- Joined
- Aug 2, 2015
- Messages
- 3
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- 0
First of all let me introduce myself. My name is Neil and until a few days ago knew nothing about lasers apart from the general stuff like where and what they're generally used for, and I'm not sure I know much more now.
I'm currently tackling this Making PCB with 3D Printer and permanent marker | Lamja.com project. The quickest way to get the gist of it is to watch the video.
You may think What has this got to do with lasers?
I must admit that lasers were the furthest thing from my mind when I started it.
I've got the project working up to a point, and that's not a pun.
Believe it or not the hardest thing about this is finding a suitable marker pen for it to work. I've asked the original OP who has put pictures of the one he uses in the description but he's bought them from a local supermarket in Norway which isn't any good to me in the UK.
Then I started thinking, what if I burned the marker away instead of scraping it, then I wouldn't have to worry about finding 'just the right one'.
So here I am.
I started to experiment with a diode that I removed form a DVD burner but I killed it when I was adjusting the current to it because of a bad potentiometer. Now it's an LED. The driver issue is now sorted.
So my question is this; can I build something that I can focus the beam down to 0.25mm or smaller, the closer the laser is to the board the better and what sort of mw am I looking at. Speed isn't an issue, I'm not going into production of circuit boards, as it's adjustable but slower is better than lightning fast. I'm also not trying to 'burn away' the copper I actually want the copper to just be exposed from under the marker pen.
I've still got the carrier assembly intact from the DVD drive so I can still use the optics from it if they would be of any use. If the diode from a DVD could do it then I'm going to start ringing around local PC repair shops to see if they have any old units they don't want.
Sorry for the long post, I'm just trying to include as much information as I can and as I say; am I wasting my time and should I just persevere with what I've got.
- Neil
I'm currently tackling this Making PCB with 3D Printer and permanent marker | Lamja.com project. The quickest way to get the gist of it is to watch the video.
You may think What has this got to do with lasers?
I must admit that lasers were the furthest thing from my mind when I started it.
I've got the project working up to a point, and that's not a pun.
Believe it or not the hardest thing about this is finding a suitable marker pen for it to work. I've asked the original OP who has put pictures of the one he uses in the description but he's bought them from a local supermarket in Norway which isn't any good to me in the UK.
Then I started thinking, what if I burned the marker away instead of scraping it, then I wouldn't have to worry about finding 'just the right one'.
So here I am.
I started to experiment with a diode that I removed form a DVD burner but I killed it when I was adjusting the current to it because of a bad potentiometer. Now it's an LED. The driver issue is now sorted.
So my question is this; can I build something that I can focus the beam down to 0.25mm or smaller, the closer the laser is to the board the better and what sort of mw am I looking at. Speed isn't an issue, I'm not going into production of circuit boards, as it's adjustable but slower is better than lightning fast. I'm also not trying to 'burn away' the copper I actually want the copper to just be exposed from under the marker pen.
I've still got the carrier assembly intact from the DVD drive so I can still use the optics from it if they would be of any use. If the diode from a DVD could do it then I'm going to start ringing around local PC repair shops to see if they have any old units they don't want.
Sorry for the long post, I'm just trying to include as much information as I can and as I say; am I wasting my time and should I just persevere with what I've got.
- Neil
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