Hi from australia

[pow3r]

Hi All, i'm new to lasers, i've put together a 3 axis cnc, but figured that the option to swap out the milling head for a the cutting laser instead of would be a cool feature.

not really looking to cut anything industrial, probably just paper/cardstock (preferably all colours) and maybe etch some other materials.

here's a couple of shots of the CNC as it stands currently (well almost, i've pulled apart the y and z axis to get a bit more travel, and haven't finished repairing the mess i made )

 

[Things]

That's a cool little compact CNC machine!

If you just want to cut thin stuff like paper/card, I'd look at using a 445nm laser. You can get them doing up to about 2W, they don't require any high voltage or water cooling, and you can very easily mount it on the Z axis.

 

[Gun]

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie--Oi, Oi, Oi.

Welcome to LPF mate

 

[pow3r]

That's a cool little compact CNC machine!

If you just want to cut thin stuff like paper/card, I'd look at using a 445nm laser. You can get them doing up to about 2W, they don't require any high voltage or water cooling, and you can very easily mount it on the Z axis.

cheers, it's based on a kickstarter, but i've made a couple of mods, and have some more in mind.

just remembered i have this photo btw.

one of the 20W co2 lasers we use at work to do text etching. wonder if they'd let me borrow it, might be hard to mount on the mill

 

[Things]

Haha, those aren't really suited for cutting though, they're designed for high speed engraving

 

[lasersbee]

Nice CNC build.... I need to extend my sidearms like
yours so I can cut some larger (higher) material.

to the Forum pow3r....

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Enjoy your stay...


Jerry

You can contact us at any time on our Website: J.BAUER Electronics

 

[Things]

I've built a few laser cutters myself, just as a project. Usually ended up building one, realising it was crap, then starting over again. Did that about 3 times, then decided to do it properly. I then decided to go to university, and in about 12 months will probably have to move into a unit, so the one I built ended up being waayyyy too big, and had to sell it

Ended up buying a small unit from eBay, and it's been great so far. Not one of those crappy little $600 ones, I paid about $2500 for this, delivered inside Aus. Has all the features like DSP control, air assist, manual Z table etc, and a decent work area of 500x400 IIRC.

 

[TheDukeAnumber1]

Pretty cool, and welcome.

 

[tonyt]

Welcome to another fellow Aussie!