Author Archives: Paul Williamson

About Paul Williamson

Paul is the lead operator of the Colab laser.

How to Reserve Time on the Laser

Posted on by
Reply

We are still working toward a mostly-online system of reserving time to use the laser. And, I still don’t know when that system will be ready.

In the meantime, the way to get time on the laser is to send your desired date(s) and time(s) to Vic, who can be reached by DM on the sdcapgroup Slack workspace as @Jolly Rancher, or by email at jollyrancher@sdcolab.org. Vic is a busy person and also a volunteer, so please be patient and friendly.

Reminder: you must have completed the Basic Operation and Safety class on the laser before you can reserve time on the laser. If you took the class before Covid at the original Colab location, you’ll need a refresher. For the moment, that means retaking the BOS class. If you’d rather wait until we can offer an abbreviated refresher course, please let me know. I won’t be developing the refresher course unless I hear about some demand for it.

U Axis Stepper Motor Driver Installation

Posted on by
Reply

On April 24 I completed the physical and electrical installation of an additional stepper motor driver in the laser. This type of device sits between the Ruida laser controller and the actual stepper motor that mechanically drives the various axes of the machinery. The new one adds support for the U axis, in addition to the existing X, Y, and Z axes.

The idea is that this will better support the use of rotary adapters with Lightburn software. This theory has yet to be proven.

Here is what the new Leadshine 3DM583 stepper motor driver look like on the inside. It’s more complex than I expected. It’s the current version of the 3ND583 driver that is used in the existing X and Y axes.

And here is a view of the electronics inside the laser, before the addition of the new driver. The off-white box on the left is the Ruida laser controller. The three black boxes in the middle are the existing stepper drivers, for the X, Y, and Z axes. The shiny perforated-metal box on the right edge is one of several power supplies. The new driver will be squeezed in above the Z axis driver.

The biggest challenge mechanically was creating this 16mm hole in the chassis to mount the connector for attaching either of our two rotary adapters to the new driver. This was a fine excuse to acquire a new tool, so I picked up a set of annular cutters. There’s just room to use one of these with a small battery-powered hand drill, and it did a fine job of making a hole in the heavy sheet steel of the laser chassis. To the left of the hole there’s a magnet, which I used to help keep the tiny chips of metal from going all over the place. The light green material is a metal cutting fluid called Anchorlube.

And here’s what the room looked like after an afternoon and evening of messing around. The electronics area is accessed through the doors on the right side, next to the orange wall. There isn’t a lot of extra room around the laser for service! Both of the rotary adapters can be seen on the laser’s bed. On the desk is a mix of tools that belong in the laser room, tools I brought from home, and tools I scrounged from other parts of Colab.

I performed only preliminary basic tests to confirm the installation. I’m able to rotate either rotary adapter using the U+ and U- buttons on the controller keypad, which proves that the electrical connections are basically working. However, it didn’t behave the way I expected. All the other axis motion buttons cause the corresponding motor to run while the button is held down. The new U axis, however, continues to move after the button is released, and only stops when another button is pressed. I expect there’s a setting for that, but I didn’t find it before quitting for the day.

Laser Classes Update

Posted on by
Reply

Sessions of the Basic Operation and Safety class for the laser are continuing at an accelerated pace: 4 sessions in March, 6 in April. I’ll try to keep this up as long as there is demand.

For now we are going to try to stick to a schedule for scheduling new classes. Specifically, new classes will be added once per calendar month, sometime during the last week of the preceding month. Classes might still be added or changed at any time, but most new classes will be posted in a single batch during the last week of the month before they occur. The purpose of this schedule is to limit the number of volunteer hours needed just to maintain the schedule.

I’ve always preferred that the BOS classes be free, because they’re essential to the use of the laser and we do want people to use the laser. However, we’ve found that the number of people who sign up for the free class and then fail to show up is unacceptably high, given the high demand for the BOS class. So for the moment we’re charging a nominal fee of $10 per student, in the hope that this will discourage people from skipping out on a class reservation. If this doesn’t work, we’ll have to resort to drastic measures, like making people pinky-swear that they will show up for class.

Laser Classes Update

Posted on by
Reply

We’ve held 15 sessions of the Laser Basic Operations and Safety class over the last six months. These classes were announced only to people already on the waiting list, and they filled up rapidly. We will continue to hold classes at a similar accelerated pace as long as they continue to fill up.

Go to the class signup page on the Colab web site here and check for class availability. If you don’t see any classes available and want to attend a class anytime soon, I recommend you sign up for the waiting list. We will continue to notify people on the waiting list by email before we open the classes for everybody.

If you took the laser class before we moved to the current Colab location on Mission Gorge Place, you learned to use the Full Spectrum Laser with its original Retina Engrave 3D electronics and software. Since then, we have upgraded to a Ruida laser controller and LightBurn software, and operation of this new configuration is somewhat different. You’re free to sign up for the updated basic class, in which you will learn the differences and refresh your memory of everything else, including safety rules. Or, you can wait for us to put together a shorter refresher course that concentrates on just the differences.

Laser Classes now on sdcolab.org

Posted on by
Reply

Classes for the laser are now being scheduled on the sdcolab.org web site.

We have scheduled, and already filled up, six classes between September 16 and September 25. More classes are due to be scheduled on an ongoing basis after that. Visit that web site to sign up or be added to the waiting list.

I hope you’re as excited as I am to see regular laser classes and routine laser use begin again!

Laser Classes to Resume!

Posted on by
Reply

Hello Colaser community! It has been awhile (since things shut down for Covid, and then we moved the laser (twice!) and converted it to use completely different electronics and software. Now we are finally ready to resume training classes and normal appointments to use the laser. I will be announcing new classes within the next day or two, to start holding classes as soon as next week. If you want to take the whole class again from the beginning, please email class@colaser.org and I will add you to the list to receive email notification about new classes scheduled. If you would prefer to take an abbreviated class intended for people already experienced on our old laser configuration, please email class@colaser.org and let me know your preference. Note that I don’t have the abbreviated class prepared yet, so there may be a longer wait for the shorter class.

Laser Update

Posted on by
Reply

The laser seems to be working fine after its long holiday.

I’ve updated the Lightburn software on the laptop. We now have two versions of Lightburn installed: the latest and greatest from the stable 1.7.x series, and a release candidate version from the 2.0.0RC series. You can run either one you like, but make sure only one is running at a time. I recommend going straight to the 2.0.0RC version, even though it’s not officially released. It’s the future, and so far it seems well-behaved. If you run into any problems with 2.0, you can always fall back to the 1.7 version installed.

As of yesterday, you no longer need to worry about turning on the ventilation fan or the air assist compressor. The ventilation fan will automatically come on when you power up the laser, and remain on until you switch it off. The air assist compressor will automatically come on when the laser starts to run your job, and automatically switch off at the end of the job. Please listen for and be aware of both fans, though, in case the automation somehow fails. It’s still your responsibility to make sure both are enabled while you’re running a job.

I also have a plan to install a two-speed capability on the air assist. This will be controlled by the Air setting for each layer (color) in your Lightburn job. If Air is on, the air assist will run at full speed, as it always has. If Air is off, the air assist will run at a minimal speed, just enough to keep smoke and ash out of the lens cone. You’re free to experiment to see which setting works best for your job. As a rule of thumb, you’ll probably want full speed for cutting, and low speed for engraving.

You still have to turn on the water chiller manually before operating the laser. If the water chiller isn’t circulating water, or if the laser’s lid isn’t down, the machine will go through the motions of running your job, but it will not fire the laser tube.

I’m in the final stages of revising the training for the new laser setup. I hope to be scheduling new classes by mid-July. If you’ve ever written to class@colaser.org about a class, I’ll email you when classes are available to schedule. If you haven’t, or if your email address has changed, you can write to class@colaser.org to get on the list.

If you want to get a jump on the training, look online for Lightburn tutorials. I’d suggest starting with YouTube videos. Or, if you’re more a reader of manuals, the official Lightburn documentation is pretty good. Lightburn supports several different laser types; where there’s a fork in the road, choose the one for CO2 lasers of the “DSP” type, with a Ruida controller. You’ll find a lot more information online than I can possible include in the training course.

Laser Almost Ready at New CoLab Location

Posted on by
Reply

The laser has been re-relocated to its new home at the new permanent location of Colab, at 4667 Mission Gorge Place, Suite A, in San Diego. Thanks to the great work of Jolly Rancher and many other volunteers, the laser has its own air-conditioned space with all-new exhaust ventilation to outdoors. The laser tube has been re-installed. A few finishing touches remain before the laser can be operated. After that, a thorough alignment and tuning is all that should be needed before the laser can return to regular service.

That is, if nothing else goes wrong. One of the finishing touches planned for the work session on Tuesday (April 8, 2025) was to refill the water cooling system that keeps the laser tube cool during operation. After adding the first gallon of distilled water to the chiller, we had about half a gallon of water on the floor. Investigation revealed that one of the tubes inside chiller had become brittle with age, and cracked in several places. Most of the tubes in the chiller are silicone and are still in good condition, but that one tube was clear polyurethane. That tube serves as a sight glass to judge the water level, so it has to be transparent. I didn’t find a local source for polyurethane tubing, but the blessedly nearby Home Depot was able to supply clear vinyl tubing in the same size. With the new tubing installed, the chiller no longer leaks. That little side quest consumed the remaining time in the Tuesday work session, though. The next step is to run the cooling water into the laser tube.

Speaking of the laser tube, it was practically new when Covid hit, but laser tubes of this type also have a limited shelf life. Five years later, it’s possible that the tube won’t work at all, or won’t work as well as it did when new. Once we have the cooling water working, we will test it and find out.

Colab COVID-19 Update

Posted on by
Reply

CoLab is (and has been for a while) available for single-user access and small groups from the same household for machine use by appointment only. Go to the Schedule page and request access as usual if you want to use the laser on these terms, or email info@sdcolab.org if you have questions about the policy.

Indoor classes, including our laser safety classes, are still considered unsafe. Classes will resume as soon as conditions permit.