Laser / CNC Laser cutting

[Tom Howe]

Hello all,
has anyone experimented with inexpensive laser cutting machines? My interests are for cutting balsa, basswood, thin plywood and card stock.

Thanks!

 

[Locksmith]

Ive used quite a few china laser machines, its basically you get what you pay for the cheap ebay lasers work but it can take some hard work and tinkering to get them to do what you want.
A 40W laser would probably do everything you need, larger Watt would just do it faster with less burning.

I recommend looking into joining a local maker space I all but guarantee they will have at least one you can use that way you can learn how they work and see if it something you want to invest thousands of your own money into.
Also they will teach you to use them safely, remember somethings you can laser will kill you others will kill everyone in same building as you...

 

[Gramparocket]

I have a K40 lazer cutter but can't operate the paint program associated with it (inkscape) but if I have a file I can get it to cut I thought I would get this thing and be able to cut fins ,rings and bulkheads but I didn't realize it was going to be difficult to learn the programs. I could use some help. or some svg. files

 

[Sandy H.]

My laser is not a cheap laser and it is 80w. I can say for sure that you can cut most LPR rocket materials with 30-40w. True, you might get charring if things get thick, as you'll have to go slower if power limited, but that's not too big of an issue.

I have a K40 lazer cutter but can't operate the paint program associated with it (inkscape) but if I have a file I can get it to cut I thought I would get this thing and be able to cut fins ,rings and bulkheads but I didn't realize it was going to be difficult to learn the programs. I could use some help. or some svg. files

I think Inkscape is the only logical call for a free vector program, but i could be wrong. The paid programs are not really easier either, so figuring out Inkscape is probably the best option. I would say spend a handful of hours on youtube watching tutorials. If you have more specific questions, probably post a new topic to keep from taking the OP's topic too far off-topic.

Since you spent the money on the tool, you are going to have to learn to use it or it was definitely wasted money. You will be very limited in what you can do if you are just looking for existing svg files.

Sandy.

 

[neil_w]

I think Inkscape is the only logical call for a free vector program, but i could be wrong. The paid programs are not really easier either, so figuring out Inkscape is probably the best option. I would say spend a handful of hours on youtube watching tutorials. If you have more specific questions, probably post a new topic to keep from taking the OP's topic too far off-topic.

Since you spent the money on the tool, you are going to have to learn to use it or it was definitely wasted money. You will be very limited in what you can do if you are just looking for existing svg files.

I agree with all the above. Take your time and learn Inkscape; AFAIK it's the best free option by far. It can be a little intimidating at first but you'll get there.

 

[Gramparocket]

Right. Thanx for the comments, I meant for that to be a little more informative for the op. So I bought mine used from a friend. I spent $350 for it with a good cooling system and air assist. I'm not a computer geek so my experience so far has been slow progress, followed by " what did he just do in that video?" BE prepared to spend some time learning the processes do your homework first before you spend the money

 

[techntools]

I can't speak to the inexpensive part; but having a laser to cut fins, center rings and scratch RC kits is a great decision!

 

[Sandy H.]

Right. Thanx for the comments, I meant for that to be a little more informative for the op. So I bought mine used from a friend. I spent $350 for it with a good cooling system and air assist. I'm not a computer geek so my experience so far has been slow progress, followed by " what did he just do in that video?" BE prepared to spend some time learning the processes do your homework first before you spend the money

Makes sense to me. I think forum members here or on other sites can help you get to functional use of Inkscape so you can start really making the best use of your equipment. You won;t get to 'industrial production' levels with the equipment you have or using Inkscape, but I'm sure that wasn't your goal. I think you wanted to make some complex LPR parts without spending a ton of time weilding an Xacto knife. You're probably in good shape.

I agree with what you said that just buying the K40 or similar laser doesn't mean you can spit out parts left and right with low effort to the OP. But there are communities here and on other sites that can help get you up and running. I have zero knowledge of the K40-ish machines and I rarely use Inkscape as I have other paid tools, but I know for fact that we can use free/low cost software and work with tweaky machines to get good results at a personal level and I hope you can find function with your machine and tools.

Sandy.

 

[Long_Gone]

I use lightburn it is powerful and easy. The downside is it cost me $60 for life.

LG~

 

[caveduck]

Lightburn is getting a lot of traction now as a big improvement over the janky proprietary SW that comes with cheap lasers. Using it will eliminate a lot of potential software headaches. If you have a K40 with the stock nano controller board you need to upgrade your controller to use Lightburn, but that's a good idea anyway to gain programmable power control. There's a good variety of pretty decent aftermarket controllers. The Lightburn site lists compatible controllers and would help guide your shopping.

There's little question that Inkscape on Windows is the best free vector graphics editor, but I can personally confirm that the Mac native version of Inkscape sucks; if you're a Mac user, I recommend instead running the Windows version in a VM.

This youtube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuDePhnyKAK8jocnDhmUhO8D9sGGVVDB_ from Matt's Workshop is a great build series on making a really good DIY laser using components from cloudraylaser.com and a frame from 1010-adjacent rails (Matt is an Aussie, different supplier). Not entry level range by any means, but shows how to do things right. You could probably make the chassis a lot less expensive. Well worth a watch and the workmanship and results are very impressive.

 

[neil_w]

There's little question that Inkscape on Windows is the best free vector graphics editor, but I can personally confirm that the Mac native version of Inkscape sucks; if you're a Mac user, I recommend instead running the Windows version in a VM.

Interesting. I have found that recent versions are waaaaay better on the Mac than they used to be, although I suspect this may be more due to improvements in XQuartz rather than Inkscape itself.

In any event, I'm pretty happy now with Inkscape on my M1 iMac running Big Sur.

 

[caveduck]

I'll give it another go then, my last try was several months ago. I've been poking at it for a few years across different MBP models and OSX versions, but each time so far it has come up completely unusable. But my most recent Mac is not yet M1.

 

[neil_w]

I'll give it another go then, my last try was several months ago. I've been poking at it for a few years across different MBP models and OSX versions, but each time so far it has come up completely unusable. But my most recent Mac is not yet M1.

The big, huge, life-changing difference is that now Inkscape doesn't cause a separate instance of XQuartz to run, it just runs as a self-contained app. Mouse/trackpad operations respond much like you would expect now, rather than the incredibly janky way they used to. I'm not sure exactly when all the improvement happened, but definitely give it another try with the latest.

 

[Long_Gone]

Here is what is possible from idea to part in less than 4 hours for all of it. Except for the 3d printed parts.

 

[Long_Gone]

Lightburn is awesome

 

[Chad]

I didn't realize there was a laser cutting tag in this forum. I have a giant Omtech 50W sitting on my workbench (it weighs like 200lbs) in front of me, i'm going to get it running and try and do some initial cuts tomorrow. If i get to it ( holidays and all ) i'll post the results.