Thanks Arjen,
We built and installed the 445nm LD engraving systems on two of our CNC routers. Both are 4 axis machines.
Thanks Arjen,
We built and installed the 445nm LD engraving systems on two of our CNC routers. Both are 4 axis machines.
40 Years exp. Master Machinist
The information I received here was of absolutely no value, so I will not be a contributor any longer!!
Re-worked/Re-designed/Modified Servo K2CNC KG-3925
Mini 445nm Laser Diode Engraver
Kubotek KeyCreator/KeyMachinist Ver. 12.0 2D/3D CAD/CAM
Picengrave Pro 4 + Laser Ver. 4.2.6
PicLaser3D V1.0.0 -3925 and the Mini Laser Engraver
4.5 Watt seems like a lot for a Laser Diode. Where did you get it and how much did you spend?
Shenhui SH-G350
We are using two 2.25W 9mm Nichia LD's focused to the same intersecting focal point and it's mounted on our servo CNC router. The Nichia 9mm LD came from DTR on eBay for $99 each already pressed into a copper module and included a 3 element glass lens. The analog modulation driver is a Flexmod P3 and is around $35. On our first build, the mini CNC router is only a 1W and it uses a Flexmod P3 also.
Here is a video of our dual LD engraver shading a 3D spindle engraving. We were only using 2/5 of the full output power on this project.
40 Years exp. Master Machinist
The information I received here was of absolutely no value, so I will not be a contributor any longer!!
Re-worked/Re-designed/Modified Servo K2CNC KG-3925
Mini 445nm Laser Diode Engraver
Kubotek KeyCreator/KeyMachinist Ver. 12.0 2D/3D CAD/CAM
Picengrave Pro 4 + Laser Ver. 4.2.6
PicLaser3D V1.0.0 -3925 and the Mini Laser Engraver
Good idea to combine two lasers in the same focal point. Should have thought of that myself. The price of laser diodes seems to rise exponentially with power, and since I don't want to spend a fortune on an experiment this is just what I was looking for. Now that I know that 445nm will blacken aluminium I guess other wavelengths between 445 and 1064 (fiber/yag) nm will also work. Lots of possibilities to play with now!
Good video by the way. I love how the vertical axes is used to retain focus. Halfway through the video is a shot of a motor driving something. Is that a mechanical laser-power-control?
Shenhui SH-G350
Actually Arjen, the 445nm whitened the black anodizing with high power and at lower power it stays black. The servo motor down below (4th axis) drives a US Digital MA3 magnetic shaft encoder. It gives us 0-5 varied analog voltage output to the Flexmod P3 LD driver based on a 0-360 degree rotation to vary the power. We power it with the 5v from the USB port on my PC.
This spindle/laser process takes two same size images, one is a greyscale height map image for the 3D spindle engraving and the second is a color or 8bit greyscale image for the shading. We use Mach3 for the controller program which is gcode driven and it's an open source option so we don't have the restraints of a proprietary program. We generate two gcode files with Picengrave image to Gcode program we use and then combine the two files into one. X,Y & Z from the height map image file and A from the other image file for varying the laser diodes power. It gives us X,Y,Z & A movements in one file so the LD's focal point follows the contours of the spindle engraving. The gcode we generate is 40,000 PPSI (Positions Per Square Inch).
Since the MA3 encoder has 10bit resolution, even at a half power setting, there are 512 incremental voltage changes to the analog modulation input on the LD driver with a A.0000 to A-.0256" full depth setting (8bit). To set the max power for the LD, we just change the Steps Per. in Motor Tuning in Mach3 for the A axis servo motor.
Our servo CNC router's spindle mount excepts both the spindle and Laser engraver so it eliminates alignment issues like when using two different machines.
40 Years exp. Master Machinist
The information I received here was of absolutely no value, so I will not be a contributor any longer!!
Re-worked/Re-designed/Modified Servo K2CNC KG-3925
Mini 445nm Laser Diode Engraver
Kubotek KeyCreator/KeyMachinist Ver. 12.0 2D/3D CAD/CAM
Picengrave Pro 4 + Laser Ver. 4.2.6
PicLaser3D V1.0.0 -3925 and the Mini Laser Engraver
I'm impressed! Very nice combination of techniques.
I'm shopping for a 2W laser now. I'll attach it to the X carriage of my CO2 laser so I will use all the electronics and mechanics from that machine. That means the laser + mount has to be as lightweight as possible, it's not a heavy CNC milling machine capable of carrying 'lots' of extra weight.
Then it's a matter of finding the right speed/power combination. This will only be for black marking of anodised aluminium (read iPads/phones etc.). For all other purposes the CO2 tube does everything I need.
Shenhui SH-G350
Thanks Arjen,
It has been allot of fun with these builds. I like figuring out multitasking ways to use my CNC router. I have even thought about a 3D printer attachment to go on it in the future. I would post some links to the components you may need, but that is not allowed on this forum. Just search on the net based on my description. I would also recommend a Lasorb for ESD protection for the LD.
40 Years exp. Master Machinist
The information I received here was of absolutely no value, so I will not be a contributor any longer!!
Re-worked/Re-designed/Modified Servo K2CNC KG-3925
Mini 445nm Laser Diode Engraver
Kubotek KeyCreator/KeyMachinist Ver. 12.0 2D/3D CAD/CAM
Picengrave Pro 4 + Laser Ver. 4.2.6
PicLaser3D V1.0.0 -3925 and the Mini Laser Engraver
You could pm me, but there are so many sellers for this kind of stuff I won't have a problem finding it.
Thanks for all the info.
Shenhui SH-G350
Why would you do this?
You still seem to be under the impression the laser Jeff mentions marks bare aluminum. It does not, it only bleaches the black anodizing already on it, just like the CO2 laser you already own.
Strapping another laser to your CO2 carriage would be like tying a Ferrari on top of a Yugo because the Yugo has wheels.
Hi-Tec Designs, LLC -- Owner (and self-proclaimed LED guru )
Trotec 80W Speedy 300 laser w/everything
CAMaster Stinger CNC (25" x 36" x 5")
USCutter 24" LaserPoint Vinyl Cutter
Jet JWBS-18QT-3 18", 3HP bandsaw
Robust Beauty 25"x52" wood lathe w/everything
Jet BD-920W 9"x20" metal lathe
Delta 18-900L 18" drill press
Flame Polisher (ooooh, FIRE!)
Freeware: InkScape, Paint.NET, DoubleCAD XT
Paidware: Wacom Intuos4 (Large), CorelDRAW X5
Good catch Dan, thanks! Yes, I was under the impression that the 445nm laser leaves a black mark on clear anodized aliminium. Now I see that in the image Jeff posted it is a black anodized sheet where the image is lasered by removing the black. Bummer.
So I'm back to where I started. The only way to get black marking on clear anodized aluminium is to use a YAG laser. And that's too expensive for the amount of work I'd do with it...
Though I still don't get why only a 1064nm laser can leave a black (or at least very dark) mark on aluminium. I get why my CO2 with the 10 times longer wavelength won't work, but wouldn't a 808nm work as well?
Shenhui SH-G350
Dan,
I do appreciate the compliment of your comparison of my 445nm LD build to a Ferrari, considering Ferrari's are mostly hand built too, but why do you have to insult Arjen with comparing his CO2 machine to a Yugo on wheels? Sometimes you just are not very nice in your comments, especially anywhere I have posted. The term a$$hole comes to mind.
Arjen, I did point out that the 445nm whitened the black anodize at higher power in post #20 and I thought you understood that.
Last edited by Jeff Woodcock; 03-17-2014 at 11:00 PM.
40 Years exp. Master Machinist
The information I received here was of absolutely no value, so I will not be a contributor any longer!!
Re-worked/Re-designed/Modified Servo K2CNC KG-3925
Mini 445nm Laser Diode Engraver
Kubotek KeyCreator/KeyMachinist Ver. 12.0 2D/3D CAD/CAM
Picengrave Pro 4 + Laser Ver. 4.2.6
PicLaser3D V1.0.0 -3925 and the Mini Laser Engraver
There is a peak in the absorption of aluminum at the mid-800's, but you'll want more than a couple of Watts to do much with it. Fiber/YAG is on the other side of that peak (and surprisingly far down) from visible, but it's usually in the 20W+ range for marking. Just as a CO2 can cut metal when you throw in enough power (kW levels), if you throw enough power at it in the near-visible, it will be absorbed.
Hi-Tec Designs, LLC -- Owner (and self-proclaimed LED guru )
Trotec 80W Speedy 300 laser w/everything
CAMaster Stinger CNC (25" x 36" x 5")
USCutter 24" LaserPoint Vinyl Cutter
Jet JWBS-18QT-3 18", 3HP bandsaw
Robust Beauty 25"x52" wood lathe w/everything
Jet BD-920W 9"x20" metal lathe
Delta 18-900L 18" drill press
Flame Polisher (ooooh, FIRE!)
Freeware: InkScape, Paint.NET, DoubleCAD XT
Paidware: Wacom Intuos4 (Large), CorelDRAW X5
Sorry, Jeff, but I was not comparing your machine to a Ferrari, nor was I comparing his to a Yugo. I was making an analogy... tacking a low-power laser of one wavelength (Yugo) underneath a high-powered laser of a perfectly usable wavelength (Ferrari) is adding an unnecessary step.
Hi-Tec Designs, LLC -- Owner (and self-proclaimed LED guru )
Trotec 80W Speedy 300 laser w/everything
CAMaster Stinger CNC (25" x 36" x 5")
USCutter 24" LaserPoint Vinyl Cutter
Jet JWBS-18QT-3 18", 3HP bandsaw
Robust Beauty 25"x52" wood lathe w/everything
Jet BD-920W 9"x20" metal lathe
Delta 18-900L 18" drill press
Flame Polisher (ooooh, FIRE!)
Freeware: InkScape, Paint.NET, DoubleCAD XT
Paidware: Wacom Intuos4 (Large), CorelDRAW X5
I didn't read it like that at all Jeff. I didn't read it like he said your machine was a Ferrari either. I read it as saying that "You already have a C02 laser that will engrave anodized aluminum the Ferrari in the equation), why would you strap on a 2W laser (the yugo in the equation) to do something slower than you can already do with what you have must faster".
Seemed like a point well stated to me, and didn't mention you or even remotely talk about anything you did at all. I think you may have read his comments wrong.
Lasers : Trotec Speedy 300 75W, Trotec Speedy 300 80W, Galvo Fiber Laser 20W
Printers : Mimaki UJF-6042 UV Flatbed Printer , HP Designjet L26500 61" Wide Format Latex Printer, Summa S140-T 48" Vinyl Plotter
Router : ShopBot 48" x 96" CNC Router Rotary Engravers : (2) Xenetech XOT 16 x 25 Rotary Engravers
Real name Steve but that name was taken on the forum. Used Middle name. Call me Steve or Scott, doesn't matter.
My mistake completely. Sometimes one reads what one wants to read. I assumed from the start that your 445nm laser marked black, because that was what I wanted to read. And as you know, assumption is the mother of all f••k-ups...
But I still enjoyed reading about your CNC-mill/laser-engraver.
Shenhui SH-G350