Cutting Foam Board (paper faced)

Hardware
21

That’s a fair price. The question comes down to the capability of the driver. I couldn’t tell if the driver accepts TTL or PWM input to modulate the laser’s output. My old l-cheapo did not, it was either on or off. I switched the driver on that one right away, I used a Super X drive from DTR, it worked very well, but was challenging to solder because it is tiny.

The diode (no lens) is $90 in a 12mm copper host from DTR.

The BlackBuck 8M is $39 from DTR, it does pwm control, but will need a heatsink to run over 3 amps. As I mentioned, it is tiny and requires good skills and equipment for soldering.

The High Precision Lens I used is $19 from Jtech Photonics

Safety glasses are $10 on Amazon, though nicer ones might be a good idea.

That’s about $160, so $100 cheaper than the l-cheapo, though to be fair, there is some (read that as “a lot of”) assembly required.

The remaining bits like mounting hardware, heatsinks, and wires and all that will add up too, no matter which way you go. I used an old PC heatsink I had sitting around for mine, just drilled a hole into the middle of it, then pressed the diode host in place with a vise. I counter-drilled the back even larger so that the contact was only on the lower portion of the diode host.

Software-wise? I use LaserWeb and GRBL 1.1f on an Arduino. Sure, you can use smoothie and some of the other, faster boards. I do fine with a plain-old Arduino and plain old GRBL.

Just to be clear, my laser is not on my Maslow, because my Maslow is still very much under construction. I have a small cartesian laser, the OpenBuilds Acro 500X500 mm. New belts and extrusions would allow me to stretch it to 1.5 meter square, but I am not sure I need one that large. For what I currently do with the laser, the 500X500 is a great size, and I can pick it up and hang it on the wall when it is not in use.

Here’s a poor picture of it running:

IMG_20180204_131638
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3 Likes
22

@mfpiechowski

Good write up.

Thank you

23

Also, you have to watch out for sharks whenever you work with lasers.

1 Like
24

:thinking:__________

25

I think that speed should make it possible to do some cool things with a laser diode. I think good safety can be achieved. If using the rigid mount and a printed laser diode adapter to fit the router base, a shield could be incorporated so that the sled would prevent beam from escaping. A metallic sheet would need to be placed on the waste board area of course.

We could go totally overboard and have the shielded area have shielding gas much like a MIG welder has and pump CO2 into the shielded area to prevent flames. (And yes, I’m kidding, that’s overboard, but kinda fun at the same time, especially if it’s trigger only when a flame is detected…) Not inexpensive and practical at all… :slight_smile:

Although, since the sled only has a small opening, if there was a flare up, then as the sled was moving along the cut it would most likely smother and snuff out a flame in most instances.

1 Like
26

Gypsum board or similar might also work, just as long as it is non-flammable

3 Likes
27

i truely have no clue on how donek justifies a $230+ dollar price tag for what I “assume” can’t be much more than a bearing seated on a 1/4" shaft with, a flat stainless steel/aluminum bracket. I’d like to see their return policy to perhaps reverse engineer it with a mini lathe and mini milling machine and send it right back.

Not one for such dirty business but Christ! $239 for THIS!

DONEKd3

28

great question, I had pondered if a Donek could be used with my “March 2018” Maslow as well

29

Are you thinking of that blade for foam board or something thinner like vinyl sticker? I don’t see how a flat blade could make nice curved cuts on anything but very thin material?

30

I was thinking also maybe the cement board for use around fireplaces. But the recommendations I got from a couple people with laser experience was a metallic surface, with aluminum as the first choice.

I have no experience with a laser yet so can’t offer any experienced input yet…

31

Here’s plans for one from my friend Tweakie

http://www.cooperman.talktalk.net/files/11.htm

2 Likes
32

Drag knives came up on G+ today

33

I’ve been around sign makers for a while. A decent knock of vinyl cutter is pretty cheap. It’s a bit more then just the knife. Certainly worth a try but there is a lot at play as to how this gets setup on a Maslow. The cost in this area is the material and the software. You need a very uniform surface to get uniform results.

Thank you

34

The only issue with cutting foam board with a laser is you get some burn back on the foam so you don’t have nice flat edges. If you want clean flat edges a Maslow would work great. It might be even better if you could mount a variable speed Dremel on the sled to alleviate any heat generation from too high speed from a router.

3 Likes
35

I bought one a few years back for less than $300 and it has been great. Can take vinyl up to 24" and comes with a pen attachment. I originally bought it because I had a custom vinyl sticker I wanted cut and the quotes were ridiculously expensive. Like half the cost of just buying a machine or more… so, new toy. I use it a lot more than I thought I might, between cutting custom labeling, stickers for my motorcycle, plotting large drawings (I used this to do a 6 foot tall Grinch christmas cutout), and cutting iron on vinyl for t-shirts for the kids. I love that last since the kids can get almost any shirt they want in a matter of hours.
Here’s a recent one I did for my son:

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Of course, I don’t think this would work for the original poster’s application :frowning:

2 Likes
36

That is awesome! Which cutter to you have. I saw a 36 inch on a stand at signwearhouse for $499.

Thank you

37

It is similar to this one: SC2 Series Vinyl Cutter w/ VinylMaster Cut Design & Cut Software
but is a 25" without a stand. Doesn’t look like they carry it anymore. Also, it was about $260 (not under $200) in 2012. I am editing my previous post.

Given the amount I’ve used it, the purchase was definitely worth it for me.
Here was the original project that spurred me to buy it:

JohnnysWagon
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My father in law had kept my wife’s wagon from when she was a wee lass. I decided to restore it for our son. The restoration included a Radio Flyer themed custom logo:

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4 Likes
38

Dam you have talent.

Thank you

39

Thank you, sir. I deem that high praise indeed coming from you :slight_smile:

40

Your Welcome. I have plenty of ideas - I just have no talent for execution. I say it is what drives me to be good at fields that allow me creative outlet. I’m also pretty good at managing creatives.

Thank you

1 Like