Yet Another Diy Diode Laser Engraver 2m704a
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Yet Another DIY Diode Laser Engraver by john1a on April 28, 2014
Table of Contents Yet Another DIY Diode Laser Engraver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Intro: Yet Another DIY Diode Laser Engraver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Step 1: The Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Step 2: The motors and motion mechanism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Step 3: CNC Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Step 4: Workflow for Computer based DIY CNCs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Step 5: THE LASER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Step 6: Result: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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ments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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http://www.instructables.com/id/Yet-Another-DIY-Diode-Laser-Engraver/
Author:john1a I study Computer Science and generally tinker with stuff. Be it software or hardware. I have my software periods and my hardware periods.
Intro: Yet Another DIY Diode Laser Engraver I always loved CNC machines! They are the future since they were first invented! I still believe that CADing and CNCing are miracles. When the first printer arrived to my home (I was about 10) I got really fascinated by the fact that I could print a paper about a hundred times by writing it just once! Only recently I got comfortable with the parts and knowledge needed to built a CNC. I really needed a kind of plotter for my work. As you know a Commercial Laser Engraver is really pricey and a good one is simply out of reach... To make a long story short I decided to build my own... The funny part is that when I started deg I didn't know Instructables so I reinvented the wheel in many cases... So here we go: my Moving Gantry Arduino-Less Laser Engraver... ***Attention*** You can also use this machine to create PCBs. Here is my Instructable about it Here is an Instructable with a better machine using the same parts: Repurposing my Laser CNC into a multi-mount CNC
Step 1: The Design I had NO experience on such machines. I just liked them a lot. The only CNCish machine I had built at the time was a (Arduino-based) coil winder, with auto-traverse winding and (of course) winding counter. No axis, no steppers or servos, no gantry precision issues, no G-Code, no anything! It was a clean start! The first Design had to be changed in the process (that is utterly bad sometimes) but at least was working at first glance. The "gantry", for example, has changed about 3 times since then (pictures on next steps)... As you can see in the pictures it is a really budget (to cheapish) project. Axis drivers are bought at 1.50€ for example. But lets be more precise: Axis drivers (that white pipe - "???? ?????" in greek - no english translation but I got it at a shop selling paint) 1.50€ per meter Needed 2 meters so 3 € Copper pipe used for plumber jobs (12mm outter diameter) 2.90 € per meter Needed just one meter and I really have enough for at least another one built! MDF wood Base-Frame about 10 € All screws and anything else needed (and shown in the pictures) are things an average hobbyist have lying around. In any other case they can be easily found at paint shops and plumber shops (this metallic tape "????????????" in greek- for example -that I have no idea about its english name-). So the Sum for the Frame is 15.90€. It could be cheaper if I had replaced the wood with foil or something, but being functional was an expectation...
http://www.instructables.com/id/Yet-Another-DIY-Diode-Laser-Engraver/
Image Notes 1. glue gun FTW
Step 2: The motors and motion mechanism When I say cheap I mean real cheap!!! If you can find any cheaper motors than those just inform me to make another CNC built! I am talking about, no other than, my beloved 28BYJ-48. Here you can watch it fail on most torque tests: I bought 3 of those at a fairly high price of 4.5€ each. That's because I didn't want to wait for e-bay shipment (4-6 for Greece). Something really expensive was the stepper driver. I used the Sparkfun Easy Driver for the same shipment reason, and bought 2. So now I needed a way to make the motors actually move the axis. And guess what! I had no idea about timing belts, lead screws and spindles generally, and any other possible movement transfer except rack and pinion! Just because you see it movies and maybe some Flintstones episodes! So that was the choice. Bought a rack and 3 gears. So prices for this step: stepper motors 4.5€ each bought 3 so 13.5€ Easy Drivers about 10€ each bought 2 so 20€ (You can use the technique documented in my other Instructable and reduce the cost of the Drivers by about 15€) Rack and Pinion: 1 meter of rack 16€, and about 2€ per gear bought 1 meter of rack and 3 gears: 22€ Sum 55.50€. Outch! That hurt a lot! I guess this is why the commercial ones are that expensive. There must be some serious hardware in there... (New Sum 40.50€ using the Attiny85 Step/Dir Driver mentioned above...)
http://www.instructables.com/id/Yet-Another-DIY-Diode-Laser-Engraver/
Image Notes 1. now this is professional!
Step 3: CNC Software Inevitably I had to use something to drive my new-born machine. So heard about Mach3. It was a CNC driver they said. It was good they said... So I had a Windows install in my drive. A Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit system. Installed the Mach3 demo easily. So tried to configure the motors to run actual milimeters and such things. And the problems started... The motors refused to move. Even jog. Even make a sound. So I got desperate. I had an arduino in hand and wrote some code to move those motors. The motors obeyed the arduino but not my LPT port (maybe there was some badge issue like in pokemon)... After BIOS settings and stuff like this I got really desperate. It came up that there was a problem in Mach3 and Windows 7 in 64 bit. Mach3 couldn't find a driver for Parallel Port and so it was just doing "da cha-cha like a sissy girl" every time I pressed any "move"-kind of button... The picture shows the setup when I was desperately trying to measure a mere mA with DMM from my LPT port... It was time for me to get serious and get the LinuxCNC. Linux is no new thing for me. I study Informatics and Computer Science so my main install in this computer was an Ubuntu 12.04 from the start (from 4/12 I believe). I suggest you to try Linux (be it LinuxCNC or not). Much more stable and reliable system than sissygirl-indows... LinuxCNC guide was straightforward. Got me running in about half an hour. You can find it here: http://www.linuxcnc.org/ and it is ABSOLUTELY free to full version. (no cracks, keygens, and other evil things needed!) Especially Laser CNCs have to be driven using a modified settings folder for the machine. This is to control duty cycle of the laser, image rastering and other nice things. You can find out more about this here(clicky) and here(clicky clicky): Lets not forget the price: a copy of LinuxCNC 2.5.4 (latest at the time of writting) 0€ Sum 0 €. Mach3 costs 175$ if you want to run more than 50 g-code lines. And every single engraving project I tried had much more...
Image Notes 1. DMM, DMM show me some miliAmpere...
Image Notes 1. Sample project of LinuxCNC
http://www.instructables.com/id/Yet-Another-DIY-Diode-Laser-Engraver/
Image Notes 1. What?
Step 4: Workflow for Computer based DIY CNCs There is one word for easy, -friendly, small-sized, engraving software (although it isn't intended for such use): INKSCAPE!!! Yes Inkscape. You can find it here http://www.inkscape.org/en/ and it is FREE and open-source (you might not care about this). It is a program that lets you draw freely using a "pencil", gets you some straight lines, some curved lines, polygons, circles, let's you use rulers to make perfectly measured shapes, can flip things, group things to be treated as one entity, aaaaaand... ...it is expandable! So what? eh? Expandable means that there can be written plugins for it... Some good guys wrote some plugins to export anything drawn in it to g-Code (g-Code is used by CNC controllers to move the machines and make them do their work). I have found 2 such plugins so far. The first on is Gcodetools. You can find it and install it here (clicky). The second one is found here! Yes, its an Instructables page! The first one I read about this topic! So, why it works? Inkscape might look like Windows Paint but it isn't. Actually it is much better than Paint (as anything is better than Paint). That is because every line you draw (be it straight or not) gets translated into vectors. If you were wondering why is Linear Algebra taught even in bartender classes you can see for yourself. IT IS DAMN USEFUL! If you save an Inkscape image you can see it is an *.svg file. The extension svg stands for Scalable Vector Graphics and you can read about this format here. You can even open an *.svg file with "notepad" and it is basically text! So, the plugins like Gcodetools translate this text to instructions to draw the described vectors. Lets praise for the guys that made those things, and kept (legally) our budget for CAD/CAM software to an astonishing 0€ !!! The pictures show how some drawings (a duck, a heart and a grid to engrave to the Machine bed for more precise placement) can be opened by LinuxCNC program. Note that even the duck is 250 lines of gCode. Rethink about that Mach3 50 line demo...
Image Notes 1. no, I love you more 2. I love you honey
http://www.instructables.com/id/Yet-Another-DIY-Diode-Laser-Engraver/
3. I love you honey 4. I love you more! 5. Oh, no. I love you more. 6. We are about to get lasered
Image Notes 1. quak quak...
Image Notes 1. quak quak. I am about to get lasered 2. note this!
Step 5: THE LASER What to say about this thing... The handheld lasers and the CD/DVD/Blu-Ray drives use some thingies called laser DIODES. They are widely sold on e-bay and many eshops. I bought a NICHIA NDV 4542 TO-38 diode. This one emitts 200mW of 405nm wavelength (violet, near UV, color light). 200mW is really something. Keep in mind that the widely sold small handheld lasers (the ones that you drive your cat crazy with) are rated at 1mW. Also bought an Aixiz module. Many things about how to make a laser diode work as intended (I found out that it can work as fishing lure too!) can be found in this instructable and some related ones. The casings needed, heatsinking, focusing, diode diameters, driving (this is the most important if you want it for lasing and not fishing). If you happen to want to learn more about lasers just visit the Laser Pointer Forums. There is everything you may want to know. And the most useful thing to know is the "protect your eyes or you will be blind for ever plus you go to hell, wear goggles, and 'don't look into the laser with remaining eye' quotes everywhere". So I bought goggles to not get blind and it worked! I am still not blind!!! In the video you can see the difference between the bare eye and the goggled eye. prices: Laser Diode 10€ Aixiz module with questionable lens 3.80€ So 13.80€ to arm the gantry... Not bad but here a 30€ diode would be more than twice as good so maybe someday...
Step 6: Result: So that is it. I added a fan because wood and plastic that burn this way smell like old pee. It is also toxic so I need to make a ventilation system (the boring part). I replaced rack and pinion with (el cheapo spindle screw)-lead screw in the X axis to make the gantry stop dancing can-can when working for me... In the pictures it is the built. In the video you can see it working on a random line test. They are quite bad quality because I have to use my phone. And phones are invented for calling and (later) texting people! Not for selfies. In the second picture you can see the lead screw coupler (yes those costed some money too), and in the third one it is a close one to the gantry where the laser is waiting for its transistor to fill it with electrical current so it can burn some wood and make my home smell like an indian toilet... Thanks for reading my first Instructable. I hope you enjoyed it!
http://www.instructables.com/id/Yet-Another-DIY-Diode-Laser-Engraver/
Image Notes 1. iron to make the gantry heavier 2. DIY test load used for current measurement for the laser diode. 3. DIY test load used for current measurement for the laser diode. 4. DIY test load used for current measurement for the laser diode. 5. screwdriver. Come on man, this is basic. Why are you pointing at it? 6. rack 7. gear and crappy motor 8. "Jack I 'm flying" stunt to test the precision
Image Notes 1. Da Laser! 2. Da lube. Always use lube people!
Image Notes 1. This man saves the day 2. I dont know why this is here
http://www.instructables.com/id/Yet-Another-DIY-Diode-Laser-Engraver/
Image Notes 1. eye 2. another eye 3. ear 4. ear 5. nose
Related Instructables
Repurposing my Laser CNC into a multi-tool CNC by john1a
Using Zen Toolworks CNC with Laser Engraver by zentoolworks
Frankenstein Laser Engraver by ianmcmill Pocket laser engraver. by Groover
Laser Controller for my Arduino CNC Machine by rjkorn
Lasercut and engraved wedding table plan by Paulbacca
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Comments 45 comments Add Comment
whamodyne says:
Aug 24, 2014. 11:39 AM REPLY Very sweet! I am also looking at the NDV4542 laser diode in a CNC engraver. Could you tell me what current you are running at? 100ma? 125ma? 200ma? Thanks!
john1a says:
Aug 24, 2014. 3:02 PM REPLY
Sure! It is about 125mA. I have run one at 180mA, but it died (LEDed is the laser enthusiast word) after 2 days. All sellers have a "<200mA" or "<250mA" warning but the real datasheet (embedded here for you) has a different opinion about the subject: 130mA MAX current at Continuous Wave (that's what CW stands for). You can also PWM the diode with higher current. If you don't know what this is you probably don't need it. I always use CW though. Be careful with the amperage and measure it using a "Laser diode Test Load circuit". Just google it if you don't know about it. It is an "under dollar" circuit to test the exact amperage of your supply at any possible voltage you will need using a Digital Multi-Meter. Also use a Constant CURRENT (not voltage, because laser diode resistance isn't fixed - goes down with high temperature and ups current) supply. The lm317 IC does the trick for me (see schematic). I have also ed my (variable current - you may want a different diode sometime) driver circuit with the on/off switch that goes straight to the parallel port (I use a TIP121 NPN transistor instead with a 1k? resistor at gate).
http://www.instructables.com/id/Yet-Another-DIY-Diode-Laser-Engraver/
john1a says:
Aug 24, 2014. 3:05 PM REPLY
I also supply the LM317 circuit with 12V. But 9V is equally good.
halamka says:
Jul 3, 2014. 4:08 PM REPLY Make the laser cut silicon chips. Since the beginning wires had to be welded onto a substance stranger than glass. Using a match etc. fuse aluminum powder onto a siliocon wafer side. Then cut individual diodes.
halamka says:
Jul 3, 2014. 4:04 PM REPLY Does arduino make you an enslaved Microsoft ? Did paul allen think of arduino to stave off BASIC computers that simply by Microsoft? I have an Atari 2600 and a card that says BASIC on it. I will try it somtime. The ASCII code for return is 0000 1101. Now think of a flat surface with flow chart symbals. Think of a memory block that can hold BASIC program lines that you have just typed in.
samern says:
Jun 22, 2014. 5:15 AM REPLY OMG, I so miss Greek. I grew up in Athens and just love to hear it....even more so in an Instructable. Your ???? ????? (Axis Drivers), that white pipe, in the US and likely the UK is PVC pipe, which is also a plumbing supply and for us would be a Home Depot purchase. Having built a few things like this, you need to make sure there is no 'slop' in your carriage, and what I suggest is at the same store you bought your pipe you buy metal tube and metal rod. Where we are, you can go to Home Depot and buy 3ft (0.9m) of steel tube and 3ft of steel rod that fits exactly in the tube. This way you have no need to tension the x or y carriage and there is no 'give' in either direction. Now your engraver is not taking a load because it is a laser, but if you stiffened the structure, you would get the ability to replace the diode with a rotary tool or spindle and have a CNC machine as well. Apithano ???????!
Poppy Ann says:
Jun 25, 2014. 2:18 AM REPLY home depot in UK is B&Q or as close as you can get and not steel the name as well, same racks same set up same items for sale but at much higher prices, i wish Home Depot would open up over here and keep the same prices as they have in USA.
samern says:
Jun 25, 2014. 5:59 AM REPLY If shipping rates were reasonable I could make a killing sending parts from Home Depot here to all of you in 'Old Blighty' or anywhere else. Alas, this is one of the reasons I never built anything worth anything when I was living in the UK. Just couldn't afford it, let alone house it.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Yet-Another-DIY-Diode-Laser-Engraver/
nmylonas says:
Jun 24, 2014. 3:47 PM REPLY
Thanx a lot. I'll look into it. Thank you for the response.
Nate_Bro says:
Jun 23, 2014. 2:03 PM REPLY
This is great! I want to invest in a good CNC PCB mill, large CNC Router/Mill, and a 3D printer. but the problem is to build those items I need parts. I have almost all the parts you listed in this build waiting for me at home. I can build a cheap CNC mill (maybe 3D printer) using these parts, and build some crude parts so I can make some decent equipment. I can imagine this thing would be a bit slow, but its better then what I have now. and I could even print my own PCB for the electronics. Even if I can get 0.06" tolerance on this version I could build something better then using a jig saw! I must have missed something, how are we hooking up the motors to the computer?
SolidRaven says:
Jun 23, 2014. 4:15 PM REPLY You'll probably have to switch to a more powerful stepper for a CNC mill though, and a pretty good motor to rotate the cutting tool. FR-4 is a nasty material to cut that's pretty harsh on the processing equipment. We use an old guillotine for thick pieces of cardboard to cut PCBs at work, you do have to sharpen it once in a while. For more precise cuts a CO2 laser is always a good option.
john1a says:
Jun 24, 2014. 12:13 AM REPLY A CO2 laser needs half a room of space to set up. It needs serious ventilation, (water) cooling and more. It also needs optics to transfer the beam from the tube to the material. Expensive things... If you want to build one search for the "2.x laser CNC" open source, open design project. It even has the same LinuxCNC interface with mine. It is a complete project of hardware (schematics, templates) and software (LinuxCNC plugin for rastering, Pulse per Inch...) and completely free. Many people have made it...
SolidRaven says:
Jun 24, 2014. 12:51 PM REPLY Half a room is overkill, it really depends on what you're going for exactly. I think you're confusing the laser necessary to cut a PCB with the one you need to cut through thick steel sheets. And eitherway, using a Nd:YAG for FR-4 isn't the best of ideas.
john1a says:
Jun 23, 2014. 3:59 PM REPLY
It isn't slow. Not one bit. It can run with 30mm/sec. That's pretty fast... You can design a CNC with changing gantry. This way you can build a PCB Mill and 3D printer while only creating 2 gantries and 1 CNC table... The bigger builds need some Aluminium (and up) frame and *of course* greater motors(I believe 3 Amp motors will do the trick for 1m X 1m build). I used the LPT port to connect the motors. The sparkfun easydrivers need step/dir signals that LinuxCNC provides automatically in the Parallel Port, given you have configured (via some nice GUI that lets you test everything) which pin goes to which signal.
thelordofthebits77 says:
Jun 23, 2014. 11:53 AM REPLY
good job
Sock Puppet says:
Jun 23, 2014. 7:24 AM REPLY
Nice one. I hadn't heard of LinuxCNC but I'll be taking a look at it - thanks.
Granzeier says:
Jun 18, 2014. 7:51 PM REPLY
Very nice - and well presented (although not too sure about the cat - then again, I am not a "cat person") ;-) Thank you for this - I think that it is time for me to make one of these laser engraver/cutters.
john1a says:
Jun 19, 2014. 3:07 AM REPLY
Happy to hear that! Don't forget to return with an "I made it" answer and pictures... Also check again the Step 2 as I have added a way to reduce the cost by about 15€ (link to another of my Instructables) The cat, as you know, is an internet joke, but this particular one helped me with the motor adjusting. If the motor was moving really slow *that I couldn't realize) the cat would just stare at it so I knew that the step signal was slow. If it wasn't moving at all the cat wan;t interested... He is an engineer too!
padbravo says: I wonder... why the cats are an internet joke? I am a "cat person", but, did not know about that a cat was some sort of joke..
http://www.instructables.com/id/Yet-Another-DIY-Diode-Laser-Engraver/
Jun 21, 2014. 4:17 PM REPLY
Battlespeed says:
Jun 23, 2014. 5:00 AM REPLY Not really an Internet joke - more like a YouTube meme. Over time, so many funny cat videos have been posted to YouTube that they make up a fair chunk of its content, and people just started including cats in their videos just for fun.
rafununu says:
Jun 22, 2014. 4:34 AM REPLY We miss a lot of details and pictures as well, can't you be more precise. About cats, they are the best mix of freedom and intelligence.
john1a says:
Jun 22, 2014. 5:31 AM REPLY You are right. It isn't *that* "step-by-step"... The reason is that I didn't know the instructables before I assembled the whole thing. So I haven't many photos and videos to show you with the machine half-assembled, axis tests, stepper driver circuit assembling, and such things... Plus that if I restarted a similar project I would do everything in a much different way. So I believe some parts of the project aren't that good to actually show and teach how to do them, because they seem wrong to me now... Either way, you can always ask me in the comments for everything you want and I will answer.
henrikas says:
Jun 22, 2014. 10:19 PM REPLY
Where did you buy rack and pinions?
john1a says:
Jun 23, 2014. 1:26 AM REPLY
Generally you can find racks buy writing "rack and pinion CNC" in ebay search textbox... There you will find pricey stuff. They should work but they are expensive for a <100euros project... It is better to stick with lead screws (threaded rods) as they are easier to find and cheaper too... Also search for 3D printer parts. There is an open "Reprap" project (read about reprap and bootstrapping, it is really great discovery) that uses 3D printers to print 3D printer parts. As all those motion mechanisms are needed to 3D printers too, you will be able to find many things this way (they are almost cheap too): motors, lead screws, axis rods, timing belts...
schmitta says:
Jun 22, 2014. 11:17 PM REPLY
Yes it was a good instructable. Lots of useful information
wisconsinjimmy says:
Jun 22, 2014. 5:58 PM REPLY
Just Cool, but I cannot find where to get the rack and pinion how bout a heads up as to where to find or buy. Jim
mist42nz says:
Jun 22, 2014. 1:13 PM REPLY
Where do you get rack and pinion ? It's not something that my local plumbing shop stocks :)
john1a says:
Jun 22, 2014. 4:16 PM REPLY Searched for hours in industrial places. If you can't find that you can absolutely use timing belts (you can find on ebay a bunch)...
baecker03 says:
Jun 22, 2014. 11:03 AM REPLY love this instructable project. I'm using low price steppers from mach machinery.. low torque isn't necessarily a problem as there are work a rounds such as gear reduction with a worm gear etc. might have to try this, although with a higher power laser.
john1a says:
Jun 22, 2014. 4:14 PM REPLY Low torque isn't a problem if your gantry doesn't interact with the material you work on. I believe that making a CNC mill with those motors is nearly impossible (a CNC router is absolutely impossible). But laser just points at the material show it works greatly!
Richi30s0 says:
Jun 22, 2014. 10:09 AM REPLY Great project! Just had a question, when you used the Arduino to test your motors, did you remove it from the circuit once you figured out the problem? I would like to make a build similar to this one but I do not want to use a pre-assembled board. Thanks.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Yet-Another-DIY-Diode-Laser-Engraver/
john1a says:
Jun 22, 2014. 4:07 PM REPLY
You don't have to use such board! I didn't either! Just breakout a Parallel Port Female plug with female headers (or even optoisolators if you are that picky!) and connect everything there...
The Lightning Stalker says:
Jun 22, 2014. 10:44 AM REPLY Greetings from LPF! Special laser safety glasses should be worn during focusing and any time your head is near a focused laser dot. Survival Laser sells them. Don't get the cheap eBay glasses. They don't work. Keep cat babies far away from any laser over 1mW. I've seen all kinds of things used as bearings. Some of the more igneous include drawer slides. When/if I ever get around to building something like this, that is probably the thing to use.
realjohnnybravo says:
Jun 22, 2014. 7:36 AM REPLY
I really liked to read your instruct able. it is very interesting and partially funny. I also bought some of those steppers looking for an solution to get the right laser, but in our country You can only deal with 5mW. Your solutions sounds very good and I'm looking forward to see some examples.
john1a says:
Jun 22, 2014. 9:05 AM REPLY forgot to mention that buying a laser DIODE isn't considered as laser. Lasers are banned because some happy hippos pointed with them at the sky. So the "laser" isn't banned as technology (that can be used to CNCs and *ahem* DVD players), but only for products like "high power laser pointers" (like those that dx.com sells). Buying a laser diode (unless you are sneaky and make a pointer with it - absolutely possible, many people do it) is perfectly legal, because it can be used as a spare part/replacement for *lets say* your broken XBox or PS4. you can find Laser diodes on ebay, with free shipping - most of the time.
john1a says:
Jun 22, 2014. 8:37 AM REPLY Those steppers aren't that crappy after all! I have seen a hack where some guy made the bipolar by destroying the red wire coil-to-coil connection from inside the stepper. This way he added much more torque... They also seem to be more precise than the usual 200-step motors
corponramp says:
Jun 22, 2014. 6:45 AM REPLY
efcharisto para poli! great work!! would love to see some samples of it in action. also would love to see your coil winer project if that is online somewhere.
john1a says:
Jun 22, 2014. 8:48 AM REPLY It isn't online. It is my first project and (even if it works flawlessly) it hasn't many things to show. Some TIP120 motor manipulation (already in a popular instructable), a reed switch counter, and a 7-seg display driving... The only reasonable thing about it is the little C++ish library I made for the motors and display. I can the library anytime though...
nmylonas says:
Jun 22, 2014. 6:27 AM REPLY Nicely done. I would like to see the end result on a piece of wood though. I am totally inexperienced in building devices but good with my hands. Do you think I could start looking into it or do I have to have studies on something similar?
john1a says:
Jun 22, 2014. 8:43 AM REPLY Take time with electronics first of all. Just learn some basics. Then start using microcontrollers. Use arduinos at first, then advance to generic AVR IC programming and learn some coding too. This way you will learn how voltages, signals and such things work. Although you can't see those in the instructable they are the reason that this thing is moving... I am sure that you could screw the main frame together and get the axis aligned without anyone telling you how. But the inner mechanisms are all electronics...
inedesca says:
Jun 22, 2014. 8:06 AM REPLY
Have you thought of using frtiction rather tan racks and pinions? I ask because I made a gas cutter this way and is very precise. I do not know if the same can apply in this case.
john1a says:
Jun 22, 2014. 8:35 AM REPLY What do you mean? Can you please post a link with some example? I believe that every axis moving method would do the trick. Thats because there is no friction between the laser and the wood/plastic.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Yet-Another-DIY-Diode-Laser-Engraver/
john1a says:
Jun 22, 2014. 5:26 AM REPLY
Thank you all for your great comments! I have to some videos with the machine engraving something and some results. The reason I haven't already done it is because I take photos with a cell phone camera, this means that every video I have is blurry and overally of very bad quality. I will something when I get something worthy to show!
billgeo says:
Jun 22, 2014. 3:58 AM REPLY
?????!!! ???? ???? ??????? ???? ???, ?????? ??? ????? ??????????! ??? ??????? ???? ??? ??? ?? ??????????????? ???? ? ????? ?? ??????! ???????, ?????! -- Great project man! Very nice job, especialy for a first try! -- And I agree with you, CNC machines where and are the future of manufacturing.
krummrey says: The chinese are probably wondering how they can beat your price. ; I wonder how it actually engraves. Can you post a few results?
http://www.instructables.com/id/Yet-Another-DIY-Diode-Laser-Engraver/
Jun 21, 2014. 4:33 PM REPLY
Living
Outside
Play
Technology
Workshop
Yet Another DIY Diode Laser Engraver by john1a on April 28, 2014
Table of Contents Yet Another DIY Diode Laser Engraver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Intro: Yet Another DIY Diode Laser Engraver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Step 1: The Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Step 2: The motors and motion mechanism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Step 3: CNC Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Step 4: Workflow for Computer based DIY CNCs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Step 5: THE LASER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Step 6: Result: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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http://www.instructables.com/id/Yet-Another-DIY-Diode-Laser-Engraver/
Author:john1a I study Computer Science and generally tinker with stuff. Be it software or hardware. I have my software periods and my hardware periods.
Intro: Yet Another DIY Diode Laser Engraver I always loved CNC machines! They are the future since they were first invented! I still believe that CADing and CNCing are miracles. When the first printer arrived to my home (I was about 10) I got really fascinated by the fact that I could print a paper about a hundred times by writing it just once! Only recently I got comfortable with the parts and knowledge needed to built a CNC. I really needed a kind of plotter for my work. As you know a Commercial Laser Engraver is really pricey and a good one is simply out of reach... To make a long story short I decided to build my own... The funny part is that when I started deg I didn't know Instructables so I reinvented the wheel in many cases... So here we go: my Moving Gantry Arduino-Less Laser Engraver... ***Attention*** You can also use this machine to create PCBs. Here is my Instructable about it Here is an Instructable with a better machine using the same parts: Repurposing my Laser CNC into a multi-mount CNC
Step 1: The Design I had NO experience on such machines. I just liked them a lot. The only CNCish machine I had built at the time was a (Arduino-based) coil winder, with auto-traverse winding and (of course) winding counter. No axis, no steppers or servos, no gantry precision issues, no G-Code, no anything! It was a clean start! The first Design had to be changed in the process (that is utterly bad sometimes) but at least was working at first glance. The "gantry", for example, has changed about 3 times since then (pictures on next steps)... As you can see in the pictures it is a really budget (to cheapish) project. Axis drivers are bought at 1.50€ for example. But lets be more precise: Axis drivers (that white pipe - "???? ?????" in greek - no english translation but I got it at a shop selling paint) 1.50€ per meter Needed 2 meters so 3 € Copper pipe used for plumber jobs (12mm outter diameter) 2.90 € per meter Needed just one meter and I really have enough for at least another one built! MDF wood Base-Frame about 10 € All screws and anything else needed (and shown in the pictures) are things an average hobbyist have lying around. In any other case they can be easily found at paint shops and plumber shops (this metallic tape "????????????" in greek- for example -that I have no idea about its english name-). So the Sum for the Frame is 15.90€. It could be cheaper if I had replaced the wood with foil or something, but being functional was an expectation...
http://www.instructables.com/id/Yet-Another-DIY-Diode-Laser-Engraver/
Image Notes 1. glue gun FTW
Step 2: The motors and motion mechanism When I say cheap I mean real cheap!!! If you can find any cheaper motors than those just inform me to make another CNC built! I am talking about, no other than, my beloved 28BYJ-48. Here you can watch it fail on most torque tests: I bought 3 of those at a fairly high price of 4.5€ each. That's because I didn't want to wait for e-bay shipment (4-6 for Greece). Something really expensive was the stepper driver. I used the Sparkfun Easy Driver for the same shipment reason, and bought 2. So now I needed a way to make the motors actually move the axis. And guess what! I had no idea about timing belts, lead screws and spindles generally, and any other possible movement transfer except rack and pinion! Just because you see it movies and maybe some Flintstones episodes! So that was the choice. Bought a rack and 3 gears. So prices for this step: stepper motors 4.5€ each bought 3 so 13.5€ Easy Drivers about 10€ each bought 2 so 20€ (You can use the technique documented in my other Instructable and reduce the cost of the Drivers by about 15€) Rack and Pinion: 1 meter of rack 16€, and about 2€ per gear bought 1 meter of rack and 3 gears: 22€ Sum 55.50€. Outch! That hurt a lot! I guess this is why the commercial ones are that expensive. There must be some serious hardware in there... (New Sum 40.50€ using the Attiny85 Step/Dir Driver mentioned above...)
http://www.instructables.com/id/Yet-Another-DIY-Diode-Laser-Engraver/
Image Notes 1. now this is professional!
Step 3: CNC Software Inevitably I had to use something to drive my new-born machine. So heard about Mach3. It was a CNC driver they said. It was good they said... So I had a Windows install in my drive. A Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit system. Installed the Mach3 demo easily. So tried to configure the motors to run actual milimeters and such things. And the problems started... The motors refused to move. Even jog. Even make a sound. So I got desperate. I had an arduino in hand and wrote some code to move those motors. The motors obeyed the arduino but not my LPT port (maybe there was some badge issue like in pokemon)... After BIOS settings and stuff like this I got really desperate. It came up that there was a problem in Mach3 and Windows 7 in 64 bit. Mach3 couldn't find a driver for Parallel Port and so it was just doing "da cha-cha like a sissy girl" every time I pressed any "move"-kind of button... The picture shows the setup when I was desperately trying to measure a mere mA with DMM from my LPT port... It was time for me to get serious and get the LinuxCNC. Linux is no new thing for me. I study Informatics and Computer Science so my main install in this computer was an Ubuntu 12.04 from the start (from 4/12 I believe). I suggest you to try Linux (be it LinuxCNC or not). Much more stable and reliable system than sissygirl-indows... LinuxCNC guide was straightforward. Got me running in about half an hour. You can find it here: http://www.linuxcnc.org/ and it is ABSOLUTELY free to full version. (no cracks, keygens, and other evil things needed!) Especially Laser CNCs have to be driven using a modified settings folder for the machine. This is to control duty cycle of the laser, image rastering and other nice things. You can find out more about this here(clicky) and here(clicky clicky): Lets not forget the price: a copy of LinuxCNC 2.5.4 (latest at the time of writting) 0€ Sum 0 €. Mach3 costs 175$ if you want to run more than 50 g-code lines. And every single engraving project I tried had much more...
Image Notes 1. DMM, DMM show me some miliAmpere...
Image Notes 1. Sample project of LinuxCNC
http://www.instructables.com/id/Yet-Another-DIY-Diode-Laser-Engraver/
Image Notes 1. What?
Step 4: Workflow for Computer based DIY CNCs There is one word for easy, -friendly, small-sized, engraving software (although it isn't intended for such use): INKSCAPE!!! Yes Inkscape. You can find it here http://www.inkscape.org/en/ and it is FREE and open-source (you might not care about this). It is a program that lets you draw freely using a "pencil", gets you some straight lines, some curved lines, polygons, circles, let's you use rulers to make perfectly measured shapes, can flip things, group things to be treated as one entity, aaaaaand... ...it is expandable! So what? eh? Expandable means that there can be written plugins for it... Some good guys wrote some plugins to export anything drawn in it to g-Code (g-Code is used by CNC controllers to move the machines and make them do their work). I have found 2 such plugins so far. The first on is Gcodetools. You can find it and install it here (clicky). The second one is found here! Yes, its an Instructables page! The first one I read about this topic! So, why it works? Inkscape might look like Windows Paint but it isn't. Actually it is much better than Paint (as anything is better than Paint). That is because every line you draw (be it straight or not) gets translated into vectors. If you were wondering why is Linear Algebra taught even in bartender classes you can see for yourself. IT IS DAMN USEFUL! If you save an Inkscape image you can see it is an *.svg file. The extension svg stands for Scalable Vector Graphics and you can read about this format here. You can even open an *.svg file with "notepad" and it is basically text! So, the plugins like Gcodetools translate this text to instructions to draw the described vectors. Lets praise for the guys that made those things, and kept (legally) our budget for CAD/CAM software to an astonishing 0€ !!! The pictures show how some drawings (a duck, a heart and a grid to engrave to the Machine bed for more precise placement) can be opened by LinuxCNC program. Note that even the duck is 250 lines of gCode. Rethink about that Mach3 50 line demo...
Image Notes 1. no, I love you more 2. I love you honey
http://www.instructables.com/id/Yet-Another-DIY-Diode-Laser-Engraver/
3. I love you honey 4. I love you more! 5. Oh, no. I love you more. 6. We are about to get lasered
Image Notes 1. quak quak...
Image Notes 1. quak quak. I am about to get lasered 2. note this!
Step 5: THE LASER What to say about this thing... The handheld lasers and the CD/DVD/Blu-Ray drives use some thingies called laser DIODES. They are widely sold on e-bay and many eshops. I bought a NICHIA NDV 4542 TO-38 diode. This one emitts 200mW of 405nm wavelength (violet, near UV, color light). 200mW is really something. Keep in mind that the widely sold small handheld lasers (the ones that you drive your cat crazy with) are rated at 1mW. Also bought an Aixiz module. Many things about how to make a laser diode work as intended (I found out that it can work as fishing lure too!) can be found in this instructable and some related ones. The casings needed, heatsinking, focusing, diode diameters, driving (this is the most important if you want it for lasing and not fishing). If you happen to want to learn more about lasers just visit the Laser Pointer Forums. There is everything you may want to know. And the most useful thing to know is the "protect your eyes or you will be blind for ever plus you go to hell, wear goggles, and 'don't look into the laser with remaining eye' quotes everywhere". So I bought goggles to not get blind and it worked! I am still not blind!!! In the video you can see the difference between the bare eye and the goggled eye. prices: Laser Diode 10€ Aixiz module with questionable lens 3.80€ So 13.80€ to arm the gantry... Not bad but here a 30€ diode would be more than twice as good so maybe someday...
Step 6: Result: So that is it. I added a fan because wood and plastic that burn this way smell like old pee. It is also toxic so I need to make a ventilation system (the boring part). I replaced rack and pinion with (el cheapo spindle screw)-lead screw in the X axis to make the gantry stop dancing can-can when working for me... In the pictures it is the built. In the video you can see it working on a random line test. They are quite bad quality because I have to use my phone. And phones are invented for calling and (later) texting people! Not for selfies. In the second picture you can see the lead screw coupler (yes those costed some money too), and in the third one it is a close one to the gantry where the laser is waiting for its transistor to fill it with electrical current so it can burn some wood and make my home smell like an indian toilet... Thanks for reading my first Instructable. I hope you enjoyed it!
http://www.instructables.com/id/Yet-Another-DIY-Diode-Laser-Engraver/
Image Notes 1. iron to make the gantry heavier 2. DIY test load used for current measurement for the laser diode. 3. DIY test load used for current measurement for the laser diode. 4. DIY test load used for current measurement for the laser diode. 5. screwdriver. Come on man, this is basic. Why are you pointing at it? 6. rack 7. gear and crappy motor 8. "Jack I 'm flying" stunt to test the precision
Image Notes 1. Da Laser! 2. Da lube. Always use lube people!
Image Notes 1. This man saves the day 2. I dont know why this is here
http://www.instructables.com/id/Yet-Another-DIY-Diode-Laser-Engraver/
Image Notes 1. eye 2. another eye 3. ear 4. ear 5. nose
Related Instructables
Repurposing my Laser CNC into a multi-tool CNC by john1a
Using Zen Toolworks CNC with Laser Engraver by zentoolworks
Frankenstein Laser Engraver by ianmcmill Pocket laser engraver. by Groover
Laser Controller for my Arduino CNC Machine by rjkorn
Lasercut and engraved wedding table plan by Paulbacca
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Comments 45 comments Add Comment
whamodyne says:
Aug 24, 2014. 11:39 AM REPLY Very sweet! I am also looking at the NDV4542 laser diode in a CNC engraver. Could you tell me what current you are running at? 100ma? 125ma? 200ma? Thanks!
john1a says:
Aug 24, 2014. 3:02 PM REPLY
Sure! It is about 125mA. I have run one at 180mA, but it died (LEDed is the laser enthusiast word) after 2 days. All sellers have a "<200mA" or "<250mA" warning but the real datasheet (embedded here for you) has a different opinion about the subject: 130mA MAX current at Continuous Wave (that's what CW stands for). You can also PWM the diode with higher current. If you don't know what this is you probably don't need it. I always use CW though. Be careful with the amperage and measure it using a "Laser diode Test Load circuit". Just google it if you don't know about it. It is an "under dollar" circuit to test the exact amperage of your supply at any possible voltage you will need using a Digital Multi-Meter. Also use a Constant CURRENT (not voltage, because laser diode resistance isn't fixed - goes down with high temperature and ups current) supply. The lm317 IC does the trick for me (see schematic). I have also ed my (variable current - you may want a different diode sometime) driver circuit with the on/off switch that goes straight to the parallel port (I use a TIP121 NPN transistor instead with a 1k? resistor at gate).
http://www.instructables.com/id/Yet-Another-DIY-Diode-Laser-Engraver/
john1a says:
Aug 24, 2014. 3:05 PM REPLY
I also supply the LM317 circuit with 12V. But 9V is equally good.
halamka says:
Jul 3, 2014. 4:08 PM REPLY Make the laser cut silicon chips. Since the beginning wires had to be welded onto a substance stranger than glass. Using a match etc. fuse aluminum powder onto a siliocon wafer side. Then cut individual diodes.
halamka says:
Jul 3, 2014. 4:04 PM REPLY Does arduino make you an enslaved Microsoft ? Did paul allen think of arduino to stave off BASIC computers that simply by Microsoft? I have an Atari 2600 and a card that says BASIC on it. I will try it somtime. The ASCII code for return is 0000 1101. Now think of a flat surface with flow chart symbals. Think of a memory block that can hold BASIC program lines that you have just typed in.
samern says:
Jun 22, 2014. 5:15 AM REPLY OMG, I so miss Greek. I grew up in Athens and just love to hear it....even more so in an Instructable. Your ???? ????? (Axis Drivers), that white pipe, in the US and likely the UK is PVC pipe, which is also a plumbing supply and for us would be a Home Depot purchase. Having built a few things like this, you need to make sure there is no 'slop' in your carriage, and what I suggest is at the same store you bought your pipe you buy metal tube and metal rod. Where we are, you can go to Home Depot and buy 3ft (0.9m) of steel tube and 3ft of steel rod that fits exactly in the tube. This way you have no need to tension the x or y carriage and there is no 'give' in either direction. Now your engraver is not taking a load because it is a laser, but if you stiffened the structure, you would get the ability to replace the diode with a rotary tool or spindle and have a CNC machine as well. Apithano ???????!
Poppy Ann says:
Jun 25, 2014. 2:18 AM REPLY home depot in UK is B&Q or as close as you can get and not steel the name as well, same racks same set up same items for sale but at much higher prices, i wish Home Depot would open up over here and keep the same prices as they have in USA.
samern says:
Jun 25, 2014. 5:59 AM REPLY If shipping rates were reasonable I could make a killing sending parts from Home Depot here to all of you in 'Old Blighty' or anywhere else. Alas, this is one of the reasons I never built anything worth anything when I was living in the UK. Just couldn't afford it, let alone house it.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Yet-Another-DIY-Diode-Laser-Engraver/
nmylonas says:
Jun 24, 2014. 3:47 PM REPLY
Thanx a lot. I'll look into it. Thank you for the response.
Nate_Bro says:
Jun 23, 2014. 2:03 PM REPLY
This is great! I want to invest in a good CNC PCB mill, large CNC Router/Mill, and a 3D printer. but the problem is to build those items I need parts. I have almost all the parts you listed in this build waiting for me at home. I can build a cheap CNC mill (maybe 3D printer) using these parts, and build some crude parts so I can make some decent equipment. I can imagine this thing would be a bit slow, but its better then what I have now. and I could even print my own PCB for the electronics. Even if I can get 0.06" tolerance on this version I could build something better then using a jig saw! I must have missed something, how are we hooking up the motors to the computer?
SolidRaven says:
Jun 23, 2014. 4:15 PM REPLY You'll probably have to switch to a more powerful stepper for a CNC mill though, and a pretty good motor to rotate the cutting tool. FR-4 is a nasty material to cut that's pretty harsh on the processing equipment. We use an old guillotine for thick pieces of cardboard to cut PCBs at work, you do have to sharpen it once in a while. For more precise cuts a CO2 laser is always a good option.
john1a says:
Jun 24, 2014. 12:13 AM REPLY A CO2 laser needs half a room of space to set up. It needs serious ventilation, (water) cooling and more. It also needs optics to transfer the beam from the tube to the material. Expensive things... If you want to build one search for the "2.x laser CNC" open source, open design project. It even has the same LinuxCNC interface with mine. It is a complete project of hardware (schematics, templates) and software (LinuxCNC plugin for rastering, Pulse per Inch...) and completely free. Many people have made it...
SolidRaven says:
Jun 24, 2014. 12:51 PM REPLY Half a room is overkill, it really depends on what you're going for exactly. I think you're confusing the laser necessary to cut a PCB with the one you need to cut through thick steel sheets. And eitherway, using a Nd:YAG for FR-4 isn't the best of ideas.
john1a says:
Jun 23, 2014. 3:59 PM REPLY
It isn't slow. Not one bit. It can run with 30mm/sec. That's pretty fast... You can design a CNC with changing gantry. This way you can build a PCB Mill and 3D printer while only creating 2 gantries and 1 CNC table... The bigger builds need some Aluminium (and up) frame and *of course* greater motors(I believe 3 Amp motors will do the trick for 1m X 1m build). I used the LPT port to connect the motors. The sparkfun easydrivers need step/dir signals that LinuxCNC provides automatically in the Parallel Port, given you have configured (via some nice GUI that lets you test everything) which pin goes to which signal.
thelordofthebits77 says:
Jun 23, 2014. 11:53 AM REPLY
good job
Sock Puppet says:
Jun 23, 2014. 7:24 AM REPLY
Nice one. I hadn't heard of LinuxCNC but I'll be taking a look at it - thanks.
Granzeier says:
Jun 18, 2014. 7:51 PM REPLY
Very nice - and well presented (although not too sure about the cat - then again, I am not a "cat person") ;-) Thank you for this - I think that it is time for me to make one of these laser engraver/cutters.
john1a says:
Jun 19, 2014. 3:07 AM REPLY
Happy to hear that! Don't forget to return with an "I made it" answer and pictures... Also check again the Step 2 as I have added a way to reduce the cost by about 15€ (link to another of my Instructables) The cat, as you know, is an internet joke, but this particular one helped me with the motor adjusting. If the motor was moving really slow *that I couldn't realize) the cat would just stare at it so I knew that the step signal was slow. If it wasn't moving at all the cat wan;t interested... He is an engineer too!
padbravo says: I wonder... why the cats are an internet joke? I am a "cat person", but, did not know about that a cat was some sort of joke..
http://www.instructables.com/id/Yet-Another-DIY-Diode-Laser-Engraver/
Jun 21, 2014. 4:17 PM REPLY
Battlespeed says:
Jun 23, 2014. 5:00 AM REPLY Not really an Internet joke - more like a YouTube meme. Over time, so many funny cat videos have been posted to YouTube that they make up a fair chunk of its content, and people just started including cats in their videos just for fun.
rafununu says:
Jun 22, 2014. 4:34 AM REPLY We miss a lot of details and pictures as well, can't you be more precise. About cats, they are the best mix of freedom and intelligence.
john1a says:
Jun 22, 2014. 5:31 AM REPLY You are right. It isn't *that* "step-by-step"... The reason is that I didn't know the instructables before I assembled the whole thing. So I haven't many photos and videos to show you with the machine half-assembled, axis tests, stepper driver circuit assembling, and such things... Plus that if I restarted a similar project I would do everything in a much different way. So I believe some parts of the project aren't that good to actually show and teach how to do them, because they seem wrong to me now... Either way, you can always ask me in the comments for everything you want and I will answer.
henrikas says:
Jun 22, 2014. 10:19 PM REPLY
Where did you buy rack and pinions?
john1a says:
Jun 23, 2014. 1:26 AM REPLY
Generally you can find racks buy writing "rack and pinion CNC" in ebay search textbox... There you will find pricey stuff. They should work but they are expensive for a <100euros project... It is better to stick with lead screws (threaded rods) as they are easier to find and cheaper too... Also search for 3D printer parts. There is an open "Reprap" project (read about reprap and bootstrapping, it is really great discovery) that uses 3D printers to print 3D printer parts. As all those motion mechanisms are needed to 3D printers too, you will be able to find many things this way (they are almost cheap too): motors, lead screws, axis rods, timing belts...
schmitta says:
Jun 22, 2014. 11:17 PM REPLY
Yes it was a good instructable. Lots of useful information
wisconsinjimmy says:
Jun 22, 2014. 5:58 PM REPLY
Just Cool, but I cannot find where to get the rack and pinion how bout a heads up as to where to find or buy. Jim
mist42nz says:
Jun 22, 2014. 1:13 PM REPLY
Where do you get rack and pinion ? It's not something that my local plumbing shop stocks :)
john1a says:
Jun 22, 2014. 4:16 PM REPLY Searched for hours in industrial places. If you can't find that you can absolutely use timing belts (you can find on ebay a bunch)...
baecker03 says:
Jun 22, 2014. 11:03 AM REPLY love this instructable project. I'm using low price steppers from mach machinery.. low torque isn't necessarily a problem as there are work a rounds such as gear reduction with a worm gear etc. might have to try this, although with a higher power laser.
john1a says:
Jun 22, 2014. 4:14 PM REPLY Low torque isn't a problem if your gantry doesn't interact with the material you work on. I believe that making a CNC mill with those motors is nearly impossible (a CNC router is absolutely impossible). But laser just points at the material show it works greatly!
Richi30s0 says:
Jun 22, 2014. 10:09 AM REPLY Great project! Just had a question, when you used the Arduino to test your motors, did you remove it from the circuit once you figured out the problem? I would like to make a build similar to this one but I do not want to use a pre-assembled board. Thanks.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Yet-Another-DIY-Diode-Laser-Engraver/
john1a says:
Jun 22, 2014. 4:07 PM REPLY
You don't have to use such board! I didn't either! Just breakout a Parallel Port Female plug with female headers (or even optoisolators if you are that picky!) and connect everything there...
The Lightning Stalker says:
Jun 22, 2014. 10:44 AM REPLY Greetings from LPF! Special laser safety glasses should be worn during focusing and any time your head is near a focused laser dot. Survival Laser sells them. Don't get the cheap eBay glasses. They don't work. Keep cat babies far away from any laser over 1mW. I've seen all kinds of things used as bearings. Some of the more igneous include drawer slides. When/if I ever get around to building something like this, that is probably the thing to use.
realjohnnybravo says:
Jun 22, 2014. 7:36 AM REPLY
I really liked to read your instruct able. it is very interesting and partially funny. I also bought some of those steppers looking for an solution to get the right laser, but in our country You can only deal with 5mW. Your solutions sounds very good and I'm looking forward to see some examples.
john1a says:
Jun 22, 2014. 9:05 AM REPLY forgot to mention that buying a laser DIODE isn't considered as laser. Lasers are banned because some happy hippos pointed with them at the sky. So the "laser" isn't banned as technology (that can be used to CNCs and *ahem* DVD players), but only for products like "high power laser pointers" (like those that dx.com sells). Buying a laser diode (unless you are sneaky and make a pointer with it - absolutely possible, many people do it) is perfectly legal, because it can be used as a spare part/replacement for *lets say* your broken XBox or PS4. you can find Laser diodes on ebay, with free shipping - most of the time.
john1a says:
Jun 22, 2014. 8:37 AM REPLY Those steppers aren't that crappy after all! I have seen a hack where some guy made the bipolar by destroying the red wire coil-to-coil connection from inside the stepper. This way he added much more torque... They also seem to be more precise than the usual 200-step motors
corponramp says:
Jun 22, 2014. 6:45 AM REPLY
efcharisto para poli! great work!! would love to see some samples of it in action. also would love to see your coil winer project if that is online somewhere.
john1a says:
Jun 22, 2014. 8:48 AM REPLY It isn't online. It is my first project and (even if it works flawlessly) it hasn't many things to show. Some TIP120 motor manipulation (already in a popular instructable), a reed switch counter, and a 7-seg display driving... The only reasonable thing about it is the little C++ish library I made for the motors and display. I can the library anytime though...
nmylonas says:
Jun 22, 2014. 6:27 AM REPLY Nicely done. I would like to see the end result on a piece of wood though. I am totally inexperienced in building devices but good with my hands. Do you think I could start looking into it or do I have to have studies on something similar?
john1a says:
Jun 22, 2014. 8:43 AM REPLY Take time with electronics first of all. Just learn some basics. Then start using microcontrollers. Use arduinos at first, then advance to generic AVR IC programming and learn some coding too. This way you will learn how voltages, signals and such things work. Although you can't see those in the instructable they are the reason that this thing is moving... I am sure that you could screw the main frame together and get the axis aligned without anyone telling you how. But the inner mechanisms are all electronics...
inedesca says:
Jun 22, 2014. 8:06 AM REPLY
Have you thought of using frtiction rather tan racks and pinions? I ask because I made a gas cutter this way and is very precise. I do not know if the same can apply in this case.
john1a says:
Jun 22, 2014. 8:35 AM REPLY What do you mean? Can you please post a link with some example? I believe that every axis moving method would do the trick. Thats because there is no friction between the laser and the wood/plastic.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Yet-Another-DIY-Diode-Laser-Engraver/
john1a says:
Jun 22, 2014. 5:26 AM REPLY
Thank you all for your great comments! I have to some videos with the machine engraving something and some results. The reason I haven't already done it is because I take photos with a cell phone camera, this means that every video I have is blurry and overally of very bad quality. I will something when I get something worthy to show!
billgeo says:
Jun 22, 2014. 3:58 AM REPLY
?????!!! ???? ???? ??????? ???? ???, ?????? ??? ????? ??????????! ??? ??????? ???? ??? ??? ?? ??????????????? ???? ? ????? ?? ??????! ???????, ?????! -- Great project man! Very nice job, especialy for a first try! -- And I agree with you, CNC machines where and are the future of manufacturing.
krummrey says: The chinese are probably wondering how they can beat your price. ; I wonder how it actually engraves. Can you post a few results?
http://www.instructables.com/id/Yet-Another-DIY-Diode-Laser-Engraver/
Jun 21, 2014. 4:33 PM REPLY
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