I've done some work on the CNC machine yesterday and I was able to engrave some really fine text onto plastic. This is the first application for the machine that I have in mind. At work we make some hardware. I'd like to engrave the serial numbers in those cases. As you can see the engraving can easily be done at a lower laser power. Which leads me to the realization I need control over the laser power from EMC2. Maybe Drive4Die or Flexmod.
Also it looks like I'm going to need control over the Z axis to focus the laser on different height materials without having to refocus every time.
I've also noticed the machine isn't quite orthogonal, which is not too much of a surprise :). I'll have to work on that a bit as well. All in all it's looking very good.
Wow, that is looking great on the plastic!
ReplyDeleteHow thick was the balsa you cut through? How thick do you suppose you could go?
-Brian
Hey Brian,
ReplyDeleteThe balsa was real thin. This laser is not suitable for cutting. I had to turn the feed speed down quite a bit which allowed it to cut but caused a bit of burn around the cut.
I've read reports that I'd need at least a 1Watt laser to do this, not sure I want to fork out that kind of money.
- Ron