.jpg
 
Thanks Gatzby and Roland. I just got a Laser WeCreat Vision Pro 45W Laser engraving & Cutting Machine and never used one. I finally got it down on how to use my 3D printers so am hoping that what I learned about using them, will help me learn how to use the Laser. They are definitely two different machines, and any help will be most welcome. I have known Dave for a very long time and when it comes to helping can never pay him back. Thanks Dave. Gary
 
the guys here on SoS are more than willing to help you step by step so don't hesitate ro ask questions or post your progress
 
TheGatzby said:
Are paintings by the grand masters classed the same as those produced by computers, some of which are indistinguishable by the untrained?
How many model builders are producing work we consider on equal footing with the contemporary models we love so much?

It really comes down to doing something you enjoy doing, without being judged by the standards of someone else, unless you choose to offer it up to be judged by others.



I bought LightBurn several years ago when it cost $60. Haven't paid a penny more since. It does all I need to do, and I have no idea what improvements may have been made. Looks like it's a $99 one time payment now, but I would pay that in a heartbeat If I thought I had a need for it. I've gone through 6 Lasers, and my version has worked seamlessly with all of them.

Sure, paintings by the grand masters offer so much more to be appreciated than paint by numbers, or even a computer generated copy, but we can't all be grand masters, and we (most of us) certainly can't own one to hang on a wall. There is also the little problem of having enough time to develop the type of skills that result in master works. So, do we do nothing if we can't match the skill of a grand master?

There seem to be those who would rather do nothing than stoop to building from an at best, mediocre kit, while some of us enjoy the hobby for the sake of creating something that they can share and enjoy with others. If something like a laser helps to add to that enjoyment, and maybe lift that mediocre kit a notch or two, it's hard to understand why it might engender such disdain. I wonder if the idea of a powered scroll saw took such a beating when it first appeared on the scene?

My current pet project is a scratch build of Rattlesnake, POB at 1:48. I am using the contemporary drawings, which can be found at Wikimedia Commons, and the lines by Howard Chapelle, found in The History of American Sailing Ships . Those plans are also available from the Smithsonian, of which I have a copy.
View attachment 606942
( Includes some of my overlay from the contemporary drawings at the stern )

If it were not for my interest in laser cutting, CAD and 2D drafting, I would be whiling away most of my hours on one of those, God forbid, kits.

My first wood ship build was the Mamoli Rattlesnake kit, and it's hard to imagine now, why I took such pride in that 30 something years ago. I'm lucky none of my family and friends new about the higher standards of ship modeling that exist in some circles today. I never would gave gotten any of those oohs and ahs and how cute the tiny anchor was,

I plan to get a build log going soon ( and we all know how long 'soon' can be in the ship modeling world ), but meanwhile here is a little bit about the laser work I do.

View attachment 606926
Accuracy is important. I always do a calibration check before I start cutting. This is a 10 mm square ( all the char is still there ) .LightBurn has a kerf offset adjustment to allow for the kerf of the laser. This also assumes good focus. With diode lasers, the beam is slightly wider in one dimension. The kerf is wider as the head moves vertically ( the Y axis on the lasers I am familiar with ) . It amounts to a fraction of a mm. Less than the visible space between any two pieces of a model at 1:48.

View attachment 606929
These are some of the bulkheads for my rattlesnake. This a dry fit. Fairing and final shaping still to be done.

View attachment 606932
Some of the detail is engraved, while some of the pieces are separate and glued.

View attachment 606931
Here is a rudder. I find myself jumping around with the details, because I enjoy working with the drafting software and the laser.

View attachment 606930
Here is a ladder. it may or may not end up on the model.

View attachment 606928

A capstan. Again, an exercise that may end up on the model.

View attachment 606927

Some quarterdeck bulkhead work. It resembles the rendition in the Mamoli and Model Shipways kits, as well as the Hahn model and plans.
The contemporary drawings do not show this detail. Only the presence of doors are shown on the deck drawings. The details were apparently added by George F Campbell in his plans for Model Shipways in 1963. It's reasonable to assume that Model Shipways, Mamoli and Hahn were inspired by Campbell's work. The lines drawn by Howard Chapelle first appeared in The History of American Sailing Ships which was published in 1935, and do not have the bulkhead details.

I decided to put the windows in the doors, just to be a little different. Windows in the doors seem to be logical. I would like to know Campbells reasoning for putting them in the center panels.

When I get my build log started I will include some of my work flow with drafting and laser cutting.

Please don't hesitate to ask questions or offer suggestions.
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Good post, and I think you’re getting at something a lot of people in the hobby circle around but don’t always say directly

There’s always been a spectrum between “pure craftsmanship” and “tool-assisted creation,” and it didn’t start with lasers or CAD. Power tools, CNC, even kits themselves were all once seen as shortcuts compared to scratch building. Over time they just became normal parts of the workflow. I don’t really see lasers as fundamentally different in that sense - just another layer of precision and repeatability

The comparison with grand masters is interesting too. A Rembrandt and a high-quality reproduction might be visually similar to some viewers, but they’re valued differently because of intent, context, and execution, not just appearance. In modelling it feels similar: the value isn’t only in the final visual result, but in the process, the problem solving, and the personal standards you choose to apply
 
And, while it’s unfair, at the top end it depends on who built it. A Rembrandt like painting is only valuable if it can be if it can be proved that he actually painted it.

Roger
 
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