Anyone building a laser

[CNCadmin]

Anyone working on building a CNC laser? I really thinking about building one, seams like their are allot of was to go about it. Here is a great design I came across.

[LuckyD]

I have had only limited experience teaching CNC milling to high school kids. Rather than make one, I would rather start with buying and modifying a 100+watt, CNC laser wood carver. I also need CNC software that would allow me to color portions of a picture that can be scanned by the same software to provide the depth data my high-pressure gas-assisted wood-cutting laser would cut on the z-axis. I welcome all suggestions.
Ron Davison
ron@luckydcamp.com

[thuffner3]

I'd be very much interested in finding out all I could about using LASER's for cutting. Building one, as well as operation.
Would this be of the class iv or v type??? Newbie question.

[balsaman]

laser=$$$

not just to buy, but to operate.

Eric

[LuckyD]

How much money are we talking about to buy and to operate?

[JFettig]

I have seen a 64ftx12ft lazer, cutting 1" steel. forgot how many kilowatts, but it was over 500, maybe 5000. Dont really remember. The machine was a few million I bet.

Jon

[balsaman]

a hundred watt co2 laser is around $5,000 used and the optics are expensive when you burn em out. $200-300 bucks a shot.

Eric

[LuckyD]

I found a friend with an 80-watt laser that he used to etch out (~1/8" deep) his family tree on a mohagany slab; it looks great. I will get him to do etch the picture panels for the caskets and forget about high-relief carvings.

[cadcoke3]

I believe http://www.co2laser.com sells (or used to sell) a sealed CO2 laser and components to integrate it into your existing CNC gantry mill. It has been a while, but my recollection is that the 35 watt version was only around $3,000.

They currently (on the web site) sell a 25 watt laser "printer" which is a desktop box that will do 12" x 16" cutting or etching, around $10,000.

[arvidb]

Look here for everything you ever wanted to know about lasers, and DIY lasers in particular:

http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/laserfaq.htm

The laser type to use for machining would be CO2 (gas laser) or YAG (solid state laser).

Arvid

[crasher455]

I've seen used SpectraPhysics 820 and 825 co2 lasers for under $25,000. There in the 1.5Kw to 2.5 kw range.
I had an Amada lasmac 644, at my shop with and 820 laser and It cut 1/4" steel well.
If you fine tune your focal hight and gas presure you can cut 1/4" steel well at 1100 watts.
The main downfall to these lasers is there size. They have a footprint of about 6ft cubed + you need a large water chiller, and three gas bottles.

[owhite]

Anyone working on building a CNC laser?

I am. I have archival entries of the system at my blog:

http://nilno.com/laser_dir/blogger.html

which contains flotsam that has collected during the course of the project. Right now I'm building the laser controller and motor drivers which requires a lot of custom electronics. I'm using Jon Elson's universal controller board:

http://pico-systems.com/univstep.html

gecko motor drivers, and digital encoders.

The total estimated cost is about $12k. The laser itself was $6500, I bought a cnc table for $500, and the optics were another $2500. Other costs include 220 volt wiring, cooling and ventilation.

This particular laser should be of sufficient wattage to cut sheet metal and 1/4 thick wood. I hope to use it to make: cheap cnc parts for members on this web site, artistic products to sell, engravings on glass work that my wife does, wood boxes, and high end lamps.

I am guessing that the project will take around 6 months to complete.

Owen