My 15th machine came today!

[Kev Williams]

So in addition to one 20" vinyl cutter, ten CNC engraving machines and three C02 lasers, I'm finally the happy owner of a fiber laser!
http://www.engraver1.com/gifs/party.gif

I figured out how to make it work (no mean feat considering the instructions!), and got some surprising results...
one of which was cutting a 1/2" tall outlined arrowhead looking thing into aluminum in the blink of an eye, like 1/2 second.
Ok, so it was only about 2 linear inches, but it was also about .002" deep! The surprise of this was, it was awhile later
that I finally figured out that the 30 power setting I had entered wasn't the wattage, but the percentage!

So after cranking it up a bit, I got some jet-black results on stainless- ooohhh, if only this thing would engrave a 30x30" area.... ;)

one other surprising result, so far, is I haven't been able to make a piece of black anodized aluminum look decent...?

So half the fun is going to be figuring this all out... :)

[Keith Winter]

Congrats Kev, that's quite an accomplishment to build a business big enough to support so many machines!


So in addition to one 20" vinyl cutter, ten CNC engraving machines and three C02 lasers, I'm finally the happy owner of a fiber laser!
http://www.engraver1.com/gifs/party.gif

I figured out how to make it work (no mean feat considering the instructions!), and got some surprising results...
one of which was cutting a 1/2" tall outlined arrowhead looking thing into aluminum in the blink of an eye, like 1/2 second.
Ok, so it was only about 2 linear inches, but it was also about .002" deep! The surprise of this was, it was awhile later
that I finally figured out that the 30 power setting I had entered wasn't the wattage, but the percentage!

So after cranking it up a bit, I got some jet-black results on stainless- ooohhh, if only this thing would engrave a 30x30" area.... ;)

one other surprising result, so far, is I haven't been able to make a piece of black anodized aluminum look decent...?

So half the fun is going to be figuring this all out... :)

[Bert Kemp]

Awesome Kev can I come play with it :D

[Kev Williams]

Anytime Bert! :)

I just found out 2 somethings the hard way...

I've been testing a bunch of scrap stuff, love the red box thing...

--until I put a real part on the machine and assumed the engraving would be centered in the box...

And I used like 20% power just in case something like that happened, but it engraved at least .002 deep!

in hardened steel! --and FAST! I'm gonna love this thing! :)

Anyway- are the red lights adjustable to match the actual laser output, or is it a 'move the engraving layout' deal.

Not a big deal, but the box to engraving is off a full 2mm/.080" vertically-- Otherwise, big WOW is all I got...
(because I don't have to sharpen a laser beam!)

[Klaus Madsen]

So in addition to one 20" vinyl cutter, ten CNC engraving machines and three C02 lasers, I'm finally the happy owner of a fiber laser!
http://www.engraver1.com/gifs/party.gif

I figured out how to make it work (no mean feat considering the instructions!), and got some surprising results...
one of which was cutting a 1/2" tall outlined arrowhead looking thing into aluminum in the blink of an eye, like 1/2 second.
Ok, so it was only about 2 linear inches, but it was also about .002" deep! The surprise of this was, it was awhile later
that I finally figured out that the 30 power setting I had entered wasn't the wattage, but the percentage!

So after cranking it up a bit, I got some jet-black results on stainless- ooohhh, if only this thing would engrave a 30x30" area.... ;)

one other surprising result, so far, is I haven't been able to make a piece of black anodized aluminum look decent...?

So half the fun is going to be figuring this all out... :)

What??? Do you ONLY have 15 Machines ??? How can you live with that :D

[Julian Ashcroft]

Can I ask what type of fiber laser you got?

[Gary Hair]

one other surprising result, so far, is I haven't been able to make a piece of black anodized aluminum look decent...?

Try 1500 speed, 100 power, 45 freq, one hatch at 45 degrees and .05mm spacing - I think you'll be happy with the results!

[Scott Marquez]

Congrats Kev,
New toys are the spice of life, and learning how to use them is part of the fun.
If I had a customer that needed work from a fiber I would be all in.
Enjoy and share some pictures of your new projects.
Scott

[Rodne Gold]

you have to calibrate the red box to a cut , and calibrate the cut as well, and calibrate the hatching...

Are you using ezcad..I can help if you are

What did you get... I imported a 20w .. had it 3 weeks and have got to grips with it big time . brilliant machine .. 110 lens and a 200 lens and rotary .. still got to get to grips with rotary
Cost me less than $6k door to door .. they have come down big time in price

Mine works real well on laser engraving plastics.. and all metals and some platics that the co2's wont touch

[Kev Williams]

Since I've had good machinery and customer service from Triumph, I thought I'd give them more of my money!

What I got is a portable unit, I've seen others just like it, this one just has Triumph's name on it...

http://www.engraver1.com/erase2/trifiber2.jpg

It's a 30 watter with a 150 lens. They sell a 'desk' version with the cabinet and the lens mounted to a post etc, but I was told it's the exact same machine otherwise, and besides taking up more room, it would cost more to ship because it would have to go BY ship. DHL put this on a airplane a week ago Monday. Should've had it Friday but customs held it up in Cincinnati.

It came with a laptop (with Win7 Ultimate, I couldn't be happier, lol), all loaded up with ezCad ready to go! I could've gotten a 20 watt unit for under $6k, but remembered I've never ever complained about anything having too much power... ;) -those extra 10 watts they didn't just give away, either.

Funny story about the laptop, I'm the first person they've sold one of these to in the 110 volt version, but they couldn't locate a 110v laptop, so they sent along a 110-to-220 volt step-up transformer to run it. But I don't need it because the 19 volt output charger works from 110 to 240 volts- I plugged it in and it works fine! :)

--What's the foot pedal for? Not sure I'll find info about it in the instructions. And who's bright idea was it to make "F2" the 'start' button? I've accidentally started the laser up probably 10 times already just from trying to type a regular "2"! I don't like laptops anyway, I'll soon be running this from one of my desktops...

[Rodne Gold]

I have the almost identical machine .. 20 w IPG fiber
110 x 110mm work area
lens is a 112-163..whatever that may mean .. my focal gauge from lens rim to workpiece is exactly 192mm (made an acrylic gauge)
Ezcad

foot switch = manual f2 (start mark)

you need to do 2 things

1 - calibrate the actual engraving
2. calibrate the red square

1. engrave a 10cm x 10cm square

Measure it and check it isnt barreled sided , sloped , has concave sides etc .. if its NOT exact and the sides not dead straight
then go to params (f3)

the first tab is "field" and you will see you can make adjustments
scale corrects for actual vs desired size
the rest have to do with the shape of the square
get the square to be exact by fiddling with values

once you got your cut/engraving 100%
then go to the tab "other" in params and click on red light pointer
mess with the settings till the red light pointer is exactly the same as the cut/engraving
Not too difficult

I too cannot get a solid black on aluminium .. even with 10 speed and 100 power (painfully slow).. best is a dark grey

As to metals , often the mark looks slightly brownish straight off the laser , but a wash with a cloth and some dishwasher liquid or a very light abraisive houshold cleaner takes away the brown "overburn" , crisps up the image and makes it black



Here are my settings for various materials .. works supremely on most laser engraving lams .. except those with white substrates

You will note that I havent used superspeeds like 3000 + -- or even 1000+ as with very fast speeds , very small letters do not get properly hatched
There are some corrections for this as well , I havent fiddled with them .. less detailed graphics can support higher speeds



MATERIAL SPEED POWER FREQ


Bronze black rowmark 800 40 20
Cutting rowmarks 15 100 20
blue mirror 250 100 20
pink mirror 600 70 20
blue white cannot mark
sparkle gold black 800 50 20
white black 800 50 20
black mirror 500 100 20
not a good mark
gold black row 800 40 20
silver black 800 40 20
red mirror 500 100 20
purple mirror 450 100 20
not a good mark
gold mirror 450 100 20
black white 2pass 1000 100 20
not a good mark
silver mirror 600 90 20
Black acrylic 800 90 20
blue acrylic 500 100 20
white abs grey mark 800 40 20
anodised colour 600 100 20
anodised black lightish wht 600 100 20
anodised black , white mark 2 pass as above
anodised natural light mark 800 100 20
anodised natural dark mark 150 100 20
raw alluminium grey mark 100 100 20
chrome 100 100 20
stainless polish 1200 30 200
stainless frost 800 80 200
stainless black 100 100 20
brass frost 700 90 100
brass black 80 100 20


I use only one type of hatch .. 0 degrees , 0.02mm line spacing . will experiment more...

[Mike Null]

Kev

Congratulations! I look forward to hearing about your adventures with with your new toy.

[Gary Hair]

I use only one type of hatch .. 0 degrees , 0.02mm line spacing . will experiment more...

I have been experimenting with wider spacing, mostly I use .05 but I've been trying .075 and the results are still extremely good. I think you'll find a huge time savings going from .02 to .06 and although you may have to increase the number of passes to get the same depth, the time savings per pass is well worth it.

[Kev Williams]

You guys are making this easy, you don't know how much I appreciate it!
Because my customers are keeping me extremely busy, my biggest enemy right now is TIME, and any saved is a blessing!
Speaking of wasting time, right now the laptop is installing 170 updates, 24 done so far in about 20 minutes,
so I'm looking at maybe a couple of hours before I can even use it this morning :mad:
(guess I can do some other actual work in the meantime) ;)

[Scott Challoner]

I have been experimenting with wider spacing, mostly I use .05 but I've been trying .075 and the results are still extremely good. I think you'll find a huge time savings going from .02 to .06 and although you may have to increase the number of passes to get the same depth, the time savings per pass is well worth it.

Agreed. This tip from Gary shaved a ton of time off a very large project. I'm actually still running it and I can't imagine how long it would take at .02mm. I liken the hatch spacing to DPI. You don't need to go 1000 DPI if 380 will do in much less time.

[John Bion]

Congratulations Kev! Hope it proves very profitable for you. Quite keen on one myself :)

[Rodne Gold]

Yeh. I raised my hatch line interval to 0.08 .. seems to work just as well .. a MASSIVE time saving
1min 37 sec vs 5 min 50 sec for the same job
thanks for the tip guys

[matthew knott]

.02 is way to tight unless you are using a 100mm lens and marking tiny characters.
For even more time savings try the different fill patterns.
Interested to know what the default settings you guys are using for laser on and laser off times
This can have a BIG effect on quality of mark and time it takes

[Kev Williams]

Ran 2 paying jobs last night- one job shaved 75% off the LS900 engraving time, the other job I didn't do a side-by-side, but probably 80-85% time savings. Black anodized parts.

I just ran a .02 hatch on some brass plated steel at high speed, trying to get the steel at light as possible once the brass has been gone thru. Seemed to work a little better than .05 did, but still playing :)

One of my customers dropped off a powdercoated aluminum part that had been fiber etched by another engraver they use. It was engraved in a double + and - 45° hatch. Looks knurled under a loupe. Seems to catch the light nicely, it's a very bright white, although my single 45 hatch was just as white. I like the double hatch, but can't figure out a way to do it in one setup-- unless stacking the second version on top of the first in a different color works, guess it will?

Some the parameter settings would be nice to know what they actually do? Like, on the 'advanced' tab, this shows settings Triumph used to engrave a photo on anodized. What's "jump"? Or anything else on this menu?
http://www.engraver1.com/erase2/fibersettings1.jpg



And there's a bunch of stuff in the hatch menu- the only one's I've actually figured out is the 'enable', 'follow edge once', hatch angle and spacing. Hatch type is kind of self explanatory, but chosing the 'diagonal' hatch option doesn't DRAW it that way?
Mark contour? what does it change? All calc? Hatch1 / 2 / 3, no clue! Offsets I can probably figure out with practice- Line reduction? NumLoops? Loop distance? Hatch one by one? Auto rotate hatch, I tried that, didn't seem to change anything...
---all this makes me feel a bit stupid! ;)

http://www.engraver1.com/erase2/fibersettings2.jpg

[Rodne Gold]

Kev , a semi decent manual is here
http://www.frontlaser.com/ezcad-2-7-6-software-manual/

[Kev Williams]

NICE, thank you! :)

[Keith Winter]

Very generous of you to share all the settings Rodne!


I have the almost identical machine .. 20 w IPG fiber
110 x 110mm work area
lens is a 112-163..whatever that may mean .. my focal gauge from lens rim to workpiece is exactly 192mm (made an acrylic gauge)
Ezcad

foot switch = manual f2 (start mark)

you need to do 2 things

1 - calibrate the actual engraving
2. calibrate the red square

1. engrave a 10cm x 10cm square

Measure it and check it isnt barreled sided , sloped , has concave sides etc .. if its NOT exact and the sides not dead straight
then go to params (f3)

the first tab is "field" and you will see you can make adjustments
scale corrects for actual vs desired size
the rest have to do with the shape of the square
get the square to be exact by fiddling with values

once you got your cut/engraving 100%
then go to the tab "other" in params and click on red light pointer
mess with the settings till the red light pointer is exactly the same as the cut/engraving
Not too difficult

I too cannot get a solid black on aluminium .. even with 10 speed and 100 power (painfully slow).. best is a dark grey

As to metals , often the mark looks slightly brownish straight off the laser , but a wash with a cloth and some dishwasher liquid or a very light abraisive houshold cleaner takes away the brown "overburn" , crisps up the image and makes it black



Here are my settings for various materials .. works supremely on most laser engraving lams .. except those with white substrates

You will note that I havent used superspeeds like 3000 + -- or even 1000+ as with very fast speeds , very small letters do not get properly hatched
There are some corrections for this as well , I havent fiddled with them .. less detailed graphics can support higher speeds



MATERIAL SPEED POWER FREQ


Bronze black rowmark 800 40 20
Cutting rowmarks 15 100 20
blue mirror 250 100 20
pink mirror 600 70 20
blue white cannot mark
sparkle gold black 800 50 20
white black 800 50 20
black mirror 500 100 20
not a good mark
gold black row 800 40 20
silver black 800 40 20
red mirror 500 100 20
purple mirror 450 100 20
not a good mark
gold mirror 450 100 20
black white 2pass 1000 100 20
not a good mark
silver mirror 600 90 20
Black acrylic 800 90 20
blue acrylic 500 100 20
white abs grey mark 800 40 20
anodised colour 600 100 20
anodised black lightish wht 600 100 20
anodised black , white mark 2 pass as above
anodised natural light mark 800 100 20
anodised natural dark mark 150 100 20
raw alluminium grey mark 100 100 20
chrome 100 100 20
stainless polish 1200 30 200
stainless frost 800 80 200
stainless black 100 100 20
brass frost 700 90 100
brass black 80 100 20


I use only one type of hatch .. 0 degrees , 0.02mm line spacing . will experiment more...

[Gary Hair]

Kev,
The way to get multiple hatch angles is to click on the "2" or "3" to the right of "Hatch1". Then click "Enable" and you can set the parameters as you like. I usually use 45 and 135 degrees. The particular hatch type you have selected isn't the fastest, you want the one that looks similar but is solid blue lines. One caveat though - if you have large areas to engrave this particular hatch may leave a pattern that doesn't look great. Either use the red/blue zig-zag hatch or vary the angle to see if you can make it go away. You should probably also deselect Mark Contour and Follow Edge Once, both will outline the area you are marking and for small graphics and text it is a waste of time. Since I do 1,000's of ano parts a week I have become fairly adept at shaving time without sacrificing quality - always looking for better/faster!

[Gary Hair]

I have the almost identical machine .. 20 w IPG fiber
MATERIAL SPEED POWER FREQ


Anyone trying these settings should keep in mind that the power of their machine dictates the lowest freq setting, 20 watt = 20 freq, 30 watt = 30 freq, etc., etc.

I only use low frequency, 30 on mine, for hogging out metal fast. For a nicer looking finish on anodized aluminum I use something between 40 and 60, that gives me a nice and bright white mark where 20 would etch into the surface.

[Kev Williams]

Gar,

I found that out (rotate the hatch) in the instruction manual Rodne so kindly provided explained all that! The manual is a big help, along with everyone else! :)

[Neville Stewart]

Gar,

I found that out (rotate the hatch) in the instruction manual Rodne so kindly provided explained all that! The manual is a big help, along with everyone else! :)
If you have "wobble" under advanced settings it will give a decent black mark in aluminum.

[Matt McCoy]

Will the fiber replace a handful of machines for you?

[Kev Williams]

If you have "wobble" under advanced settings it will give a decent black mark in aluminum.

I do have "wobble", which I don't believe is in the instruction manual-- been wondering what it's for? Any idea what it actually does? I've been able to get a decently dark gray in aluminum so I'll have to try it :)

Gary- on frequency, my 30w machine allows 20 to 200 to be entered-- not sure if 20 is actually 20 however...?

I've also figured out most of the offset settings. Yet the one I can't find is the one I really need, how to offset the outlines OUTWARD. Using negative numbers doesn't work. However, negative numbers in the "Line Reduction" setting DOES expand the hatch beyond the outline boundaries- but no way to expand the actual outline? And, I was getting weird results with the hatch, some of the fill would connect between 2 different letters (testing the word TEXT). The reason I'd like to expand the outlines? So I can match engraving done with the other lasers! Need to compensate for the extremely narrow beam...

And the "auto rotate hatch"-- Instruction manual says
Refers to after every marking, the hatch line will fill the revolving angle
which we setted automatically to marking again. For example, angle is 0, auto rotate angle is 30,
the first mark angle is 0, the second is 30, the third is 60, and so on.
--but no matter what I've done or tried- restarting the same job or having it do several loops- I can't get it to auto-rotate a thing, always engraves the exact same thing each time...

I did figure out a near-perfect Cermark replica setting-- was having trouble with burning and it being too brown, and sometimes severely warping the metal.
What I did that worked great: 500 speed, 100 power, 200 freq, .01 hatch, and defocused the lens about .080 (2mm). Worked fantastic on satin stainless. However, not quite as well on a piece of polished SS. Not sure if it's focus or the material itself but some tweaking should help.

I've also got the rotary *somewhat* figured out, had 2 hours of typing about that disappear on me the other night :mad: --

The one thing that's escaping me is getting steel and stainless to deep engrave. I've done okay with aluminum, but still need to figure out the cleanup procedure. But steel, I can 'etch' it great- I can bright polish, get nice shades of gray, gold and brown coloring in varying surface textures and a close match to Cermark, but haven't figured out the magical "engraving" settings. I've run 60-pass test runs in several settings configurations. I either get a bright gnarly etch, or a black slaggy gnarly etch, but nothing that resembles "engraving"....

Will this thing replace several machines? Hardly! While it can do some things my other machines do, It actually won't be able to replace any of them. However, it WILL do things none of my other machines can do. So it's simply a needed addition! --another step forward in my technology cycle... ;) (just had to get that in there)

[Gary Hair]

Gary- on frequency, my 30w machine allows 20 to 200 to be entered-- not sure if 20 is actually 20 however...?
You can select it but the laser itself defaults to 30 no matter what you have it set to below 30. There is a setting somewhere in the software where you can enter the min/max numbers but no matter what you set them to the laser will only allow a certain range. The number equal to the wattage determines the lowest setting, not sure about the high setting. I think you'll find that even if 200 is allowable, you don't have enough power to affect anything at that frequency.


The one thing that's escaping me is getting steel and stainless to deep engrave. I've done okay with aluminum, but still need to figure out the cleanup procedure. But steel, I can 'etch' it great- I can bright polish, get nice shades of gray, gold and brown coloring in varying surface textures and a close match to Cermark, but haven't figured out the magical "engraving" settings. I've run 60-pass test runs in several settings configurations. I either get a bright gnarly etch, or a black slaggy gnarly etch, but nothing that resembles "engraving"....
To deep engrave use 200mm speed, 100 power and 30 freq, two hatches, one at 45 and one at 135, .05mm spacing. This will remove a lot of metal fast. Do a cleanup passes at 500mm, 80 power, 60 freq. and 0 deg and 90 deg hatch. If you get too much slag then you'll either have to increase the speed or reduce the power of the first settings.

[Rodne Gold]

some stuff I messed with


I do have "wobble", which I don't believe is in the instruction manual-- been wondering what it's for? Any idea what it actually does? I've been able to get a decently dark gray in aluminum so I'll have to try it :)

Wobble is to give lines thickness.. say you have a hairline you want to engrave but make it 0.5mm wide , you enter the width in the wobble dialog and about 1/5th the wobble width,,



I've also figured out most of the offset settings. Yet the one I can't find is the one I really need, how to offset the outlines OUTWARD. Using negative numbers doesn't work. However, negative numbers in the "Line Reduction" setting DOES expand the hatch beyond the outline boundaries- but no way to expand the actual outline? And, I was getting weird results with the hatch, some of the fill would connect between 2 different letters (testing the word TEXT). The reason I'd like to expand the outlines? So I can match engraving done with the other lasers! Need to compensate for the extremely narrow beam...

Offset .. if you click inside the item you want offset , it offsets inside , if you click outside it , it offsets outside

I did figure out a near-perfect Cermark replica setting-- was having trouble with burning and it being too brown, and sometimes severely warping the metal.

Wash the brown off with a mild abraisive household cream and toothbrush .. it becomes black and the mark crisps up

What I did that worked great: 500 speed, 100 power, 200 freq, .01 hatch, and defocused the lens about .080 (2mm). Worked fantastic on satin stainless. However, not quite as well on a piece of polished SS. Not sure if it's focus or the material itself but some tweaking should help.

Those settings arent right.. the freq of 200 is putting in huge heat compared to 20, 500 is too fast
high freqs work less aggressively than low .... try 100-200 / 100 / 20.. you should see a bright light and sparks when doing black SS

I've also got the rotary *somewhat* figured out, had 2 hours of typing about that disappear on me the other night :mad: --

The one thing that's escaping me is getting steel and stainless to deep engrave. I've done okay with aluminum, but still need to figure out the cleanup procedure. But steel, I can 'etch' it great- I can bright polish, get nice shades of gray, gold and brown coloring in varying surface textures and a close match to Cermark, but haven't figured out the magical "engraving" settings. I've run 60-pass test runs in several settings configurations. I either get a bright gnarly etch, or a black slaggy gnarly etch, but nothing that resembles "engraving"....

You dont have enough power for deep engraving with your lens set .. if you had to say reduce the marking field to 50mm , you would get a smaller spot size and maybe have the energy density to remove material

Will this thing replace several machines? Hardly! While it can do some things my other machines do, It actually won't be able to replace any of them. However, it WILL do things none of my other machines can do. So it's simply a needed addition! --another step forward in my technology cycle... ;) (just had to get that in there)
Its a fascinating toy to play with

[Kev Williams]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/misc/quote_icon.png Originally Posted by Kev Williams http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/buttons/viewpost-right.png (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=2584173#post2584173)
(and then Rodne)....

I do have "wobble", which I don't believe is in the instruction manual-- been wondering what it's for? Any idea what it actually does? I've been able to get a decently dark gray in aluminum so I'll have to try it :)

Wobble is to give lines thickness.. say you have a hairline you want to engrave but make it 0.5mm wide , you enter the width in the wobble dialog and about 1/5th the wobble width,,
Nice to know, can't wait to try it out-- tomorrow...

I've also figured out most of the offset settings. Yet the one I can't find is the one I really need, how to offset the outlines OUTWARD. Using negative numbers doesn't work. However, negative numbers in the "Line Reduction" setting DOES expand the hatch beyond the outline boundaries- but no way to expand the actual outline? And, I was getting weird results with the hatch, some of the fill would connect between 2 different letters (testing the word TEXT). The reason I'd like to expand the outlines? So I can match engraving done with the other lasers! Need to compensate for the extremely narrow beam...

Offset .. if you click inside the item you want offset , it offsets inside , if you click outside it , it offsets outside
I assume this is with the wobble? The other settings seem to affect only the hatch, not the outline...

I did figure out a near-perfect Cermark replica setting-- was having trouble with burning and it being too brown, and sometimes severely warping the metal.

Wash the brown off with a mild abraisive household cream and toothbrush .. it becomes black and the mark crisps up

What I did that worked great: 500 speed, 100 power, 200 freq, .01 hatch, and defocused the lens about .080 (2mm). Worked fantastic on satin stainless. However, not quite as well on a piece of polished SS. Not sure if it's focus or the material itself but some tweaking should help.

Those settings arent right.. the freq of 200 is putting in huge heat compared to 20, 500 is too fast
high freqs work less aggressively than low .... try 100-200 / 100 / 20.. you should see a bright light and sparks when doing black SS
They may not be 'your' right, but I did 8 of these as groomsman gifts, they all look just like this one (with a common name thankfully, lol)
-they look just as good as the results I get from the "new" Cermark, as far as "black" goes...

340740340741
I DO need to experiment more with some other settings. I think part of the reason I pulled it off at these settings was being out of focus, I was hoping to reduce the cut and heat a bit.

I've also got the rotary *somewhat* figured out, had 2 hours of typing about that disappear on me the other night :mad: --

The one thing that's escaping me is getting steel and stainless to deep engrave. I've done okay with aluminum, but still need to figure out the cleanup procedure. But steel, I can 'etch' it great- I can bright polish, get nice shades of gray, gold and brown coloring in varying surface textures and a close match to Cermark, but haven't figured out the magical "engraving" settings. I've run 60-pass test runs in several settings configurations. I either get a bright gnarly etch, or a black slaggy gnarly etch, but nothing that resembles "engraving"....

You dont have enough power for deep engraving with your lens set .. if you had to say reduce the marking field to 50mm , you would get a smaller spot size and maybe have the energy density to remove material

Will this thing replace several machines? Hardly! While it can do some things my other machines do, It actually won't be able to replace any of them. However, it WILL do things none of my other machines can do. So it's simply a needed addition! --another step forward in my technology cycle... ;) (just had to get that in there)
Its a fascinating toy to play with
Oh, yes it is! And with Gary's help, I was able to get a solid .003" deep in some steel bar stock tonight in 12 passes...
340742340743 --good ol' silly putty ;)
I'm having ruffled edge issues, hoping to work those out with some practice. I'm sure part of the problem is the long lens. I'm sure some of those hatch offsets will help. Just wish I had more TIME to practice, my work load lately has kept me working 17/7 for a solid month now, looking for a break in the action.... could have worse problems. :)

[leland huang]

Mine works real well on laser engraving plastics.. and all metals and some platics that the co2's wont touch

Yes, it marks plastic perfectly, super fast speed, high precision and good result. I tried many cellphone shell, very good job. But for the shell from both plastic and rubber, the engraving result is not good.340744. See the image.

[leland huang]

--What's the foot pedal for? Not sure I'll find info about it in the instructions.

Foot pedal is used to repeat the job the machine just finished. If you want to mark much same products, you just step the foot pedal to repeat.

[Julian Ashcroft]

Do you wear eye protection when operating this type of laser as it's not in an enclosure?

[Rodne Gold]

I use laser glkasses, albeit mine are for up to 380 odd and also 10960 (or whatever the numbers are) .. i put them in the beam path when engraving and they definitely attenuate power.. but still transmit the beam
these are the glasses I got with my Co2's and I know they not correctly tuned for wavelength

I think a polycarbonate shield could be effective?
Im also worried at the effects of staring at that bright light...Arc eyes?

[matthew knott]

you need glasses rated at 1060nm (ish) with an OD of 8, polycarb is not useless but it would be like advising someone to wear a leather jacket as bullet proof vests had all gone, not good. Unless you have and IPG or SPI laser setting the frequency above 80khz will have no effect, much the same as going below 20khz, it just limits its self. Sounds like everyone is having fun with their fibers :)

[Scott Challoner]

Someone recommended NOIR for laser glasses. They have many lenses and frame styles. I got a pair that fit over my glasses. You get a 20% discount if you order over the phone rather than the web so find what you need and give them a call. I found it handy to have their website up while I was on the phone with them. You can also get darker lenses to help reduce the laser flash.

[Kev Williams]

What little research I've done on glasses tells me there's 2 basic types of protection; reflection (beam bounces off the lens) and absorption (beam is absorbed by the lens). The selling point used for the absorption type, is that if they get scratched they'll still work. Scratch a reflection type lens and you create a space for the beam to pass thru. Also, the reflection type are all over the internet dirt cheap, and you have to look around for the absorption style, and they're more money.

I paid $68 on ebay for a pair of absorption glasses from a California seller, mostly so I'd get them faster. I believe they're from China anyway. So how to know if they work other than hit them with the beam? SO, I just did a thru-the-lens test at 30% power and it melted the lens- oops - but more important, nothing engraved whatsoever, so I'll assume they work! Just a small spot melted so they're still plenty useable if I have to watch, plus I have 2 more pair coming from a China place any day now. These can be 'guest' glasses.

[Scott Challoner]

Two years ago (before I had my fiber) I managed to develop a macular hole. I think I was 47 at the time, so relatively young for such an anomaly. Even after surgery, I have a little scar tissue right in the center of my vision in my left eye which is a real pain. Was it careless use of my CO2 laser or my green laser pointer or just a coincidence? Who knows, but I'm a little more cautious these days. The NOIR lenses have a CE stamp and other official looking markings. The pair that came with my laser have no markings of any kind. I'm not affiliated with NOIR but $150 for US made glasses with proper certifications is worth the peace of mind to me. Now I have to go make one of those "Do Not Look into Laser With Good Eye," signs.

[Kev Williams]

I didn't get glasses with mine... unless they're hiding in the crate someplace, lol.. these glasses have stamped on each lens: 800-1100nm 0.D5+ 1060-1070nm 0.D7+ CE ...

I've been wearing polycarb eyeglasses for years, probably saving my eyes from the C02. Especially the day I was engraving down the side of piece of SS pipe and nearly caught my mustache on fire from the reflection. The blast of heat that hit my face was amazing... that was a lesson learned the stupid way.

[Neville Stewart]

Great stuff guys, learn something every time with this thread. Regarding wobble, I was cutting some .005 stainless and it took probably 15-20 passes to release. I was advised to add wobble and it cut through in 3. Can't even remember my speed settings but probably 200 ips, only difference was wobble was toggled on. Couldn't detect a size difference due to flexibility of material.

[Scott Challoner]

I can't find wobble in EZCad. I wonder if there is an equivalent with a different term.

[Neville Stewart]

I can't find wobble in EZCad. I wonder if there is an equivalent with a different term.
It doesn't come on all versions of the cards. It's under advance settings, and if you don't see the check box I'm afraid you don't have that feature.

[Kenny Davis72]

Does any one know what "Q Pulse Width" does? I noticed most screenshots of EZCad on youtube don't include this setting. The seller told me to keep it at 100.
341039
I don't know what kind of fiber laser generator is installed in this unit. It was sold to me as a color laser and is supposed to color on steel. I've actually found it very difficult to do anything that isn't color(ie black) on steel.
341040

Kenny

[Gary Hair]

I would suggest starting a new thread with your questions, it will get more attention and answers specific to your question.

"Q Pulse Width" I don't have that setting on my machines and don't have any idea how it might affect anything.

What source was selected when you got it? Why would you want to change it?

Not sure about your statement regarding color - do you want to deep engrave and can't?


Does any one know what "Q Pulse Width" does? I noticed most screenshots of EZCad on youtube don't include this setting. The seller told me to keep it at 100.
341039
I don't know what kind of fiber laser generator is installed in this unit. It was sold to me as a color laser and is supposed to color on steel. I've actually found it very difficult to do anything that isn't color(ie black) on steel.
341040

Kenny

[Kenny Davis72]

Hi Gary, I replied to this thread since it contains a lot of useful information about Chinese Fiber lasers and the settings in EZCad.

See the image attached to the original message to where "Q Pulse Width" setting is located.

The way I understand it, an annealing mark on steel can produce color marking. It's not an engraving or deep marking. There is a lot of youtube videos showing this effect on steel. Search "color fiber laser" to see an example.

Kenny

[Matt Krei]

Going to bump this thread again. I appreciate the sharing of settings. I do primarily deep engraving on 7075 aluminum with a 30w rig, I am curious if anyone has come up with good hatch and power settings for getting a deep black mark on aluminum? I have come up with nothing after hours of fiddling.

Thanks in advance.

[Tim Bateson]

There are a lot of different machines out there, all with very different settings. Adding your machine to your signature block would go a long ways to getting appropriate answers.

[Gary Hair]

I don't believe you will find anyone who can get a deep black mark on aluminum with a fiber. I believe a MOPA laser will do it but I'm not sure.


Going to bump this thread again. I appreciate the sharing of settings. I do primarily deep engraving on 7075 aluminum with a 30w rig, I am curious if anyone has come up with good hatch and power settings for getting a deep black mark on aluminum? I have come up with nothing after hours of fiddling.

Thanks in advance.

[Kev Williams]

I don't think a mopa will make aluminum black either, I think the missing carbon is the problem. The best I've gotten is a middle-of-the-road medium-dark gray on aluminum. Only two ways I've found to get aluminum black:
1- engrave and paint
2- Cermark and 80 watts of C02 laser to hit it with

[Tim Bateson]

I don't believe you will find anyone who can get a deep black mark on aluminum with a fiber. I believe a MOPA laser will do it but I'm not sure.

Ummmm I have come close. A recently finished military project. Pure Black, maybe not. Very, Very dark Gray/Black - yes.

[Neville Stewart]

Im with the gang on this one, dark mottled grey/brown, appears black ish but not as good as black annealing on Stainless. Only way on Al is a MOPA.
364110

[Matt Krei]

There are a lot of different machines out there, all with very different settings. Adding your machine to your signature block would go a long ways to getting appropriate answers.

Good point, added to sig. I am using a 30w IPG.

Another engraver friend of mine can get a nearly black mark on aluminum with his fiber, he claims it took him forever to figure out how to do it, and as much as we share info back and forth it's the one secret he won't share with me.

Here's an example of his black markings on aluminum.

364150364151364152

[Neville Stewart]

Good point, added to sig. I am using a 30w IPG.

Another engraver friend of mine can get a nearly black mark on aluminum with his fiber, he claims it took him forever to figure out how to do it, and as much as we share info back and forth it's the one secret he won't share with me.

Here's an example of his black markings on aluminum.

High power, dense hatch, at least bi-directional and slow speed.

364150364151364152
High power, dense hatch, at least bi-directional and slow speed.

[Scott Shepherd]

I'm at a loss from a technical standpoint on why you'd ever want to engrave something like that so deep. What's the point? Does it make it more readable? Does it make it last longer? It doesn't ADD anything to it for me. In fact, I think it looks worse than if you would have done it on the surface or very shallow. Plus that's a TON of heat to be putting into something, while removing that much metal.

The photo on the right of those 3, I think look horrible from a quality standpoint. Just my opinion.

[Jacob John]

I'm at a loss from a technical standpoint on why you'd ever want to engrave something like that so deep. What's the point? Does it make it more readable? Does it make it last longer? It doesn't ADD anything to it for me. In fact, I think it looks worse than if you would have done it on the surface or very shallow. Plus that's a TON of heat to be putting into something, while removing that much metal.

The photo on the right of those 3, I think look horrible from a quality standpoint. Just my opinion.

Here's a larger question. At some point, you could remove enough metal to alter the function of the piece, at least in theory. These firearms are engineered with specific precision, though maybe you don't remove enough to worry. And those pics are not from the slide or other moving parts. I do think though that the Feds might have some issue with it. It's an interesting topic.

[Gary Hair]

I do think though that the Feds might have some issue with it.

The ATF cares nothing about decorative marking on a firearm, they are only concerned with serial numbers and the requisite marking for SBR's and the like. They would, however, care about a non-FFL marking firearms - although this apparently depends on which agent you ask in what location.

[Jacob John]

The ATF cares nothing about decorative marking on a firearm, they are only concerned with serial numbers and the requisite marking for SBR's and the like. They would, however, care about a non-FFL marking firearms - although this apparently depends on which agent you ask in what location.

From a personal side, there's no way I'd touch one without an FFL, but that's just me. :)

[Kev Williams]

The ATF cares nothing about decorative marking on a firearm, Oh, but I'm afraid they do! Read my 'called an attorney' bump... or just read this-- https://www.atf.gov/file/55461/download

[Gary Hair]

Oh, but I'm afraid they do! Read my 'called an attorney' bump... or just read this-- https://www.atf.gov/file/55461/download

I meant as far as what you do, how deep, etc., not whether or not it's legal to do it without an FFL.

[Kev Williams]

ahh... got it :)