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Jay Selway
10-17-2014, 1:32 AM
Anybody have any experience with using a large format Kern laser to engrave on wood? I'm not too familiar with Kern, and was curious of the quality of beam when working with wood.

(already searched, couldn't find much!)

thx

Keith Outten
10-17-2014, 6:04 AM
Jay,

I've seen Kern lasers cutting and engraving at IWF in Atlanta several times and they do an excellent job. You should contact Kern and ask them to send you one or two of their 3D engraved samples. You will need at least a 10X loop to be able to see the detail that their lasers are capable of engraving. There are some pictures here in our archives of their 3D samples.

Scott Shepherd
10-17-2014, 8:09 AM
It's excellent. They also start at about $90,000 for a 4' x 4'. I looked at one last week.

Dave Sheldrake
10-17-2014, 9:28 AM
Premium machines Jay, have a word with Matt Turner, he has one of the large machines at his work facility (as well as knowing a lot about the science behind what they do) I would consider them as the next step past Trotech/Epilog/ULS machines but just before large industrials like Mitsubishi/Haas/Mazak/Bystronic

cheers

Dave

Kevin Gregerson
10-17-2014, 12:55 PM
Kern does some excellent machines for high detail large design stuff. It really depends on the options you got with it though.

Matt Turner (physics)
10-17-2014, 1:08 PM
Hi Jay,

Did you have any specific questions? I haven't done a whole lot of wood engraving, but I've been pretty happy with the stuff I have done. I've attached pictures of a UW seal that I did a while back (the one picture I have of it is a bit blurry—someone stole the piece or I'd take another) and a piece that another student made (he didn't have the ventilation set up right and really smoked up our shop area—I'm surprised the fire department didn't have to show up). My only real problem with it has been that I sometimes forget to defocus the laser for 2D engraving at the 300DPI on the recommended settings sheet. The beam quality is good enough that you can see the individual lines cut into the wood, even at that high of a DPI. They recommend doing the 3D engraving at 600DPI, so it isn't an issue then.

-Matt

(Dave - I wouldn't have thought I'd contributed enough here to earn a mention by one of the regulars. That just made my day.)

298554
298555

Dave Sheldrake
10-17-2014, 1:19 PM
(Dave - I wouldn't have thought I'd contributed enough here to earn a mention by one of the regulars. That just made my day.)

Quality of information more than makes up for post count Matt ;)

cheers

Dave

Graham Taylor
10-17-2014, 1:49 PM
Hi Jay,


(Dave - I wouldn't have thought I'd contributed enough here to earn a mention by one of the regulars. That just made my day.)



and in his sig he casually drops in that he has a '7.5 MeV tandem Van de Graaff particle accelerator' http://www.npl.washington.edu/tandemvandegraaff

with that he could be a Bond villain looking to take over the world :D

Paul Phillips
10-17-2014, 1:50 PM
Quality of information more than makes up for post count Matt ;)

cheers

Dave
That and the fact that (besides Dave) you have one of the biggest, coolest lasers here, AND one of the coolest job descriptions!
Matt, can you explain about the box door a little? That looks amazing, where did you get the files for that, did you make your own or buy them from Gantryco?
(Green with envy)!

Scott Shepherd
10-17-2014, 2:10 PM
Here are some photos of one of the samples I got. They don't do it justice, it's very intricate and the details are razor sharp.

298557298558298559298560

Matt Turner (physics)
10-17-2014, 2:27 PM
Matt, can you explain about the box door a little? That looks amazing, where did you get the files for that, did you make your own or buy them from Gantryco?


That was done by another student, who has a much better artistic eye than I do. I think he made the box himself. The image is an engraving by Ernst Haeckel, a very influential biologist and naturalist, from his book Kunstformen der Natur. The page images are available here: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Kunstformen_der_Natur.

Eventually I'm going to graduate and not have access to this laser anymore :(. We'll see if anyone still talks to me then . . . ;)

David Somers
10-17-2014, 5:18 PM
Sounds like a good excuse for becoming a perpetual student if you ask me Matt! Either that or bringing your keys into Home Depot to have dupes made so you can go do some midnight 400 watt engraving and particle accelerating!!

Or perhaps you could get the home version of the particle accelerator? There must be an Instructables on making a DIY one for your house? Instead of being out on the streets racing hot rods with your buds you can start a new trend. Get a couple of six packs and a few pizza's from Pagliacci's and invite your homies to bring their Bosons over (Higgs of course) and race em around the perimeter of your basement! Darn the power bill!!! Full speed ahead!!!!! Slowest Boson buys the pizza!

Personally, I would settle for a simple Van de Graaff generator in my house, maybe a humble 500kv unit, and a 5 or 6 foot tall Jacobs Ladder for mood lighting! Wouldn't that be a hoot for Halloween with Bach's Organ Toccata and Fugue in D Minor amped up in the background!! Trick or Treat!!!! Bwahahahaha!

<grin>

Paul Phillips
10-17-2014, 8:15 PM
Matt, I have no doubt someone with your intelligence and ability will go far, you have your whole future ahead of you and it's full of opportunities! If nothing else pans out for you, you can always come learn how to make signs in Palm Springs!

Jay Selway
10-20-2014, 1:20 AM
It's excellent. They also start at about $90,000 for a 4' x 4'. I looked at one last week.

I'm not looking at buying, way out of my price range (for now). I've been talking with Wilke Laser in Hanover, PA about doing a large format project for me. Just wanted make sure the detail quality was up to snuff, which it sounds like it is.

J

Jay Selway
10-20-2014, 1:21 AM
Wow ok - that thing looks amazing.

I'll take 2 please.

Keith Outten
10-20-2014, 5:59 AM
Lets take up a collection and buy one :)
.

Dave Sheldrake
10-20-2014, 7:28 AM
I'm not downgrading for anybody Keith :)

Keith Outten
10-20-2014, 9:18 AM
Dave,

I wish a Kern Laser was a downgrade for my shop :)

I really love my Trotec but It would be awesome to be able to vector cut steel sheet, half inch thick Corian and glass..........:)
.

Matt Turner (physics)
10-20-2014, 1:49 PM
Lets take up a collection and buy one :)
.

I'm in. We should probably install it at my house, since I have the most experience with their machines, right? :D

Dave Sheldrake
10-20-2014, 4:04 PM
Steel's ok to do Keith but the cost runs compared to organics are crazy, a LOT more competition as well from mid industrial shops. A lot of end buyers don't quite grasp if you are pumping £27 worth of oxygen or Argon through the nozzle per hour then their job isn't going to cost £15 per hour ;)

Must admit though, stainless is a giggle when you start making the smaller items that have always been made of wood out of steel :)

best wishes

Dave

ps: Matt...ummm NO :)

Eric j Allen
11-09-2014, 10:03 PM
Matt, you're saying you have different focal lengths for 300dpi vs. 600dpi? Is this because of the machine you're using? I operate a Kern Micro (150W) and a Kern100
I'm not familiar with this setting recommendation.

Matt Turner (physics)
11-09-2014, 10:18 PM
Matt, you're saying you have different focal lengths for 300dpi vs. 600dpi? Is this because of the machine you're using? I operate a Kern Micro (150W) and a Kern100
I'm not familiar with this setting recommendation.

No, we just have a 2.5" lens. It looks like the beam spot (or its effective size) from our laser is less than 1/(300dpi) ~= 0.003 in wide, because if I engrave wood at 300dpi I can see ridges left between passes. There isn't anything in the settings sheet about this—it's just something I've had to figure out myself. The beam width and quality (both determine the focal spot size) for our 400W laser is likely different than yours.