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Hacking UM to cut stuff...


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Posted (edited) · Hacking UM to cut stuff...
News...

yesterday I printed/cut a few stencils out of 160g/m² paper for painting a wooden box.

Results: see pictures :-)

IMG_1429.thumb.JPG.722604f8656ba1379bb6be95302fca72.JPG

IMG_1430.thumb.JPG.15886e0baac9cc7fb39e5b79aa1ba3e1.JPG

What I learned:

the stencil took 8 min to cut

after this, the alu profile were the laser module is mounted in where really hot so I assume too less cooling.

have to find another solution for it - maybe more than only one fan (water cooling would work but is from my point of view not applicable...)

drool......:-)

Edited by Guest
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    Posted · Hacking UM to cut stuff...

    :-)

    3 "p"s to get them stiched the right way - it came out great.

    In the meanwhile I modified the moount to accept a 50mm fan - tests pending :-)

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    • 4 months later...
    Posted · Hacking UM to cut stuff...

    Hi Drayson,

    I just noticed you asked for my input on this thread but I've been away for a while and couldn't dedicate much time to my laser attachment for the UM.

    Now that I have a bit more time however, I'm curious to know how you ended up wiring the laser and your details for the g-code creation to run it.

    Hoping to duplicate your efforts and get the laser up my UM Original :)

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    Posted · Hacking UM to cut stuff...

    Hi Antiklesys!

    Great to hear from you - good to have you back here.

    In the meantime I figured out how to mount and connect the laser as well as a (more or less) useable toolchain.

    @ mount: I designed two brackets to simply snap it below the print head. For zeroing Z I simply made a spacer with app. 160mm to get the platform in the right distance.

    @ connection: I soldered a pinheads at EXP3, GND and Pin 13 to the UMO board and used a simple relais for switching the laser on and off - unfortunately 100% on or 0% off, so no power control... The pin is adresses via a M42 P13 Sxxx command - S0 for off, S255 for on.

    @ toolchain: I got Cut2D running and managed to get the postprocessor doing the "right" things to get the UMO up and laser cutting. Good thing at Cut2D: simple and intuitive, bad thing: no "lines" cuttable, it has to be something like an "area". I set up different tools to addess different materials/speeds - here I´m still in tweaking and testing. Further I worte a little gcode to prepare the UMO for laser cutting (zero, then down 180mm to allow spacer input, then zero again, move to mid/front to snap on the laser head).

    So, this was a lot of writing :-)

    Hope it helps you a bit - otherwhise just ask :-)

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    Posted · Hacking UM to cut stuff...

    I'll keep an eye on this :)

    I'd love to have a laser tool head for the new printer. And smoothieware already has a working laser module.

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    Posted · Hacking UM to cut stuff...

    Hi Antiklesys!

    Great to hear from you - good to have you back here.

    In the meantime I figured out how to mount and connect the laser as well as a (more or less) useable toolchain.

    @ mount: I designed two brackets to simply snap it below the print head. For zeroing Z I simply made a spacer with app. 160mm to get the platform in the right distance.

    @ connection: I soldered a pinheads at EXP3, GND and Pin 13 to the UMO board and used a simple relais for switching the laser on and off - unfortunately 100% on or 0% off, so no power control... The pin is adresses via a M42 P13 Sxxx command - S0 for off, S255 for on.

    @ toolchain: I got Cut2D running and managed to get the postprocessor doing the "right" things to get the UMO up and laser cutting. Good thing at Cut2D: simple and intuitive, bad thing: no "lines" cuttable, it has to be something like an "area". I set up different tools to addess different materials/speeds - here I´m still in tweaking and testing. Further I worte a little gcode to prepare the UMO for laser cutting (zero, then down 180mm to allow spacer input, then zero again, move to mid/front to snap on the laser head).

    So, this was a lot of writing :-)

    Hope it helps you a bit - otherwhise just ask :-)

     

    I'm currently in the process of trying to figure out what I was doing at the time I was messing up with the laser and document it, so I know where to continue from :p

    Would love to follow up on Skype tho or whatsapp if you fancy. PM me :)

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    Posted · Hacking UM to cut stuff...

    Hi all!

    Great to have such a feedback :-)

    @ Macao

    The 3W-laser costs app. 85USD, without shipping (a friend took it over to Europe), the electonic components a few €, the box app. 6€ and the alu, wiring, etc. also a few €.

    I would estimate roughly app. 150 - 200€

    Currently, the thickest material I cut was a 2mm architectual cardboard (ok, and I managed to change a 4mm balsa piece into a 4mm carcoal with a hole in it..).

    I have to test a bit more, but currently it´s setup only for paper/cardboard cutting. (b.t.w.: I found this list of material/cutting data from emblaser: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Z5cy-z8XW8XLOGNaC4WRI_AFFluJn5Tk5GJi0e3ocxQ/edit?pli=1#gid=0 As they use also a 3W laser it might be usefull. honestly, I used their design for inspiration too...)

    @ foehnsturm

    great to have you in too - hope everything is fine in München :-)

    I only found a description how to use the smoothieware for building a cnc/laser mechanics, but I have not found a module at their page... anyway, I learned that it is hard to get a 3W module in Europe... :-(

    @ antikles

    sure, I´ll PM you my skype contact.

    I will also try to revers engineer the things I changed during assambly and post them - also the stl's for the printed parts. unfortunately I´m a bit burried in work at the office, but I promise to make the design available...

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    Posted · Hacking UM to cut stuff...

    Can anyone read Chinese here?! I found this on taobao, no idea what the specs are though. However I thought the laser on a lead was an interesting feature, would make mounting one super easy: https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=2013.1.20141002.3.MQAJmZ&scm=1007.10009.12973.100200300000004&id=521044932399&pvid=e818590a-e77f-4224-af08-56f6844349ce

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    Posted · Hacking UM to cut stuff...

    Sorry, it seems this page is not available.

    I would recommend to buy the laser at DTR's Laser Shop (that´s the Laser I bought https://sites.google.com/site/dtrlpf/home/diodes/9mm-445nm)

    Maybe it´s my personal attitude, but for this risky stuff I would use a trusted source...

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    Posted (edited) · Hacking UM to cut stuff...

    Maybe it´s my personal attitude, but for this risky stuff I would use a trusted source...

     

    With this kind of equipment I couldn't agree more !

    Edited by Guest
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    Posted · Hacking UM to cut stuff...

    Currently I redesign the "shield" which is placed between the laser itself and the cutting plate. It's more or less a tube which prevents to look at the beam and also assists in air directing but unfortunately I´m terribly sunk in work in office so progress is verrrrry limited...

    I will start uploading the printable parts which are finalized up to now to youmagine soon. Schematics I have to update as there were a few "hands on" changes, but they will follow too...

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    Posted · Hacking UM to cut stuff...

    I'm looking forward it !

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    Posted · Hacking UM to cut stuff...

    Hi all,

    finally I got all the tings together and put them on youmagine

    Her you´ll find my design for the clip-on laser head and the electronics.

    Disclaimer: build on your own risk - I´m not responsible for any damage at you, your stuff or your wife :-)

    https://www.youmagine.com/designs/umo-laser-head

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    Posted · Hacking UM to cut stuff...

    Thank you Drayson for sharing your hard work, I'm going to give this a try within a couple of weeks !

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    Posted · Hacking UM to cut stuff...

    Just got my laser up and running today. Quite fun :)

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    Posted · Hacking UM to cut stuff...

    Just got my laser up and running today. Quite fun :)

    Cool! where did you get it? can you share a bit more on the installation?

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    Posted (edited) · Hacking UM to cut stuff...

    GREAT WORK !!! Congratulation!

    Which SW have you used for gcode generation?

    But... please do me a favor and add some protection. would be a shame if somehing happens with your or somebody else eyes...

    Edited by Guest
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    Posted · Hacking UM to cut stuff...

    I got it from J Tech Photonics

    I got the Kitset that comes with driver, laser and glasses.

    Its a bit expensive especially for me with shipping and customs charges, but I have Had a lot of 3D hubs jobs lately that payed for it.

    I turned up the heat-sink myself and printed the holder. Its using a 30x30mm 5v sunon cooling fan connected to the hotend rear fan. Although the driver has fan output.

    The driver is easy to connect and has instructions on how to connect it to UM2 and UM0.

    I used the Fan output to control the laser and it has PWM to be able to adjust the laser power via gcode fan percentage.

    Im using Inkscape which J Tech provides instruction on how to use it and there is a Gcode plugin to convert images to gcode. I just added some code for the startup and finish.

    I live alone so only have my eyes to worry about for now and I always use the glasses that came with the kit. But yes I ill be incorporating something a bit better latter on.

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    Posted · Hacking UM to cut stuff...

    This is the first time I see someone offering a laser kit which looks very well thought out.

    My mayor customer is developing various "small" laser marking, cutting and welding systems. So I asked a person there about an opinion on it.

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    Posted · Hacking UM to cut stuff...

    Well done!

    I was not aware that JTech now offers such a professional stuff :-)

    I got the idea for hooking up a laser to my printer basically from him, but also merged some input from L-Cheop, EmbLaser and others into my solution - but the PWM controll is VERY nice so it´s worth thinking of an order...

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    Posted · Hacking UM to cut stuff...

    @Labern great stuff :)

    Is is possible to cut stuff with it too?

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    Posted · Hacking UM to cut stuff...

    @Labern great stuff :)

    Is is possible to cut stuff with it too?

     

    Yes, when I get time I will post some cuttings :)

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    Posted · Hacking UM to cut stuff...

    it cuts plywood?

    Me want a laser cutter ^^

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