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OMTech Lasers - 50w co2 laser engraver - build log and experience

Wayne said:
Nice! That sign came out really nice.

The cardboard doesn't even look laser cut..? No toasted edge?
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Yeah it takes a few adjustments. I find a power/speed setting that cuts thru and than start speeding it up or lowering power until it just cuts thru. I didnt do anything to clean the edges to the above cardboard, thats how it comes out of the laser.
 
Was about 10 minutes of work to go thru 5 versions. Placing tools on the piece, adjusting, and cutting out the next one.

PXL_20201218_055726217.jpg
 
Smoke and/or debris being blow away by the air assist. It smells like burning wood. My upgraded exhaust system works so well i don't actually smell anything anymore.
 
Finally got all the "standard" chinese laser mods done. Already had done the exhaust system. This morning I added more LED, specifically pointing away from the door so you can see and record video. The built in one is in the back facing right towards you.
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Surface mounted the ammeter.
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And I picked up a magnetic 1/4 20 adapter for my camera.
PXL_20201219_195128301.jpg
 
Had some success cutting 2mm coroplast last night. I could never get the standard political sign stuff, around 5mm i think, to cut. Those vertical flutes would not cut thru and the back side would be melted out. This 2mm stuff cuts really nice, there is just enough material left to hold it in place making it very easy to "snap" out by hand.
PXL_20201222_014234864.jpgPXL_20201222_014242147.jpg
 
Hmm, I could buy some from there and sell it in smaller quantities if people are interested. But shipping will always be a pain. I do love Depron, so nice to work with.
 
I haven't ever seen depron in person. Why would you use that over foamboard as an example? Higher quality? stronger?

One interesting thing i have run into with the CO2 vs Diode while engraving is that the results are totally different. I haven't looked anything up yet, but my current guess is the visible light spectrum of the diode vs the infrared of the co2. The issue is that I was used to the diode leaving a nice dark char, making the engrave totally stand out. The co2 on the other hand leaves no char, its almost like a cnc bit in that regard, it just removes material. Now I'm not complaining, these two signs are similar in size, but the co2 did it in 10 minutes and is deeper whereas the diode RCafter hours one was like a 45 minute burn. Just need to adjust my process to either paint the surface first or in this case I'm going to do a test of sealing it and than put some watered down acrylic into the low spots and wipe the excess away.

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thenated0g said:
Why would you use that over foamboard as an example? Higher quality? stronger?
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Lighter. Hard to describe, but imagine it as being only the foam from foamboard without the heavy cardboard, but with the surfaces melted to close the foam and make a thin solid layer to rigidify the board in a similar sandwich fashion but without any added weight.

thenated0g said:
The issue is that I was used to the diode leaving a nice dark char, making the engrave totally stand out. The co2 on the other hand leaves no char, its almost like a cnc bit in that regard, it just removes material.
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You probably need to do like with the diode - run slower to leave the wood time to burn, and thus probably at lower power.
 
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That wood etching is pretty amazing to me. Didn't know they could do that. Will it keep getting deeper if you run the same cut again? That would allow you to laser carve if it did. Interesting.

Depron - You know that foam under the steak you bought at the grocery store? That is pretty similar stuff. Waterproof, easy to sand, easy to cut, can make really good looking stuff. Kind of like really light balsa but no grain issues. Also not as durable as balsa.

It is really nice stuff for light weight park fliers. You can bend it, form it, shape it, etc. But clip your fingernails before you build with it. LOL
 
Yes, you could slow down the speed, increase the power, and/or increase the amount of passes. I have seen a couple guys in the flitetest forums even do some 3d engraving in pink foam, let me go find it and ill post it below.
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I am going to do a test for @Ma4din where we see if we can get it repeatable and accurate enough to cut a perfect little rectangle out 1/32 or so down into the surface of some plywood for another part to register to.

The dpi on this machine i think is rated up to 4500dpi which is nuts. That one above is 200dpi as the rough pallet wood doesn't need anything more. When its engraving the head is moving really fast, like 500mm/s compared to cutting when im doing like 10-50. I recorded this whole job on my gopro, ill get it rendered out in the next day or two.

As you go up in dpi, the job length drastically increases as its more lines. I am usually happy in the 300-400 range.
 
If it can "carve" wood, I can see some real advantages over say a CNC router for the same sort of work. Interesting. Very clean..
 
I have my doubts about the repeatability of this for stuff that needs fine tolerances, i think the inconsistencies with wood would impact it a lot. Whereas a cnc path is always going to go down a certain depth, but a laser may not cut as deep or cut too deep when the wood is more or less dense than you programmed it. But i could be totally wrong. @Ma4din and i had a discussion about laser exhaust systems in a home or shop. I was under the strong opinion that you need to open a door to outside to allow the same or more amount of air into your room as the laser was exhausting and than i used your little anemometer to test the windspeed in both scenarios and it was exactly the same :ROFLMAO:
 
thenated0g said:
I haven't ever seen depron in person. Why would you use that over foamboard as an example? Higher quality? stronger?
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Depron is stronger and lighter. Has a skin on it. Cuts great with laser cutter. It will crack when crashed. One thing I discovered was that cutting a honeycomb pattern into it and covering with light covering or New Stuff (Laminating film) the cracks would not propagate. The cells or holes would arrest the crack where it started.
 
thenated0g said:
I have my doubts about the repeatability of this for stuff that needs fine tolerances, i think the inconsistencies with wood would impact it a lot. Whereas a cnc path is always going to go down a certain depth, but a laser may not cut as deep or cut too deep when the wood is more or less dense than you programmed it. But i could be totally wrong. @Ma4din and i had a discussion about laser exhaust systems in a home or shop. I was under the strong opinion that you need to open a door to outside to allow the same or more amount of air into your room as the laser was exhausting and than i used your little anemometer to test the windspeed in both scenarios and it was exactly the same :ROFLMAO:
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Was thinking more for artwork type of projects where the variable depth may not be an issue. Things like the signs. :)
 
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