Laser engraving enclosures with a cheap Chinese machine? Yes!

[culturejam]

I could not get the OEM software to work with mine, but I also have an older controller board and firmware than yours, Brian.

I paid up for T2 because it has a ton of great features (including the right firmware you need and a built-in process to flash it) and also because the developer is on the BenBox forum and answers questions in like 30 seconds.

[wgc]

Fwiw There are at least a few Linux distros that are aimed at cnc. I haven't looked in a while, but most should be better than what ships as oem. I'd check for one that is USB drive based so you don't have partition any hard drives, etc.

Might also be worth swapping the controller pcb.

[Martan]

Another cool material for laser etching is Rowmark Lasermax plastic (http://www.rowmark.com/laser/LaserMAX/lasermax.asp). Its a thin layer of one color on top of a thicker bulk plastic of another. Great for making faceplates. Lots of color combos and I found them for ~$17 for a large sheet that could do maybe 20-30 faceplates.

Where did you buy that stuff?  Are you sure you didn't mean $71?

Delvie's Plastics Inc. out of Salt Lake City. 12" x 24" sheets were all $17-19. Shipping was $14 to Louisville, KY for 6 sheets.
http://www.delviesplastics.com/p/Rowmark_Laser_Max.html
http://www.delviesplastics.com/p/Rowmark_Laser_Max_Metals.html

I haven't tried to etch the metal one yet.

Marty

[EBK]

Delvie's Plastics Inc. out of Salt Lake City. 12" x 24" sheets were all $17-19. Shipping was $14 to Louisville, KY for 6 sheets.
http://www.delviesplastics.com/p/Rowmark_Laser_Max.html
http://www.delviesplastics.com/p/Rowmark_Laser_Max_Metals.html

I haven't tried to etch the metal one yet.

Marty

Thanks!  I'll definitely check it out once I'm up and running.

[EBK]

From my research so far, it's looking like a good Linux/OSX solution may be to flash grbl firmware onto the controller (I have no idea if that is possible/easy yet) and use laserweb4. 

[pickdropper]

Another cool material for laser etching is Rowmark Lasermax plastic (http://www.rowmark.com/laser/LaserMAX/lasermax.asp). Its a thin layer of one color on top of a thicker bulk plastic of another. Great for making faceplates. Lots of color combos and I found them for ~$17 for a large sheet that could do maybe 20-30 faceplates.

Where did you buy that stuff?  Are you sure you didn't mean $71?

Delvie's Plastics Inc. out of Salt Lake City. 12" x 24" sheets were all $17-19. Shipping was $14 to Louisville, KY for 6 sheets.
http://www.delviesplastics.com/p/Rowmark_Laser_Max.html
http://www.delviesplastics.com/p/Rowmark_Laser_Max_Metals.html

I haven't tried to etch the metal one yet.

Marty

Another vote for Delvie's.  I've bought a lot from them over the years.

[selfdestroyer]

Got word today that mine is most likely permanently stuck in customs. They are going to ship out another one for me this week. But I guess, its not like I'm around to play it this week any way. Looking forward to what everyone does with this little beast.

Cody

[EBK]

Got word today that mine is most likely permanently stuck in customs. They are going to ship out another one for me this week. But I guess, its not like I'm around to play it this week any way. Looking forward to what everyone does with this little beast.

Cody

Did they say why it got stuck?

[selfdestroyer]

Got word today that mine is most likely permanently stuck in customs. They are going to ship out another one for me this week. But I guess, its not like I'm around to play it this week any way. Looking forward to what everyone does with this little beast.

Cody

Did they say why it got stuck?

No they said they would just send a second one and if the first shows up I either need to pay for it or send it back. I will most likely keep it if it ever comes and take it to work.

I ordered Aug 03 2017 it went to a shipping status on Aug 04 2017 and the USPS tracking number gives me this:
"Your item has been processed through a facility in SHANGHAI, CHINA at 1:12 pm on August 9, 2017." and no updates since.

Cody

[timbo_93631]

Got word today that mine is most likely permanently stuck in customs. They are going to ship out another one for me this week. But I guess, its not like I'm around to play it this week any way. Looking forward to what everyone does with this little beast.

Cody

Did they say why it got stuck?

No they said they would just send a second one and if the first shows up I either need to pay for it or send it back. I will most likely keep it if it ever comes and take it to work.

I ordered Aug 03 2017 it went to a shipping status on Aug 04 2017 and the USPS tracking number gives me this:
"Your item has been processed through a facility in SHANGHAI, CHINA at 1:12 pm on August 9, 2017." and no updates since.

Cody

You could also mail it to Georgia!  I wonder if it would be strong enough to cut flatwork?

[EBK]

My kit has now reached the "processed through a facility in Shanghai" stage.  Fingers crossed.

[storyboardist]

Got word today that mine is most likely permanently stuck in customs. They are going to ship out another one for me this week. But I guess, its not like I'm around to play it this week any way. Looking forward to what everyone does with this little beast.

Cody

Did they say why it got stuck?

No they said they would just send a second one and if the first shows up I either need to pay for it or send it back. I will most likely keep it if it ever comes and take it to work.

I ordered Aug 03 2017 it went to a shipping status on Aug 04 2017 and the USPS tracking number gives me this:
"Your item has been processed through a facility in SHANGHAI, CHINA at 1:12 pm on August 9, 2017." and no updates since.

Cody

You could also mail it to Georgia!  I wonder if it would be strong enough to cut flatwork?

+1! But a different part of GA.  lol

[selfdestroyer]

You GA people got jokes I see.. haha

[storyboardist]

You GA people got jokes I see.. haha

[culturejam]

Finally got a bit of time freed to to muck with the tension on the X axis (or whichever one is the one that moves the laser head left/right). I think I have it pretty well sorted out. Did some test carves on wood and cardboard, and all seems to be at least nominally lined up on an X vs Y basis.

Now there are a few more tasks in front of me to get enclosure etching going good:

1) Figure out the right resolution for the artwork.
2) Figure out the right power and speed for good etching of powdercoat and paint
3) Devise some sort of fixturing bracket so I can get things aligned to print straight (will be using 3D printer for this).

I think I might start with #3 since I just got my printer all spruced back up (new nozzle and hot break). The plan is to make two brackets that fit snug into the side of the v-rails so that I can butt the enclosure up against it to get something approaching a straight line (and then I can light the laser head up in the bottom left corner of the enclosure and set that as the origin). We'll see how that goes, haha.