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ArcticMyst Security by Avery

Can i make a logo engraver out of my arctic?

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Aug 7, 2010
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What I am wondering, is can I make some cheap rig that can be used with my arctic laser to burn a small logo about half dolar sized into plastics, and rubber? I would assume the burning point would be a dot the size of the entire logo, and be burning through a stencil kind of thing. How would i go about this.
I understand a half dollar sied dot would be weak, but at 1W could i just leave it there for like 2-5 mnutes and have it be engraved? If not, i can do it by hand but it wil most likely looks shitty
 





Trevor

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Jul 17, 2009
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When defocused to that size, you'd have way less than 1W due to wasted photons (the beam is rectangular, and to fill a circle you'd be losing a lot in the corners / other parts of the rectangle), and nowhere near enough to etch. You'd need to focus it to a point and scan it over the surface using an XY rig.

-Trevor
 
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Dec 23, 2007
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I would suggest you build your own pantograph with a 445 diode.

File:pantograph 2X.gif - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You would then replace the pencil with the 445 and trace the outline of the stencil with the stylus and the 445 would engrave the logo into the plastic. If you flip the stylus and the pencil in that pic I posted you can have a much larger stencil so you have more of a margin of error.

PM me if you would like a little more info, I messed around with making one using a red diode a while back but the diode didn't burn fast enough for me, a 1W diode would do just fine.
 
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The material you intend to "burn" or ablate needs to absorbe all the power.
If it reflects or passes, there will be little or no heat. I think CO2 is a better choice for your application.

NMike
 
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hmmm That thing is not automatic right???
I there anything that i might be able to hook up to my computer to cut out stencils out of white car stock with the stencil printed in black
 
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Yes, but if you are going to go through that trouble you should just go CO2 as Mike suggested.

Look up homemade CNC's on instructibles, you will only need a two axis X and Y system. You then need two stepper motors, either a moving table or a moving head rig, a stepper controller, some sort of G code creating program, and some sort of CNC controlling program. It can be done on the cheap (sub $500) but going through all that trouble just for a 1W arctic is stupid. The arctic is a toy, it is not meant to be implemented into any computer controlled CNC engraving system.
 
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Aug 30, 2008
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....what your talking about is so impractical. You may as well just take a heating element from a toaster and use that instead of a laser......

It would probably last longer than that piece of crap you just spent $300 on :crackup:

I'm only kidding!














not really
 
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OH wow that is awesome!
It's impressive what some of the members here are capable of doing.
 
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Aug 7, 2010
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the thing is i didnt pay fo rt his laser. i got it for 30 bucks for shipping with my wicked bucks so i am seeing what to do with it that may be useful.. otherwise im selling it
 
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It's not really useful for much other than burning stuff, the rectangular output is the main reason for this.
 




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