DIY Large Format Laser Cutter

[gavztheouch]

Hi everyone this is my second attempt at a laser cutter. After building one of the first buildlog.net lasers designed by Bart I decided to have a go myself. Design and build time was around 1 month, and the total cost was around £1500-£2000.

I am going to use a light object DSP which will control the laser and the steppers. Hopefully this should make it quite a usable machine.

Currently 40w and thinking of an upgrade to maybe 80w or 100w

[jasonharris22]

Looking good, just one suggestion. If you are looking for fast rapids you will experience a lot of whip on the rods that are attached to the stepper moving the Y.


Something to consider if it does turn out to be a problem. I like how the chinese ones to that with a larger diameter rod supported by pillow blocks on each side and stepper on one end.

[cinematic2]

Hi
I build laser machines. Quite small and quite big for almost 10 years.
- As I see £1500-£2000 is VERY MUCH for what I see.
- Pictured laser for sure is not 40W. Real 40W chinese laser is 100cm long.
- Y axis rods are to thin.
- Both X axis belt as Y axis rods shouldn`t work straight with stepper motor.
There should be a kind of transmission.
- Good manner is to hide X axis belt.
For me this is unsuccessful copy of chinese laser machines.
But chinese machines are cheaper and some better.
Sorry.

[gavztheouch]

I build laser machines. Quite small and quite big for almost 10 years.
- As I see £1500-£2000 is VERY MUCH for what I see.
- Pictured laser for sure is not 40W. Real 40W chinese laser is 100cm long.
- Y axis rods are to thin.
- Both X axis belt as Y axis rods shouldn`t work straight with stepper motor.
There should be a kind of transmission.
- Good manner is to hide X axis belt.
For me this is unsuccessful copy of chinese laser machines.
But chinese machines are cheaper and some better.
Sorry.

All very valid points one of which is echoed by JasonHarris22 regarding the y axis drive shafts. So this will be first on my list of upgrades along with adding transmission to gear down the motors, this was already in the pipeline as I have a couple of panasonic servo motors I would like to use and they only have one shaft, not duels. Do you have any other suggestions? Also do you know of any design guides or indepth photographs of the best lasers available. It would be great to have something to reference when thinking about how to improve it.

Cheers

Gav

[Exsecratio]

best lasers available

Hard call Gav, best is always relative to price have a word with Tweakie, he scratch built a laser/router/cutter that runs native code so he would be a great place to start for advice (as well as being one of the smartest guys I know)

best wishes

Dave

[mixer911]

any updates on this build. I was looking at doing something similar.

[wascallywabbit]

Hi
I build laser machines. Quite small and quite big for almost 10 years.
- As I see £1500-£2000 is VERY MUCH for what I see.
- Pictured laser for sure is not 40W. Real 40W chinese laser is 100cm long.
- Y axis rods are to thin.
- Both X axis belt as Y axis rods shouldn`t work straight with stepper motor.
There should be a kind of transmission.
- Good manner is to hide X axis belt.
For me this is unsuccessful copy of chinese laser machines.
But chinese machines are cheaper and some better.
Sorry.

1) Agreed. Unless there are some very nice custom electronics that aren't pictured, that's probably 2-3 what this unit should have cost.

2) Completely incorrect. It looks like he's using a Tongli tube--those usually have a 42W/38W peak/average @ 740mm. Other tube manufacturers can come in as high as 46W/42 peak/average for a 750mm tube. Likewise, many 720-750mm tubes will be in the 33-38W range. A 1000mm tube should put out at least 60W; the RECI 90W tubes are 1200mm.

For the rest, I pretty much agree and will echo what others have said about the robustness of this rig--it won't stand up to high speed rapids (those look like NEMA 17 motors?). You should be using at least NEMA 23's with a linear rail like that. You may or may not want to gear them down as some have suggested. I think the GW lasers use direct drive but I haven't peeked inside one in a while.

[Jason Marsha]

Excellent build. Rather or not it has small issues that can be later improved the key is to build it.
I would like to build one myself and would love to see more pics when it is burning shapes.

Jason

[bill south]

Morning Guys!
Are there any plans available for this type of build. I've never been into lasers but have fabricated a bench top mill (lathemaster conversion) and 36X36 router, re-engineered a XYZ Tech 1212 router and converted a sherline mill for engraving. I know the drives and mechanics for the above but again, I know nothing about lasers. Guess that will be my next big project if I can get an idea of how to proceed!
Thanks in advance for any information/advice.
Bill

[ciscoe]

hi all

i am looking for advice on building a 4x4 laser, i have most of the parts and where to get hold of the linear rails etc and laser from ebay etc but i am having difficulty finding pulleys and belts and other parts in here in the uk?

i was thinking of using the same system that i use on my cnc router which is rack and pinion, for all axis, linear rail, what art your thoughts?

also would it be possible to meet someone face to face in the UK who has built a system, don't mind travelling within the east Midlands?

want to use this cnc for build large scale aircraft parts, and general engraving, also one thing, i not sure on is what size laser to employ as i also want to cut aluminum sheet up to 1/2" (12mm) thick and sheet steal to 5 mm. and mdf/ply up 19mm, advise here please

any videos on mirror alignment??

in fact all advice greatly helpful

[epilotdk]

Belts and pulleys are available at good prices here: Bearings, Lazy Susan Bearings, Self Aligning Bearings & Angular Contact Bearings | EngineersMate | Engineers mate

I don't think a metal cutting laser is a DIY project. You are looking at thousands of £'s just for the laser itself. Then you need a good extraction system (you don't want metal dust flying around the place).

A laser is not suitable for cutting MDF and ply that thick.

Can I humbly suggest you do a bit more homework especially regarding metal cutting.

[ciscoe]

Belts and pulleys are available at good prices here: Bearings, Lazy Susan Bearings, Self Aligning Bearings & Angular Contact Bearings | EngineersMate | Engineers mate

I don't think a metal cutting laser is a DIY project. You are looking at thousands of £'s just for the laser itself. Then you need a good extraction system (you don't want metal dust flying around the place).

A laser is not suitable for cutting MDF and ply that thick.

Can I humbly suggest you do a bit more homework especially regarding metal cutting.

thanks for the web links

after thinking about it

i know you can cut thin metal/ali sheet up 5 mm on 150watt laser, i seen this on youtube i was looking into 80watt to 100watt laser, then i am not too under powered, and can cut most materials up to 10mm,

extraction systems i am employing is overkill as it is for my cnc router

one thing this laser is going to cut is balsa and lite ply for modelling so cutting upto 1/2 lite ply would do for my need, anything bigger would go on the 8x4 router,

one thing i do want is speed of cut what motor do you recommend nema 17 or 23? i have nema 34's on my router, not sure of pully size for x,y, laser