acdii

Especially the low end cheapnese laser tubes. They are rated 60 watt but are lucky to peak at 50 watt. Eventually though I will upgrade to a good brand tube and power supply and pretty much double the output. Two key things I learned, keep the current down, and keep it cool. Only thing left is to figure out some thermometers for it, probably a dual readout one, measure the tube, and measure the coolant. Coolant can be straight up distilled, or a mixture of distilled and RV antifreeze, which I think will be the route I take since it prevents algae growth and slimation.

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

Sounds like a good plan.

acdii

Would e nice if the forum that keeps coming up in searches had guys on it as great as they are on here. One guy is a search Nazi and had the gall to tell me to be a contributor. Their "assistance" was pretty lame and I figured most of it out on my own already. I don't think I will be spending much time there, that's for sure.

I checked out Lightburn, and it is pretty straight forward. Already did a sample test with an image, all I need now is the laser and a piece of wood to test it on.

Its a grayscale image of this picture

donnyman

I was almost convinced the laser was the best way to go until I read the above note. I am more convinced the router way is best for me. I am a believer in K.I.S.S.

mkjohnston

My Feedback: (2)

Donny if you get the right laser set up like the Epilog or Glowforge it might be a much better tool and you don't generate as much of mess as you would with cnc router setup.
look at this site; https://glowforge.com/?utm_source=go...BoCPiIQAvD_BwE

and here is the epilog which has been around for a very long time.https://www.epiloglaser.com/?gclid=C...RoCy6AQAvD_BwE
I want one but I dont have the space for one of these tools
enjoy
Michael Johnston

donnyman

Mike ...those lasers are impressive and the size of the fusion pro 48 is the size of my interest. the problem would be the purchase price and cost of up keep, they still require some attachments The dust and chips from a router is all I will have to contend with and a shop vac. solves that problem. An is much cheaper overall. production isn't in my plans.

I am being the devils advocate because I am learning a lot. seeing others prospective on a subject has saved me bunches in the pass. CNC cutting isn't new to me I was involved with it in the early 90"s but I do not have all the answers.

acdii

I agree that the CNC is probably the better way unless one likes to tinker with electronics. In either case, it comes down to the software skills, without good software, the end results can be a little lacking. I almost bought a used Epilog, but it was more than I am willing to spend for something as old as it was. The Glowforge OTOH is best if you have no software skillset, but have tracings instead as the camera can pick it up and store it, then just a matter of using the interface to set the part on the wood and letting it do the job. It is still 3 times the cost of the one I am getting, and the cooling leaves a bit to be desired.

The Epilog uses a solid state RF tube to file the laser and is air cooled, so no water chiller needed, and being RF fired, means finer dot control for better resolution for engraving. Downside is, a replacement tubes are in the thousands, vs, hundreds for the water cooled. There are a lot of Youtube videos out there on the Chasers, and some are very informative. For the base price I paid for mine, and a few upgrades down the road, it can be a very good laser engraver/cutter. The one I got is this one. Whats funny, all of them are sold by the same company, but use different names on EBAY.

mkjohnston

My Feedback: (2)

Hi Acdii, Does this unit come with the software or do you have to purchase it. I think my friend Eddie uses Coral Draw and that can be very expensive and then you need a computer that can run it. I remember years back learning Autocad a on 386 machine! It did work but Autocad is a pig and if you don't have a lot of memory it can be real drag. Just my two cents.
Thank you
Michael

acdii

Some of the smaller ones come with a hacked version of CorelDraw, and a proprietary controller and software. The one I am getting uses a standard controller that works with RDWorks, or Lightburn. Both can do rudimentary design work, but a decent graphics program is a must if anything serious is to be done. I spent $60 for CorelDraw X8 home and Student. I figured if it doesn't work, my Daughter can still use it to do her creations with. Turns out it can do what I need it to do just fine, and can be installed on 3 PC's.

Lightburn costs $80, and so far is working good, but I haven't tested on the laser yet, because I haven't received it yet. Supposed to be delivered on Wednesday. From everything I have read and watched so far, it should work fine. I tried RDWorks, but it crashes a lot, and the engraving doesn't appear very good, guess you get what you pay for, which is nothing for RDWorks. Lightburn has a 30 day trail, so once I get the laser set up, I can try a few cuts to verify all works before paying for it. I haven't looked deeper into it, but it appears that I can buy a camera set to make it work like a Glowforge, at least that is my impression of what I saw. It's something else to study, but if true, then I will be getting those too. That makes things easier, all I would have to do then is print a part out, stick it on the bed and import it via the camera right into the software, and trace the outline for cutting.

Mad Man Marko-RCU

I think that the laser is a far better way to produce parts for model aircraft. The laser's narrow kerf and efficient use of material will more that recoup the cost of investment over the lifetime of the tube. There are many relatively inexpensive programs to layout "nests of parts" to minimize material loss and with the laser's relatively small perk .005 or less if set up properly even on square corners there is no need for cleanup like there always is with a CNC router. The diameter of the router bit becomes a radius that must be removed on every square corner like rib to spar joints. The new laser software even allow multi passing to cut thicker materials. I was involved in the industrial laser cutter manufacturing business for 30 years so that is where my vote goes.
Mark O

donnyman

What you say sounds good, but how many model kits need a .005 accuracy? Proper nesting (Parts layout) is the means to save lumber even with hand cuts, square corners are accomplished on the router with a very small bit on a second cut. multi passing is a programming option/ feature run or hand cut with a square file...no big deal! clean up as I said before is the job of a shop vacuum, basic cost is a factor I build large models my current one has a eight foot wing and I found a router set up that will cut a full 4x8 ft. sheet of ply for under $500. yes some extra parts were needed. but the accuracy is well within modelling needs Paying thousands to produce a $100 plane,..............well....... to each his own.

Mad Man Marko-RCU

Donny, I guess you're correct in that you could easily save the money and produce perfectly usable parts for airplane kits. I just prefer the better fits and virtually no pre-work that the laser gives. Maybe I've been spoiled over the years bt I always spend the extra coin to get my parts laser cut.
Mark

acdii

At some point I hope to be able to produce short kits and market them on Ebay. Time will tell, end goal is to make enough to pay for the laser and any future upgrades and upkeep.

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

Well it took 4 months but I finally had to give into the wife. You guys may remember we loss a dog back in February, meet my new building supervisor Sandy. I really didn't want another dog but she is growing on me. Mom was a full blood black Lab her dad was a mixed breed Shepherd. She will be 8 weeks old on Thursday.



Well it took 4 months but I finally had to give into the wife. You guys may remember we loss a dog back in February, meet my new building supervisor Sandy.

donnyman

now that put a smile on my face, what a beautiful pup. I have been considering the same but when we travel the dogs become a hinderance for us ............Wonderful!

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

Yeah, I had doubts about getting another dog (my old dog Millie is 12) due to travel. The wife has been showing me every available rescue since Julia died so I relented. Sandy has a stubborn streak when the "no" word is concerned and is very adventurous. Millie runs every time she gets near and Sandy chases her. I'm hoping with time they will work it out. I know when Millie would get around my kids dogs she would perk up and start running around with them. Maybe it has something to do with Sandy being so young? Sandy will be 8 weeks on Thursday and gets her first shots on Friday. Millie on the other hand is very timid and always was from the time we got her when she was 14 weeks old. We always suspected abuse as the cause.

flyboy2610

My Feedback: (1)

She's winking at you, as if to say "Relax, dad, it'll be OK!"

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

She reminds me of my kids and grandkids "ornery"!

mkjohnston

My Feedback: (2)

Happy 4th of July to all of you 50+ builders on this side of the pond! Michael Johnston

Telemaster Sales UK

Trish and I hired a car to drive up to the Somme in northern France to participate in the 103rd Commemoration of the Start of the Battle of the Somme on 1st July. It was nice to have air conditioning as temperatures were in the high thirties. I was troubled by a touch of food poisoning but soldiered on. It was nothing compared to what the lads had to go through at the time. My grandfather's cousin was killed towards the end of the battle while serving with the Canadians. Killed in his sleep by a shell which also killed a dozen of his comrades. Only four of them were identifiable.

Trish and I were photographed by a Franch female biker who turned up at the Ulster Memorial at the same time as us. The Ulster Division were the only British division north of the River Ancre to capture all of their objectives on the first day but they were isolated and had to retire back to their own start lines by the evening. The tower in the background is a two-thirds replica of a tower in Ireland and is situated on the site of the German front line on 1st July.

donnyman

who is that cute couple in the second picture? the look happy!

Telemaster Sales UK

Interestingly enough there is another memorial less than a mile away from the Ulster Tower which commemorates the British and South African Missing of the Battles of the Somme, most of whom would have been killed in 1916 and whose bodies have never been recovered or at least identified. It is a large structure. It has to be as it has over 72,000 names on it. A further 23,000, including my grandfather's cousin, were identifiable.



Trish told me that her great uncle, Richard Frank Arnold had been killed on the Somme. I did a little research on the Commonwealth War Graves website and found that he is indeed commemorated on the Memorial To The Missing. We were able to find his name and as it was inscribed low down on one of the panels, Trish was able to touch it. She was quite moved by the experience.

I sometimes sing and play the guitar at a bar near here. There is a Frenchman called Hervey who usually does a bit too. I put all of this information on Facebook and Hervey replied that his grandfather was killed during the Battle of the Somme a few months before his mother was born.

The Missing of the armies of Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, many of whom would have been born in the UK at the time, are recorded elsewhere.

We belong to a lucky generation don't we gentlemen?

FlyerInOKC

My Feedback: (6)

Yes we do! And we owe those men a great debt.

donnyman

Such carnage makes me wonder if the wars would have taken place if the ones that started them (and their sons) had to lead in the battles?

Telemaster Sales UK

Quite so Donny.

The Battle of the Somme was planned in December 1915 and was supposed to be mainly a French attack with the British Army in a supporting role. However, the Germans attacked the French city of Verdun in February 1916 so the bulk of the French Army was deployed there to defend it. Consequently the Battle of the Somme was mainly a British assault with French Army support.

Of course the French Army sustained casualties too. The leading pilot in my club is a man called Roger Aubard. We went flying on Sunday and he told me tht his grandfather lost a leg in the Battle of the Somme but worked for the rest of his life as an agricultural labourer on a prosthetic limb. So among my friends and acquaintances Trish's great uncle was killed, Hervey's grandfather was killed, Roger's grandfather was maimed for life and my grandfather's cousin was killed, all in the same battle. The grandfather of another clubmate was killed at the controls of his Farman bomber in December 1915 and both of my grandfathers served on the Somme. My mother's father was wounded four times during the war.

It's only fair to add that Raymond Asquith, the eldest son of the British Prime Minister at the time, was also killed on the Somme.

Things are certainly difficult nowadays