Laser Futzing Day

Posted on July 28, 2014 by Paul Williamson

A bit more progress to report. The dedicated computer is installed. I did an inspection of all the laser’s components and planned out the rest of the tasks for hook-up. I want to put the water chiller near the far wall, to keep it away from you when you’re working at the computer. Unfortunately, all the hookups for the chiller (water hose in, water hose out, and a status signal cable) are on the left side of the laser chassis, and the provided hoses and cable are not long enough to reach to the right side. I’ll have to make longer ones.

: The laser’s dedicated computer is now set up in the lab. And that new box on the right? That’s an air conditioner for the lab!

: The blue box is the high voltage power supply that makes the laser lase.

: This section contains the driver modules for the mechanical positioners. The larger one at the top is the Z axis, which raises and lowers the whole work table beneath the fixed laser. The other two drive the X and Y position of the laser head.

: At the top is a filter that isolates the high voltage power supply from the rest of the electronics. Below are three other power supplies for various purposes.

: This is the RetinaEngrave3D controller board by Full Spectrum Laser. It’s the brains of the laser. The blue cable on the left is Ethernet to the external computer, and the black cable is USB (probably just for the 5V DC power). The other connectors handle all the other devices in the laser chassis.

Laser Tube Installed

Posted on July 26, 2014 by Paul Williamson

Today the laser tube was unboxed and mounted into the main chassis. Progress!

: The laser tube out of its box at last.

: Paul mounts the chassis extender needed to fit the extra-large 150 watt laser tube into the already-huge chassis.

: The laser tube unwrapped. The beam comes out the right end. The innermost tube is the laser. The surrounding tube and spirals is the water cooling system. The outer tube is just for support and protection, as far as I know.

: The high voltage end of the tube, surrounded by the chassis extender (with the lid off). The high voltage wire hasn’t been hooked up yet. There is a cylindrical plastic shield to guard the high voltage end.

: The tube mounted in the chassis. The big white tubes are water in (on the left) and out (on the right). The high voltage wire still isn’t hooked up.

: The beam output end of the laser tube shines through a beam combiner (greenish gold circle) and is then reflected toward the front of the machine by the diagonal mirror (at right). The third thing (mounted on two black plates with two spring-loaded brass screws) is an ordinary red laser pointer, which is combined with the invisible main beam so you can see where it hits the work surface.

: The laser cutter head. The beam comes in from the left near the top and is reflected downward by the diagonal mirror. Lower in the vertical black tube is the lens, made of a special material that’s transparent to infrared light. The black rubber hose on the right delivers compressed air, which sprays out the black nozzle at the bottom, along with the laser beam. The golden contraption on the left is a mechanical height probe for autofocus.

Wall Rebuilt

Posted on July 26, 2014 by Paul Williamson

The end wall of the upstairs laser lab has now been rebuilt, thanks to Natural. The wall now features a large window, so the laser user can look out into the main build area and won’t feel quite so isolated.

Immediately beneath the window, there’s an open area in the framing. This potential opening lines up with the side door on the laser chassis, which can be opened to feed long stock through the machine.

Richard assists Natural in framing the interior window for laser lab.

Laser Training

Posted on July 20, 2014 by Paul Williamson

I’ll be offering a series of training classes in laser operation, starting as soon as possible after the laser is up and running. I hope that will be in early August. To start with, we’ll concentrate on the important safety rules that everybody has to know, basic understanding of the workflow to produce work on the laser, and the detailed steps to get this particular laser to do its tricks for you. Attendance at one of these basic training classes will be mandatory for anybody wishing to use the laser.

Later on, I hope to have some more advanced classes and workshops, if people are interested.

I will try to offer a variety of times: daytime, evening, weekday, weekend. Comments on which time slots are best would be welcome.

Once the details have been arranged, I’ll let you know how to sign up for a class. The lab is tiny, so class size will be limited, and you’ll have to sign up in advance.

-Paul

Laser Forklifted Into Place

Posted on July 19, 2014 by Paul Williamson

The laser was forklifted up from ground level into the laser lab today! Thanks to Yeti for driving the forklift and to Jon Ray for arranging everything.

: Rented forklift and volunteer driver Yeti enter the Colab facility.

: Yeti pilots the forklift. (photo by Meg)

: Squeezing in past the Youtopia trailer.

: Gauging the length and positioning of the forks.

: First attempt to pick up the laser. It wasn’t quite right.

: Finding a better configuration of the forks to pick up the laser.

: Second and final lifting of the laser!

: View of the lift from in the laser lab.

: Backing out onto the driveway to get a better angle on the target. (photo by Meg)

: Backing back into the building after turning around. (photo by Meg)

: The crate protecting the laser was only vaguely tacked together after initial inspection. The sides are still attached, but just barely.

: The laser rises!

: Meg taking a picture of Paul taking a picture of Meg …

: Paul is up in the laser lab acting as spotter (and photographer). (photo by Meg)

: Eyeballing the angle, getting ready to lift. (photo by Meg)

: Getting close to the right approach. (photo by Meg)

: Here it comes!

: Squeezing into the room.

: Easing the laser into place! (photo by Meg)

: Retrieving the fork extender that didn’t come out with the lift.

: There it is!

: Sides and top removed from the crate. This is the back of the machine. You can see the big exhaust fan port in the center. The tiny gold ports with yellow labels are cooling water in and out, and compressed air in. To the right of that is a connector for monitoring the status of the water chiller.

: LNT: debris from crate demolition.

: The laser in (more or less) its final position in the laser lab!

Wall Knocked Out

Posted on July 12, 2014 by Paul Williamson

The end wall of the upstairs laser lab has been knocked out, so we can get the machine in there. Thanks, Natural!

Installation schedule

Posted on July 11, 2014 by Paul Williamson

At the Colab managers meeting on July 10, we set some dates for the next few major milestones in the laser project:

July 12, Natural will knock out the end wall of the laser lab and frame it up as a raw opening.
Sometime the next week, a rented forklift and skilled operator will pick up the laser and oh-so-carefully deposit it in the upstairs laser lab through the opening.
July 26, Natural will build some kind of new wall/doors/windows to close off the end wall opening.
Once the wall is safe again, Paul will begin hooking up the laser. Expect at least a few days of fiddling around before any actual lasing takes place.
July 31, first laser training class (for Colab managers only).

After that, we hope to get started pretty quickly with training classes and your laser projects!

Sol Diego Laser @ Colab

Laser cutting/engraving for the Sol Diego community

Monthly Archives: July 2014