Laser engraving enclosures with a cheap Chinese machine? Yes!

[culturejam]

Did some more experimenting. We gettin' there. Seems like three passes at 100% power and 900mm/min works pretty good, at least on Hammond-brand powdercoat. It seems to be the toughest of the ones I've tried.

Got a crude alignment tool in the works as well.

[EBK]

Do each of those logos represent different settings?

[culturejam]

Do each of those logos represent different settings?

More or less. But keep in mind that some post-laser cleanup work is required no matter the settings. There is layer of fine charred powdercoat that has to be manually removed. I use a cheap dental pick and some 90% isopropyl.

[culturejam]

Here's a pic of the first iteration of my crude alignment "jig" (which isn't the right word).

As you can tell after looking at the pic, the bit on the right is in the way of the bearings on the right v-rail. So basically, I'll have to set the position with the guide in place, and then carefully lift up off the rail before starting the etch run (or even setting the origin, since this one doesn't have limit switches).

The bottom bit is actually v1 of the right bit, but it *almost* works on that bottom rail. I'll need to modify it a bit to sit snug *in* the V part of the rail, as there's no room for it to snug over the whole thing since that front plexi plate is in the way.

Current 3D model is here: https://www.tinkercad.com/things/deLozQR0t2F-alignment-bracket-draft

I'm SURE there is a better way to do what I'm trying to do, but I can't see it yet. Not the way this thing is set up. But I'm also sure I'll hit on a better way (or maybe somebody else will figure it out). Gotta start small.

Interesting note:
• The whole laser frame/assembly *can* move a small amount during an etch job. Need to figure out how to secure this. Might be a rubber mat under does the trick. For now, I'm going to go the cheap route and clamp it to the bench.

[madbean]

That's really cool!

I saw a video of T2Laser which shows you how to burn an alignment grid into a piece of scrap...not sure if that might be useful. I was thinking I might try doing some cardboard cutouts....like tape down cardboard, cut out the enclosure outline, remove the waste then place the enclosure inside the hole.

[culturejam]

That's really cool!

I saw a video of T2Laser which shows you how to burn an alignment grid into a piece of scrap...not sure if that might be useful. I was thinking I might try doing some cardboard cutouts....like tape down cardboard, cut out the enclosure outline, remove the waste then place the enclosure inside the hole.

I've seen grids and the cutouts. The problem is how do you get either of those reliably aligned to the machine's frame? I guess that's where I'm having a mental disconnect. Without physical connection, any sort of grid or cutout can so easily be moved and you not even notice it. I'm probably overthinking this.

[wgc]

I went through this a while back on the big laser I used to have access to and made acrylic locating jigs, cut on the laser.

You can't cut acrylic on this but cardboard should work.

I'd build a little tray that fits relatively snug to the perimeter of the frame/base.
Using the cardboard cutout idea, you could cut out interchangeable pieces that fit your tray for different enclosures.

Alternatively you could put in offsets and place your cutouts and program your etches  accordingly, maybe even fit them all on one sheet.

So cool to see these working, wish I'd had the time and money to try them.

Interested to see how they do with filled vectors/raster etching.

[selfdestroyer]

I went through this a while back on the big laser I used to have access to and made acrylic locating jigs, cut on the laser.

You can't cut acrylic on this but cardboard should work.

I'd build a little tray that fits relatively snug to the perimeter of the frame/base.
Using the cardboard cutout idea, you could cut out interchangeable pieces that fit your tray for different enclosures.

Alternatively you could put in offsets and place your cutouts and program your etches  accordingly, maybe even fit them all on one sheet.

So cool to see these working, wish I'd had the time and money to try them.

Interested to see how they do with filled vectors/raster etching.

This was my idea also. Like an insert that fits in the frame/base. I see some of these A5 with workspace boards on them and I figured if we had some of these and made hole for 1290A,B,BB,125B etch then you just need to tell the software the coordinates of each template hole. Not sure if this makes sense or not as I and visualising it in my head. Which can be dangerous.

On a side note, my replacement A5 was shipped and finally got picked up by post. I hope it gets here soon.

CJ, your getting some great results on the powder coating, can't wait to play around with this. Thanks for taking the time to post your findings.

Cody

[culturejam]

Seems like my redneck alignment bracket is at least mostly function. Got an enclosure on there now for science. I went with another try at painter's tape as a mask to cut out from. This method might end up being really interesting, as I can think of a couple different ways it could be used for certain looks/finishes.

More to come.

[EBK]

My laser left Shanghai 3 days ago.  If it is going to get stuck in Customs, I think it would happen around now.  Fingers still crossed.

[culturejam]

Two passes on this. One pass just didn't seem to clear out as much of the tape as I wanted. I will try a different setting to see if I can get 'er done in one pass to avoid possible movement of the enclosure or laser frame between pass 1 and 2.

It's not perfect, but I'm happy with the result.

Instead of clearing out the burned glue, I decide to shoot some rattle can right over it to see what happens. Will post pics of that as soon as I see the damage.

[culturejam]

Okay, so that's a total fail. 

Turns out, there is still a bit of a connection between the burned out glue and the adjacent tape. So for use as a mask, at least the outer edges of the glue needs to be scraped off for it to work. This means fine text will likely be problematic. But larger text and graphics without fine detail should be okay.

More tests to follow.

[wgc]

snip... I figured if we had some of these and made hole for 1290A,B,BB,125B etch then you just need to tell the software the coordinates of each template hole. Not sure if this makes sense or not as I and visualising it in my head. Which can be dangerous.

That is exactly what I meant when referring to "offsets" - not sure if the software supports it or makes it intuitive though.  But, failing software support, you should be able to set your zero manually for each cutout and probably be close enough.  I like your thinking, dangerous or not.

I tried that masking tape thing too with similar results.  Unfortunately, you are basically hardening the glue instead of burning it off.  And you can burn it off, but my experience was the tape caught on fire at the higher power/slower feed settings.  Which is all kinds of fun in itself but best avoided imho. 

One thing I didn't try, but intended to, was "masking frisket paper" which is used in airbrushing and typically has a lower tack strength.  It might be worth sticking it to a piece of something flat like glass, etch it, and then trying to use it as a reusable spray paint mask on an enclosure.

[culturejam]

I tried that masking tape thing too with similar results.  Unfortunately, you are basically hardening the glue instead of burning it off.  And you can burn it off, but my experience was the tape caught on fire at the higher power/slower feed settings.  Which is all kinds of fun in itself but best avoided imho.

It's actually not hard to remove the remaining glue, it's just time consuming and you run the risk of ruining part of the mask if you're not careful. Won't work for fine detail, but larger non-complicated graphics should be pretty easy. I'll try again with a more amenable design and see how it works.   

[pickdropper]

One small suggestion: when you align your artwork, align to the center of the enclosure, not to the edge.  I used to align top-left and I was always fighting alignment issues.  I made a small acrylic fixture that holds the enclosure by the screwholes and the artwork is centered on the enclosure.

The boxes aren't exactly precision made, nor is the powder coat, so the outer dimensions can vary a bit.  Center-fixturing helps reduce potential error.