curious....

[pulsar110]

I have been looking at buying a machine and was wondering if I decide at some point later that i need a bigger cutting area would it be possible to build a larger box an install the hardware from the current machine?

[bisjoe]

There are belts and beams that are made to the size of the work area. In a bigger box the engraving/cutting area would remain the same.

[MacGyver]

You could reuse the optics, laser, motors, control electronics, etc., but you would have to replace and tracks, belts, material table, etc. to deal with the larger size. Depending on if you're using new/used/eBay and/or inaccurate/accurate parts, that could be anywhere from 10%-100% the cost of the original machine.

If you want the basics without doing the research first, this is actually a good way to go. It gives you what yo need to start with, as well as giving you an opportunity to see how they're put together. Upsizing is typically a matter of ordering larger parts and/or having similar mounts milled at a larger size.

[pulsar110]

thats kinda what i was thinking just wanted to know if that was right. im fairly mechanical minded and i think that putting it in a bigger box is easy enough just wanted to know if all the electronics would handle it fine.

[MacGyver]

I should also add... if your table size increases too much over the original, you may need to increase the size of the motors (and therefore the drive electronics, as well). It depends on how beefy they were to begin with. I would think doubling the size of the table is probably within reason, but be aware if you start to see the motors slow or heat up significantly.

[pulsar110]

that makes sense. basically thats about what i was thinking of doing is doubling the size or so.

[pulsar110]

ok so i got an artsign jsm-40. it came with newlydraw. anyway i set it up today and tried to run it. the engraver resets itself fine so it seems that part works fine. then i fired up the newlydraw and tried to play with it a bit. i imported a bitmap and a couple other images to see what i could do. when i clicked the engrave button a new window opens. i got the COM port set up fine so it should be talkin however when i press the engrave button it scans but then ends there. the machine doesnt move at all even though its turned on and everything is running. not sure what im doing wrong. ideas?