I’m told that Microsoft saw fit to unilaterally “upgrade” our laser’s computer to Windows 10 the other day, despite my efforts to disable the automatic update. Oh, well.

Full Spectrum Laser doesn’t seem to have a position on whether their software, Retina Engrave 3D, will work on Windows 10. I don’t know any particular reason why it wouldn’t, but I have a strong belief that if you haven’t tested something, it probably doesn’t work.

I will do some rudimentary testing soon and add a comment to this post with the results. If it seems to work, I’ll leave it on Windows 10, since the upgrade would seem to be inevitable. If I find any problems, I can theoretically still back down to the older Windows version we were running before.

Replacing the two thermistor surge suppressors in the high voltage power supply seems to have cured the laser of its problems. Hurray! It’s actually cutting a bit better than it has been doing recently.

Total parts cost: $6.66, plus shipping. Not bad!

Laser classes on April 3 and April 10 will go ahead as scheduled. A new class or two will be scheduled soon, with people from the canceled March 26 class having first shot.

After a couple of rounds of back and forth with tech support, they had me open up the high voltage power supply and inspect for visible damage. Somewhat to my surprise, I found some. These two big black ceramic disks are clearly blown up. By the part number MF72-5D20 these are power NTC thermistors used as surge protection. According to tech support, this type of failure is usually caused by a random power surge.

I have replacement parts on order (they’re cheap) and will try simply swapping out the thermistors as soon as they come in. If that doesn’t solve the problem I will probably have to send the power supply in for repair ($100 plus shipping and handling). Cost-wise, this could have been a lot worse.

The laser is currently not working at all. The laser tube just won’t fire. I strongly suspect a failed high voltage power supply. I have a support ticket open with Full Spectrum Laser and expect to hear back by Monday. If I’m right about the problem, the downtime will depend on whether they have a replacement power supply in stock.

The laser class for Saturday, March 26 (later today) is CANCELED. We can’t have a laser class without a working laser. The classes for April 3 and April 10 are still on, for the time being, but are at risk of being canceled if I’m not able to get the laser repaired in time.

This web site is now hosted on a different server. If you see any new problems, please let me know.

Once again today I had to replace the lens and mirror 3 in the laser today. Thanks to Paul M for letting me know about the problem.

Lens destroyed

After a long development cycle, the developers of the excellent free vector drawing program Inkscape have just released a major new version, numbered 0.91. There is a good article about the updates available from Libre Graphics World and you can download the new software (Windows, Mac, or Linux) from Inkscape.org.

I’ve installed the new Inkscape on the computer attached to the laser. Just in case you should have trouble with the new version, the old version (0.48.4) is also still available.

I’ve placed a HEPA air filter and cleaner in the laser room, in the hope that it will reduce the general stench of burned material and also cut down on the ambient dust level. It’s not in any way a substitute for the laser’s exhaust blower, which vents almost all the smoke to the outside. The HEPA filter is just for our comfort when we’re in the laser room.

The HEPA filter has a timer built in. I suggest you set it to run for 8 hours (the longest timer setting) when you leave the room, if you’ve made any smoke during that session. We’ll see how well that works.

HEPA Air Cleaner

[Updated. Change of plans as requested by Colab managers.]

There is now a short online form to fill out to schedule time on the laser, which you can find by clicking on Schedule at the top of the colaser.org web page. The form goes directly to a Colab volunteer, who will try to respond promptly (usually within a few hours). The volunteer will try to arrange for a Colab key holder to be available to open the building for you. If that’s not possible at your requested time, they’ll work with you to find a mutually agreeable time when you can use the laser.

The Google Calendar is now read-only, and gives you a view of what times have already been reserved or blocked out. You can view the calendar by clicking on Schedule at the top of the colaser.org web page, or directly by following this calendar link. On that view you’ll find a button to add the calendar to your own calendar, if you wish.

The Google Group I previously set up to provide access to the calendar is no longer needed for that purpose, since the scheduling volunteer will update the calendar.

Please schedule the time you need, as far in advance as you can. The Colab key holders are happy to arrange a convenient time for you, but they can’t be expected to show up right away without advance notice. If you’re already at Colab and the laser isn’t already scheduled for someone else, you can ask any key holder who happens to be available if they can let you use the laser.

If you can’t make it at the scheduled time, please do your best to let us know. The scheduling volunteer will let you know who to contact if you need to cancel.

In the future, we hope to have regular open hours when you can be sure Colab is available, and a fully automated way to schedule time on the laser during those hours. In the meantime, and for hours when Colab wouldn’t otherwise be open, going through the scheduling volunteer lets you get time on the laser and access to the building in a single step.

The replacement mirrors and lens arrived this morning, and I got them installed and working this afternoon. The laser is functional again, maybe even a little better than before. Let the artmaking resume!

I replaced mirror 2 (which might have been OK), mirror 3 (which was trashed), and the focus lens (which was destroyed). Did a full alignment on the optics, and a rough spot-check on the table leveling.

People have noticed that the laser seems weaker on the lower right and works best in the upper left region of the work area. It’s normal for there to be some small differential, because of the longer beam path to reach the lower right, but it was much worse than normal. I think it’s improved now. A cut that worked at speed 17 in the upper left required a speed of 13 in the lower right.

The new lens has a slightly different focus point than the old lens, for whatever reason. I have adjusted the autofocus probe to what seems to be the best focus point for the new lens. If you prefer to measure, you’ll find the new focus point is several millimeters longer than before. That is, the table is a bit lower with respect to the cutting head.

People have had trouble cutting half-inch plywood. I was able to cut a small square out of half-inch plywood today, in a single pass at speed 17 (or 13 in the lower right corner) at 100% power. There was some charring on the edge of the wood, but nothing that wouldn’t sand off. The only trick I used was to focus a bit down into the material, instead of at the surface. The Z axis setting I used was about where the autofocus probe touches the material, but that was just an educated guess. You’ll still need to experiment with settings and focus heights to find a configuration that works with your specific plywood.

I still think we can get better cutting of thick plywood (half-inch and maybe thicker) by getting a stronger air-assist compressor. I’ll look into that soon.

I hope to see you and your laser-cut art at YOUtopia!