Large Scale Central

Laser Engraver/cutters questions

Tools and Tips
#24

Acrylic and Plexiglas are equivalent…

No.

I made this mistake once buying plexiglas thinking it was acrylic. The material is so much harder to cut and the Epilog couldn’t even get all the way through a 1/4" piece making a real mess along the edge that never did penetrate all the way through.

If one wants to invest in a CNC machine, I bought ShopTask TriPower years ago, but it seems that running the machine causes more problems than it fixes. These were made in 2006-2007 and run manual, power feed, or CNC if fully optioned, as mine is. Don’t forget to get a good DRO with/for it.
Not mine in the video, but similar. Mine looks to be in much better shape.

In machining, heavier is better for stability. These weigh in at 1,400 pounds.

Like the trains, even these are “toys” subject to high maintenance if you expect proper operation.

https://www.chicagolathe.com/content/12-history-of-3-in-1-machine

#25

There are two kinds of acrylic sheet (cell cast or extruded), both of which can be lasered. Plexiglass / Plexiglas is the more expensive of them (cell cast acrylic sheet) . There may be slight differences, but not much from what I’ve read.

You may be confusing it with Lexan / polycarbonate, which does not do well with lasering (though it looks just like plex).

#26

Must have been polycarbonate billed as plexiglass.

#27

Todd,

“It’s all good” and honestly I don’t care either way, just being a typical ROOSTER . However you can go tighter and lower even swapping out with Ro trucks but this is a Laser Engraving /cutter question and I will stay on topic (if I can).

:wink:

#28

The slab table is gorgeous !

#29

Thanks! I made it from 2 16’ sections of live edge that was part of a bar in a country western club that closed. It’s 9.5’ long x 45" wide by 3" thick. I used one of the cutoffs for our fireplace mantel. Craigslist find $100.

1 Like
#30

Dang , Dan!!! Robbery without using a gun to get that slab for $100, what and awesome find!!! I’m sure when you saw it you HAD to buy it even if you didn’t have a plan for it!!!

#31

Thanks for this lead. He was generous enough to respond though he said the lasering was actually outsourced to a guy he knows and really was not “up” on it. But he referred me back to Cliff’s advice. But anyway I just wanted to say thank you and that he was kind and responded promptly

#32

Well, I’m really surprised. I thought he cut it all himself. I guess I’m not nearly as knowledgeable as I thought. :grinning:

#33

He said he does the design/CAD work and then he got hooked up with a guy before he started the company that was able to do the lasering. Did it professionally and now is retired but he still outsources to him. It is kinda funny because he told me that the guy is secretive about his methods even to Alan.

#34

Just purchased a Creality CR-Laser primarily for cutting basswood sheets for modeling. The laser is a diode type that works well for the cutting but wonder if it will help with scribing tongue and groove. Ever try doing that yourself, or, anybody out there try that?
My unit is only 5 watt as I did not plan on using it for art or etching.
Creality Laser Engraver

#35

Bruce, yes, I’ve lasered grooves into hard foam sheet for board, brick and stone joints. I haven’t done it on wood yet though. Here’s that project:

On the next set I want to make the grooves wider, which will require a second pass slightly offset from the first.

Keep us posted on how yours works out!

#36

Cliff;
Strange we never ran into each other over the years. I used to know the owners of Piper’s Opera House and talk with them many times over the years. It cost a pretty penny to restore that place as it was real run down.

Cheers and thanks;

deneh

1 Like
#37

Yes, indeed!

Ah, Pipers… I finally got to see the interior a couple years ago, along with my wife and sister. I’d paid for a special tour, arranged by the barkeeper downstairs. When the tour got to the backstage area, the theater manager (our guide) started seriously freaking out over the ghosts back there. I didn’t sense anything, but was tempted to try singing Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus just to make sure… :grin: The poor woman honored our tour commitment, but was a wreck by the time we got out!

:thinking: :smiley:

#38

Cliff,
It may not be the first time there for your sister? Wasn’t I there on the 2nd floor of your scale model?

#39

Close, you were next door in Gerbetz’s hotel.
Probably gawking at Madame Julia Bullette…

20200522_142118
20200522_1421181920×1440 98.9 KB

#40

May I just add that since being discovered, Cliff, Rooster’s modelling career has gone through the roof.

image
image2012×469 71.9 KB

However…

Cliff, now that you posted the link I understand why.
However, :innocent: The article states ”much of what has been written about Julia C. Bulette[(’s) love of roosters] is pure fiction”.

Julia, a woman of wit and eccentricity, loved her flock of clucking, feathered friends and insisted that no one could attend her establishment without paying homage to them.

Every evening, miners, drifters, and firemen lined up at her door, each carrying a squawking, flapping rooster. The scene outside was one of chaos—cocks crowing, hens pecking at the dust, and Julia laughing heartily as she welcomed each guest with a smile.

“Ah, that’s a fine-looking cock!” Julia would exclaim, pointing to a proud rooster perched on a miner’s shoulder, before placing his rooster with her hens.

  • Apologies for the paultry poultry taxonomy
  • I have already reported myself to the moderator for the use of foul fowl language!
  • Try the veal :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:
#41

Bill,
That’s old hat.

#42

I think mine’s a bit better, but I’m biased.

20180107_160226 - lr
20180107_160226 - lr1200×900 268 KB

Six years after I put that mine out there, a number of details have deteriorated, but that damn rooster is still there and swinging in the wind.

2 Likes
#43

IMG_6001
IMG_60011920×2560 403 KB

3 Likes