New Laser

M

mrshanks

Joined
Sep 5, 2017
Messages
1,689
Points
538

Many of you know the Admiral and I own a laser etching business separate from my model building hobby. Our business has been good the past year and allowed us to purchase a second laser. Here is the new Epilog Fusion Pro 48 we just ordered. It is a 48" x 36", 80 watt laser that includes state-of-the-art capabilities. On-board camera system, 15" z-axis, on-board compressor, positive pressure airflow, super fast, and it will cut through 1" of solid hardwood in a single pass. This thing is a beast.. It should arrive by early February.

IMG_1928.JPG
 
Dang guys. All I want is one little shapeoko xxl. Well am afraid to even ask what those cost. Any words of wisdom? If every thing works out I should have it in late Feb.Maybe if things work out I can get a 3d laser printer later. Gary
 
that is not my personal laser in post #2 it is owned by a small shop I have been working with for many, many years. I could not afford a laser like that or for that matter a place to put it.

I know there are lasers with up to 5 axis but I do not think you can do 3D carving with one.

one thing to consider is the software that runs a 3D carver some are dedicated which means it can not import files from other programs. Usually ones that come with a machine are quite basic and limited to what you can do.

some 3d software like Solidworks, blender Rhino etc are expensive and they have a steep learning curve
some for a hobbyist are free like Fusion 360
 
Any words of wisdom?
Gary



mini cnc

Okay I succumbed to the world of CNC. After a lot of thought and a cheap opportunity I wen and purchased a 2417 Chinese CNC from eBay. I had researched the little cnc's and decided on the 2417 ( That's the cutting area) as it was better built than the next one up the 3018. I knew what I was in...
shipsofscale.com

you might want to look at this topic
 
garyshipwright said:
Any words of wisdom?
Click to expand...

Hi Gary. What you are referring to is CNC. My new machine is a Laser. Completely different tool. As Dave just said, lasers cut and etch but do not carve. CNC machines cut, carve and etch. The Shapeoko CNC you are looking at is not a true 5-axis 3D CNC. It is what I call 2.5D as it has a very limited z-axis and can only carve on z based on bit shape. I also own a CNC machine.. mine is a Shopbot Desktop Max with a 24x36 bed and Bosch 1hp spindle. Very steep learning curve with CNC as you also need to learn the basics of CAD. Both Laser and CNC are versatile and powerful tools but are not cheap and are not easy to use. If you are considering buying one or another be prepared to spend $$. Buying cheap will only lead to frustration. If the tool must be assembled..it is probably too cheap. You will also need to expect to spend money on software and stay current with computer hardware/skills. Trying to get by on older software versions, freeware, and whatnot will not get you very far in the Laser and CNC world.

The reason you don't see a lot of high end CNC or Laser equipment being used in the modeling hobby is because of their high cost. If it weren't for our side-business I probably would not have these tools. Very fortunate.

To answer the question you were afraid to ask... the new laser was $43,000. Business expense. :) Perhaps you should not have asked. :)
 
I converted my milling machine to CNC and had a $2000 laser for a while. Even though I do Autocad as part of my profession it was still hard to get a part drawn out and proofed to the point of being able to make it with CNC machines. Being as I wasn't doing mass production, it was typically far more work that it was worth. The end result was I quit using my mill for the most part and seldom used the laser.

I converted my mill back to manual, and now use it much more. The point of that is as mentioned above the cost and learning curve along with limitations of less expensive equipment will likely leave you disappointed. I did it more because I like to mess with automation than I wanted to produce anything in particular. If you just want to make parts I'd look elsewhere.

Along those lines There are places here known as a "Makers Space". I haven't really figured out exactly who owns it, it's some sort of collaboration between the college, the business incubator and the school system. Ownership aside it's a organization where you pay a monthly fee and you can use their lasers and 3d printers and scanners etc. I donated my cheap laser and now have permanent access to thier lasers and 3d printers etc. They're also a really nice group of people that are willing to help if you're just trying to produce a 1 off part. The whole point of this post is check and see if there is a "Makers Space" in your area. I heard about the idea from a train guy that was using one somewhere in Canada for laser cutting his own buildings.
 
I echo Mikes thoughts on CNC and laser cutters you need a good working knowledge of CAD software and that just to start. To do 3D carving or printing is a whole other level.
I have a good friend who is really good at CNC so we teamed up to CNC turn cannons and trying to do 3D carvings. He spent more time with writing G code and fussing with the machines than he spent actually making stuff. I ended up selling the CNC lathe and making casting molds for the cannons.

about carving with CNC this is a CAD file for the stern carvings at 1:48 scale first problem was the space between the scrolls averaged .015 to .007 that means you need a cutting bur the size of a pin. Anything that small would break from the pressure of the cutting action. (feed rate) and the speed of the tool. Bottom line the hobby grade tool we were using was not good enough and that was a $2,500.00 machine.
The next idea is the dots actually they were different colors. Each color was a depth set by the power of the laser beam setting. The idea here was to cut different levels. once again the beam was .012 on the big laser to big for tight areas. so we tried a 25watt laser with a .006 beam and that still burned the fine tips off the scrolls.

the carving machines usually have a library of cutting files you can purchase to create a cutting file from scratch you will spend about as much time doing that as you would carving the piece by hand.

you can watch you tube videos on guys doing all these nice carvings what they are not telling you is the time, learning the programs, fussing with the machines, making corrections all along the way. you might have 100 hours into that carving before you turn on the machine.

personally i gave up long ago on CNC and 3D printing doing it myself. i do the original design work in CAD or create the basic shape of say a figurehead then my DXF, DWG, STL files are sent to the pros who can actually create the final cutting or printing files and who have the machines that can do the work and those machines like Mike said are for from cheap.
Another idea I explored was 3D scanning and printing and cutting from the scan. OPPS! not that simple those original scans have to be reworked to make them usable as a print or cutting file, so again you still need software and know how to use it.

rattlesnake V13.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top