Joe Paonessa said:
I put the pics in an album. I didn’t mean to jack this post!
No luck, Joe - it says it is a PRIVATE PAGE and I can’t view it.
dave
Hmmm, maybe I didn’t complete the action? I thought it said public but now I see that it says save changes?
http://largescalecentral.com/albums/laser-stuff/12512/action/view
maybe this will now work? sorry!
It works now, Joe - I have never seen that control panel layout - might be an older version of what I had on my first unit - The case and innards are identical to my first one - seems to have tubing for an air line to the cutting head and water lines for cooling the tube.
Does your computer recognize the cutter when you plug in the USB?
dave
Joe - ran across this listing - does it look like your unit? Perhaps they could provide you with a manual
http://www.ecpur.com/itm/2220.html
dave
Yes, that looks like the one.
I had forgotten to order a special male A to A cable. I have to supply my own cables for it. So I have not tried to control the laser yet.
I don’t have any software loaded that came with the machine. I did find a version of corel draw 11 on the net and downloaded it. I don’t believe it’s the right one to control the laser?
Cliff Jennings said:
This page has the USB driver & Moshidraw download,
http://www.ecpur.com/sch/17_3.html
Ooops, got the driver to download.
I’m clicking on stuff to download. I don’t know what I’ll need?
Found a link there for the corel plug? Is that a whole program or just an add to corel draw?
Edit: these links seem like mini programs, of just so many KB sized? I tried to run the corel version of that link on my old computer (that I was told would be better for the older laser control programs). It comes up with a message that it’s looking for what program created it? I’ll try an online search but that computer wasn’t connected to the net for years.
I think I’m chasing my tail!
a plug in is just that. It is a small “program” of sorts, that plus into a bigger program to run, and to allow the bigger program to do some added features, like run your laser. So you need the program the plug in plugs into, and then you install the plug in into the program. I deal with that in my world, since the equipment I service has plug ins for Auto Cad and Acrobat. The plug in doesn’t do spit without the main program, and even then, the versions have to be compatible.
Well said David.
Joe, unless someone has better advice, for now I think you should focus on these things.
-
Getting your computer talking to your cutter (via Moshidraw, and using whatever USB port drivers they require).
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Using Moshidraw’s native and basic drawing functions (circles, rectangles) to cut something in the cutter.
-
Move on from that.
C
Cutting: speed = 8mm/sec, power = 70% (~21mA)
Light marking of outlines: 200 mm/sec, 40% power
Using those settings, here’s how the V&T coaster turned out.
NICE!
Bout time as well!!
Thanks, and I agree!
David Maynard said:
Bob “IA3R#7” Cope said:
Cliff,
I would propose that a pair of goggles/glasses for oxy/acetylene cutting would be a good and inexpensive option. There would be available at any local welding supply house, or mail order.
Bob C.
I don’t know. Laser goggles are made to block the wavelength of light that the laser uses. Welding goggles just block some of all light, so the bright arc of welding doesn’t blind the user. Its not quite the same thing.
Thanks for your thoughts guys. I looked into it a week ago, and yes, since the beam is invisible, the eye protection is quite different. It took a while to find the wavelength specs on this tube (10,600 nm), but there are specific glasses for that. I got them in yesterday, and they’re labeled for C02 laser usage, made by Honeywell. So all makes sense. And they fit perfectly over my prescription glasses. I was told the top window of the cutter is specially treated to prevent transmission of this, but I wanted more than a promise on this subject.
What seemed odd (at first) is that while using the glasses during the plywood cutting, the flash was still VERY bright, not something to stare at. But on the other hand, I suppose that’s the visible flame; and the (reflected) invisible beam is what the glasses are for.
Zactly!
You miss spelled it! Should read V &TW RR.
Yeah looks good enough to steal!(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif)
John
Thanks to all of you for hanging with me through this installation.
As a sort of postscript, last weekend I rearranged this corner of the basement to accommodate 3d printing and 2d cutting. I was sort of driven to this, because the same computer needs to be connected to either, and both if working at the same time.
Has a fire extinguisher and log book now, those were my main concerns. The lamp, cork board, table and white board came out of dark basement storage. The things on the floor are weights trying to un-curl a scrap of carpet that covers 2 cords to the cutter.
I’ve kept a log book, citing all the main parameters (for cutter, design, material). But it quickly got messy. So I made a simple spreadsheet and copied it for the log. Same for the 3d printing, which has different parameters. If you want the spreadsheet, pm me with your em address.
Two lists on the cork board declare (to me) what I must do to start up either a 2d or 3d “make.” I’ll be updating these lists forever… but I needed something to start from, because every time, I seem to forget some basic step. I’m expecting my memory to only go downhill, so these lists should help.
Well, that’s about it for this thread. Thanks again everyone for helping to make this happen.
===>Cliffy
Looks very efficient. Nice job.