New guy, wanna say hi an yep got a couple of quick questions for you diyers.

[Commander J. Bloodmaker]

Hey laser peoples. How is everyone, fine I hope ( all eye's still working, house still standing, cat still has fur, etc.). I've been reading posts for about 12 months or so now. Learning all I can, and after 4 months I decided I was ready to get my laser engraver. I know, laser pointers, but this site had more laser info than the cnc sites. I will be making laser pointers eventually. I've been enjoying chinese already made pens my whole life. I have my safety gear, so please no replies about that, I'm not some teen or 20 years old( i'm pretty old and have spent a life with more dangerous things than a laser, I am 100% aware of laser dangers and have a whole room dedicated to my laser machine). I got it covered ( besides I have been welding since i was 10, I know the power of light. I'm well versed on electricity, soldering, not so much in circuit design though. I can build it if i have the schematics though). thanks for that in advance.

Anyway, I am currently building my first cnc laser. I have already got it through my head that I might just send the diode to it's grave. which is fine, I bought a cheap NUBM08 4.75w 445nm to play with. has a glass ball lens, so from a projector I imagine. I just ordered two lab grade regulated power supplies, nice chunk of change there. Will be getting some other toys to read current( I have many multimeters, just want one for the laser room already set up) ,wave form and all that other jazz later. Yeah I tend to go all out when I like something.

Back on track here, so I will be taking the GB off, yep shorter life. again play diode before I get my real one( windowed). Since it is my first build and I plan on just playing with it to learn, I bought a cheap smaller AL heat sink, but jesus the diode host is huge for such a small diode, lol.

ok, so now ya got a little background, my question is, since my machine( ortur laser master 2) is pwm already, are there any driver boards easily obtained with paypal or what are the boards, that have just pwm input or ttl/pwm input tht auto detects ( or separate solder/connector points for ttl and pwm inputs)and picks the proper setting with out frying the board. From what i gather, pwm is 12v and ttl is 5v, and I would rather use pwm that my machine's motherboard outputs. I have seen the pwm to ttl boards, and would rather leave that out. I would also like an adjustable pot on board. I plan on building the module and to just swap out the diode host when it gets to weak to blast glass. The adj. pot would be for if i switched to a different diode. If none are easily obtainable, I will just build my own. I have searched through this forum and couldn't find the answer to my question, tons of info on diodes, hosts, heat sinks, wavelengths, etc. An immense amount of info on portable drivers, not much on cnc drivers.

I can simple buy a new module, but what would be the fun in that?

 

[Encap]

Welcome and enjoy the forum.

LPF is mostly about hobbyist laser pointers and related, however, there are many knowledgeable members who probably can help you wade you way through what you are doing.

In the meantime, have a look at Opt Lasers , a company in Poland who makes excellent quality CNC and 3D components at reasonable prices and really do know what they are doing.

Might give you some ideas. See: https://optlasers.com/cnc-3d-lasers/

 

[hakzaw1]

welcome

From texas-- are you local??
time zone there??
later

 

[Commander J. Bloodmaker]

welcome

From texas-- are you local??
time zone there??
later

Im about 1000 miles north of my beloved home state. Up here in little texas ( nebraska) , Central time zone here. I'd love to be south of the dixie line, but life has other plans for me at the moment.

 

[skijohn]

Wow, that's some member name you have there!

 

[Commander J. Bloodmaker]

Welcome and enjoy the forum.

LPF is mostly about laser and related, however, there are many knowledgeable members who probably can help you wade you way through what you are doing.

In the meantime, have a look at Opt Lasers , a company in Poland who makes excellent quality CNC and 3D components at reasonable prices and really do know what they are doing.

Might give you some ideas. See:

I hope i can find someone that knows what im looking for. I just don't want y'all to think I'm here for hand holding or trying to make starwars weapons ( ). I run a small glass and tile engraving business on the side and just want to reduce cost of the lasers so i can reduce the cost of my wares for my customers. Its why i decided to just dive in and build my own. Only snag i have so far is finding a board that meets my needs. I could make one, but would rather buy the board and save the time. Besides making one would be using a bread board and it would be huge and have to sitoff to the side, not on the module. If i find this forum to be home like and friendly, I'll eventually start posting test results on stuff and making things to give away to other members. I do this in other forums because i feel the less monetarily endowed should get a little help too. I was one before, an now i enjoy paying it forward. I have a machine shop ( small) and have dedicated a whole room to just my laser activity.

EDIT::::::::::

That site, exactly what I was looking for!!! Got it ordered and now the waiting game. Was a bit more than I wanted to pay, but the quality is amazing. thank you!!!

Wow, that's some member name you have there!

Lol, you can call me jim or jimmy if ya want.

 

[Ears and Eggs]

Welcome to the forums!

 

[Unown (WILD)]

Welcome Jim. I can't help you with your question though. I have no idea. I've only messed with laser pointer setups and have yet to get into professional setups

 

[RedCowboy]

Welcome Mr. Bloodmaker

The laser diodes with the integrated ball lens present an issue and that is you're stuck with the ball lens or a drastically reduced lifespan if you remove it, you can get a nubm08 with a replacement window can and they claim it's backfilled with the needed inert gas or you can go with a factory window can diode, the ndb7a75 is one of the best for home cnc use.

 

[FireMyLaser]

Hi, yes, TTL usually means 0-5V can also be used other context beyond PWM. But PWM has no common voltage (it can be 1, 5, 12v, and beyond), and means Pulse-Width-Modulation, and really just mean that its on vs off time of each pulse cycle is varied with (usually) a fixed frequency. PWM is commonly used for dimming/speed/intensity control - its a efficient way of controlling power. If the PWM signal source has a higher voltage than what the receiving ends allows, then you can buy a level shifter, or possibly make one yourself with a zener diode and resistor.

 

[RedCowboy]

I hope i can find someone that knows what im looking for. I just don't want y'all to think I'm here for hand holding or trying to make starwars weapons ( ). I run a small glass and tile engraving business on the side and just want to reduce cost of the lasers so i can reduce the cost of my wares for my customers. Its why i decided to just dive in and build my own. Only snag i have so far is finding a board that meets my needs. I could make one, but would rather buy the board and save the time. Besides making one would be using a bread board and it would be huge and have to sitoff to the side, not on the module. If i find this forum to be home like and friendly, I'll eventually start posting test results on stuff and making things to give away to other members. I do this in other forums because i feel the less monetarily endowed should get a little help too. I was one before, an now i enjoy paying it forward. I have a machine shop ( small) and have dedicated a whole room to just my laser activity.

Lol, you can call me jim or jimmy if ya want.

For glass and tile you would do much better with a CO2 laser.

 

[Commander J. Bloodmaker]

For glass and tile you would do much better with a CO2 laser.

Working on that. Building my customer base before i drop 3k on a co2. Got my eyes on a few, just need the customer base to support the purchase. An trust me, im trying to justify the co2 purchase. Lol. I love freaking laser beams.

Hi, yes, TTL usually means 0-5V can also be used other context beyond PWM. But PWM has no common voltage (it can be 1, 5, 12v, and beyond), and means Pulse-Width-Modulation, and really just mean that its on vs off time of each pulse cycle is varied with (usually) a fixed frequency. PWM is commonly used for dimming/speed/intensity control - its a efficient way of controlling power. If the PWM signal source has a higher voltage than what the receiving ends allows, then you can buy a level shifter, or possibly make one yourself with a zener diode and resistor.

Thank you for that info. I may have to build one( shifter) if i cant find a board my machine is 100% compatible with. I've seen a few boards that state ttl/pwm, an am thinking of trying one. My question would be, should i slap a meter on the pwm output ( laser powered up of course, lol) on my machine to see the voltage output, or do you think it would be safe to just wire it up and hope for the best while testing it with a dummy on it?

 

[RedCowboy]

You can get a ready to go CO2 from ebay for a few hundred bucks, 40w and much superior beam quality compared to the multi mode blue laser diodes which are inadequacy for glass/tile work.

 

[Commander J. Bloodmaker]

You can get a ready to go for a few hundred bucks, 40w and much superior beam quality compared to the multi mode blue laser diodes which are inadequacy for glass/tile work.

I've got some really good results with 405nm-450nm and a coating. Even found some coatings i can use to add colors ( limited colors) directly into the microfractures the laser creates on glass while engraving. I'd also like to get laser diode building down, simply because i find lasers very interesting and have some condensed matter experiments i wish to preform. Gotta be good at building lasers before i build the experiment rig to probe into the world of the quantum realm. Thats a little much for this forum to dive into on a new guy though. . I will have a co2 laser as soon as my customer base allows. Diodes can sit for years, co2 tube degrades with time. Sometimes ita a month or two between jobs.

 

[Commander J. Bloodmaker]

Thanks for everyone's help. Encap directed me to a site that had exactly what I was looking for. I'm still down for any advice y'all wanna throw my way though.