i've had a little success with the table i'm building, but i have a ways to go before i'm doing greyscale engraving.
http://youtu.be/VGMkVgeMPno
works pretty good on sandstone:
Attachment 42329
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i've had a little success with the table i'm building, but i have a ways to go before i'm doing greyscale engraving.
http://youtu.be/VGMkVgeMPno
works pretty good on sandstone:
Attachment 42329
Congrats Christopher.
Looks like your getting it worked out very good. What program do you use to control the laser for motion and turning it on/off? I'm wondering if there is a way to control the lasers power by varying it somehow to engrave photos. Some hi dollar commercial CO2 lasers have 256 power levels for 3D engraving, but there not able to engrave subtle 8bit shades of grey like we do with the laser diodes using analog modulation.
I do not know of anyone that has done this with a CO2. Something to consider in your experimentation with your new build. :D
Jeff
i'm using lasercad for the software and an awc608 controller. i think it will handle some greyscale, but i just got the machine running yesterday, so i haven't had time to really experiment with it. in the meantime, here's a thumb sized elk.
15% power and 30mm/s feed rate.
Attachment 42330
http://youtu.be/bLOHEGNeSng
Quote:
Originally Posted by JJWMACHINECO
Finally, I was wondering when you would get to the thumb sized elk. I have been following this whole area of laser etching/engraving very peripherally for a few months and I am getting the bug. The laser/optics and drivers are obviously not an issue for me, but the decision to build or buy the table and gantry is confusing. I assume that if you were starting out from scratch a CNC router table and control software is sorta what you would need, but is the resolution and accuracy here sufficient?
the resolution and accuracy of my table are more than sufficient for my needs:Quote:
Originally Posted by planters
Attachment 42333
my build was not quite a kit, but more than scratch. i found it handy to buy pre-made motor mounts/gear reducers/etc as i don't have access to a machine shop or sufficient free time. it was a reasonably complex project, but not too much more so than building a laser projector.
Here are some raster clipart to experiment with assuming lasercad can read/convert them to run on your laser.
http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/sitemap/sitemap.php
I have used them in the past for educating me on the TTL process of laser engraving these types of clipart images. :)
Jeff
that is an awesome site! it doesn't look like my controller will handle greyscale by dynamically adjusting laser power. i'll try some dithering experiments. in the meantime, i fed it a raster from your link:
Attachment 42369
and got this out:
Attachment 42370
Quote:
Originally Posted by JJWMACHINECO
If (when?) I build one of these I don't think I would be able to contain my excitement and would end up engraving everything I own!
How do you resist this temptation?
i'm doing a 60 hour work week, getting my art ready for indian market this weekend, and prepping my materials for the photography class i'm teaching for the museum on friday.Quote:
Originally Posted by Galvonaut
Ahh, yes, that would slow me down a bit too ;)