Reply with QuoteMy machine has a separate power cable and fuse to the laser power supply, motion control can function without that power line plugged in. Maybe g weike's are different (mine is 150w, that might necessitate a separate power path too).
Using an ohmeter I confirmed that the 48v supply is wired in series upstream from the laser's supply so it would seem that setting at 220v is the right thing. have you tested it both ways and compared the power output of the laser?
My machine has a separate power cable and fuse to the laser power supply, motion control can function without that power line plugged in. Maybe g weike's are different (mine is 150w, that might necessitate a separate power path too).
Well I finally found time (summers are too busy!) to align my mirrors, make a couple of more tweaks, and start to use LaserCut last night. I've attached a couple of pictures of an engraving I made on Ipe (Brazilian Mahagony). This was made at 50% power and 100um Y shift per X scan pass. I'm very happy with the detail I'm able to get. Puts my cnc router to shame.
I realize this is a longshot but does anyone have any suggestions for minimizing the stink that occurs when the laser burns the substrate and seems to stick with it for days and days afterward?
I've heard that to eliminate the black color you need to pump in nitrogen. Maybe that prevents the smell too??
That looks great, Homer.
Updated Installation Manual July 2012 from Hurricane
http://www.yousendit.com/download/Ql...bEptUUZDaDhUQw
We will be adding to the manual Monthly with LaserCut Tips - Visit the Suport section of our website each month to see the current downloads available.
Hurricane, your manual says convex side down. This guy says it should be up, and he says others agree with him. Are you sure it should be down?
OPLaser support forum • View topic - Final Lens Orientation (The Definitive Answer)
I read the post from the OPLaser support. I can't say I disagree with it. However, our manufacturer (Gweike) installs and calibrates our lasers with the convex side down. The focus of our lasers will not be correct if the lens is put in the opposite way. Our lens manufacturer says although there may be minimal scatter if the lens is in this way, our spot size is still effective and the focal length is far more important than minimal scatter. The majority of our customers are not sophisticated enough to find the smallest facula for their machine and adjust the focus tool and auto focus to match. They rely completely on the tools the factory has set for them in this regard. So - in response to all the above data - for GWeike machines - we recommend installing the lens convex side down per the manufacturer.
Inconsistent Cut Speed
I have a wierd question that I can't find an answer to on the forums. I was cutting 1/8" MDF this weekend. Some of the geometry would cut more slowly, and therefore cut all the way through, and other geometry would cut much faster, like straight lines especially, and therefore would not cut all the way through.
I'm using Lasercut 5.3. To get around this, I changed the cut speed of the "fast geometry" way down to like 10mm/s, whereas the "slow geometry" I could leave at 200mm/s.
I also noticed that even on some of the "slow geometry" lines, I would get small sections where the cut didn't go all the way through, and these would appear consistently in the same place every time I cut it.
Anyone have any idea what is going on?
Your problem would not be evident if you ran the entire job at the lower speed other than "slow geometry" would look over burnt. The bottom line is that the corner power setting is not coordinated with the power setting. It is likely you have the power and corner power settings equal to each other. Power needs to be higher than corner power by approximately 10-20% depending on the material. If power is maximum 100 than corner power may be something like 80 or 90 and the speed set accordingly to accomplish the cut. Another way to look at this is that it takes less power to cut circles and corners since the laser is going slower than it does on the straight lines when the laser is traveling faster especially on long lines when it accelerates to maximum speed. Leave it to the Chinese to come up with "Corner Power" to compensate for this.
Here is another suggestion you may want to try since you say you are cutting 1/8" MDF material. Laser Cut 5.3 also has a feature called "Hole". This is another way to cut materials like MDF on a vector path by drilling holes with the laser beam as it travels along the path. It is nice because the result is a much cleaner cut and is more consistent overall. Domestic lasers do something similar by setting PPI pulse per inch values to lower numbers when cutting wood and paper. So with 1/8 inch MDF try settings of something like 90 power with an Interval setting of 0.100 mm and a Radiation time of 0.01 sec. Power and time settings may vary depending on the wattage of your laser tube.
You will be pleasantly surprised.
Hurricane, thanks very much for this information. It was invaluable and also not documented anywhere in the manuals that I could find (your's or weike's).
I'm assuming interval is the distance beteen pulses when the laser is off (100 microns in your example) and the pulse time is the amount of time the laser is then on (10ms). Is that correct? If so, how do these knobs interact with the PWM value (20khz nominally) in the setting screen of laser cut?
You Hurricane guys are very helpful even though I didn't buy my machine from you. I will certainly recommend you though because of it.
Thanks!
Axis motion in Lasercut question?
Does anyone know how to move the XY stage or Z stage to a known distance, either from the LaserCut 5.3 menus or directly from the Weike machine interface panel?
This is easily done in Mach3 on my router by typing the position desired in the command menu but I can't find anything like this on my laser.
distance set
Hi Stan,
on machine panel,there is manual-jog set-distance stting,you can make this ,hope it can help you
Best Regards
Lucy Lee
G.WEIKE LASER
han@wklaser.com
Originally Posted by HomerSimpson
Thanks Lucy. Can you send a picture of the menu you are referring to? I don't see it. Is there a similar option in LaserCut?
Laser power comparison
Does anyone know if there is a way to actually measure laser power output? I'm sure there is expensive equipment to do this but I'm looking for something I can do in my shop. For example, if I can just cut through MDF at 300mm/s at 100% power, then I am outputting 80 watts. I've been reading that all kinds of factors can influence laser power (air assist flow, pressure, lense and mirror cleanliness, junk in the cooling water, etc) and I want to get an idea if I am operating near the capacity of my laser or not.
laser distance
Hi Stan,
the manual is just on the panel ,photo will be enclosed below ,manual with red circle , and one of operation manual we send to your mail address,hope that can help you
Best Regards
Lucy Lee
G.WEIKE LASER
han@wklaser.com
Power meter maybe is what you need . It is used for testing the output power of tube . And you may get this in local area . If need any information of this ,I 'like to share with you .
XYZ Machinery
Get a setting where you JUST cut thru 3mm acrylic at all points on the table. Test the machine by using those settings every now and then
If you don't cut thru , you have lost power , if you dont cut thru at all points on the table , you have gone out of alignment.
Use the same lens and air assist settings when testing..most 3mm acrylic is all the same...
Bear in mind that using your glass tubed laser at it's max power will severely shorten its life
Rodney , Cape Town , South Africa
[url]www.tokerbros.co.za[/url]
This is basically what Lucy said from GWeike bur maybe easier to understand:
You can easily adjust the XY or Z axis by an incremental distance by setting the jog set value in the menu on the laser keypad to the desired value, then simply use the arrow keys on the keypad to jog. Remember to reset the value back to 0.000 if you want the jog to return to continuous motion.
I am strongly considering this laser with 80w Reci tube. How do you like it so far?
Re: Just another Chinese laser
The LG1200 is really a piece of work. Can't help but crave for one of those.
_____________________________________
Steve Works
Customs Consultancy Solutions for Montreal
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