ChaosAgent and Fireaxe builds

[gordo]

I snagged a NEJE Master 2 Mini laser last week and although it's pretty slick and a good way to get my feet wet I'd hold out for something with a bit more power (and software compatibility) if I were to rethink it.

Still it is pretty cool and these are a couple of test shots on some powder coated 1590B enclosures:



I etched it and then backfilled the etched portion with gold alcohol ink.  It has kind of cool gold-leaf effect that doesn't translate well to the photo.  In hindsight the Fireaxe would have been more fitting of the gold-leaf on red fire engine theme.



The Fireaxe is just a straight up etch with the laser set a bit lighter and the remaining black is the remnants of the powder coat cleaned with a bit of alcohol.  It's quite deep.  The laser is not powerful enough to etch a raw enclosure but it seems to torch paint and powder pretty well.  I also need to figure out a better way to center it.

[jjjimi84]

Those builds are incredible looking, they look so professional.

[harryklippton]

Wooooo those look great. And you know I love gold!

[cooder]

Very cool indeed and the enclosures look great! The little laser seemed to have worked well in your hnads!
How long did it take to burn those? And what software does it need?

[gordo]

Thanks folks.  I used the NEJE app that came with it on Windows.  It's clunky but works well at translating JPG files to GCode.  Takes about 10 minutes of burn time with a lot of monkeying around to get it straight before committing to a burn.

Nice part is that it's bonehead simple.  Just take it out of the box and plug it in.  It shipped from a US warehouse so was a quick turn around and was $150.00.

[jimilee]

I snagged a NEJE Master 2 Mini laser last week and although it's pretty slick and a good way to get my feet wet I'd hold out for something with a bit more power (and software compatibility) if I were to rethink it.

Still it is pretty cool and these are a couple of test shots on some powder coated 1590B enclosures:



I etched it and then backfilled the etched portion with gold alcohol ink.  It has kind of cool gold-leaf effect that doesn't translate well to the photo.  In hindsight the Fireaxe would have been more fitting of the gold-leaf on red fire engine theme.



The Fireaxe is just a straight up etch with the laser set a bit lighter and the remaining black is the remnants of the powder coat cleaned with a bit of alcohol.  It's quite deep.  The laser is not powerful enough to etch a raw enclosure but it seems to torch paint and powder pretty well.  I also need to figure out a better way to center it.

Those look fantastic man. That's what I need. A phaser laser!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bio77]

Man, those look fantastic!

[Aentons]

The gold leaf looks great. What trannies did you use?

[Thewintersoldier]

Man these are sharp, everyone is really upping their game. Fantastic builds Gordo!

[m-Kresol]

great builds

No chance I can burn through the regular powder coatings with my elekslaser (5W I think). not even in 1h....

how much power does your laser provide? and is also blue?

[gordo]

I believe it's 10W and 450nm (blue).

[Martan]

Looks really coo! For centering, the best I've come up with is to leave the pedal outline in the etch file at first. Use it to etch the pedal outline on a sacrificial piece of cheap acrylic/plastic that you can keep in place on the bed (either because the piece is heavy or it is taped/clamped down. Then place the enclosure in the outline (secure if needed) and raise the laser height to accommodate. Remove the pedal outline from the file and etch for real. It's kind of a pain but its the best I've found for centering.

Another tip I found is if the tip also has a blower (or you have added a fan) then change to etching procedure to etch where the air stream isn't blowing the etchings back on to where you are etching. Comes out a lot cleaner since the hot powder coat is really sticky. My software lets me change the origin point for the etching pattern.

[dan.schumaker]

Looks awesome Gordy!  Welcome to the laser club!

[PapaKev]

Nice job, Gordy!

[gordo]

I'm getting better at getting things to line up.  wintersoldier inspired me to box up my Blood Stone and I must admit, I really like this phaser so glad I got it finished.

This is a shot at doing the outline of characters with the laser but I think it ends up looking too fuzzy.  Still, I'm making progress so no complaints.  I need to figure out how to output these files to G-code, which is what the engraver speaks.  There are tutorials out there for Inkscape and I'm hoping to use Affinity Designer as well but need to sit my butt down and figure out how it works.

Anyway, this was sprayed with translucent blue over a 1590BB enclosure and then etched and has a light backfill of white acrylic (that ended up hanging on to the blue parts for dear life and was a pain to get removed).  I'm thinking plain old craft paints would be a better choice.