Anyone using laser cutter/engraver for hobby projects?

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  • hoosierdoc

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    I just bought a K40 laser system from amazon. I also bought a rotary attachment to do round things like tumblers. Hoping to do some cool work. The acrylic cutting/marking is fascinating to me. Especially when you drop it in an LED light stand. Hopefully I can post some work soon.

    I'd love to get into 3D printing too but I'm a bit intimidated. Maybe this will help me jump in.
     

    hoosierdoc

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    I did a test fire today and it put a hole where I roughly expected it. Yay!

    going to add the interlock switch to kill power if you open up the three doors. Gotta keep laser shielded and the power stuff away from kid fingers.
     

    4651feeder

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    I abandoned reason last year and jumped into a laser cutter head first with an Orion slightly larger than the K40. Hard to justify a need for it, just wanted it and have yet to regret doing it.
     
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    Tactically Fat

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    I want one of those big laser engravers that can do stippling on polymer gun parts. OooOOOOooooo.

    That'd be a heck of a side hustle.
     

    hoosierdoc

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    Will it etch stainless?

    mine will not. Only 40W. You can use it to vaporize anodized coatings off stainless to leave a negative image. You can also mark it using a transfer material like Cermark if you want to add black writing to it.

    you need a “fiber laser” if you want to mark PMAGs. Mine would just melt them
     

    hoosierdoc

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    Starting to get it dialed in. I’m having a few issues with x-axis skipping though. And USB timeouts which are annoying. Once I get my ventilation done I’ll try cutting acrylic.

    this is poster board

     

    4651feeder

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    Found my linear rails and bearings performed better which can be cause for axis chatter/skipping once the heavy grease they were shipped with was cleaned off and replaced with light machine oil, your results may vary.

    Good luck with acrylic, the lingering odor was too great to overcome here, it's been banned at this domicile.
     
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    hoosierdoc

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    Yeah! How did you do the tumbler? Coat it and then use the laser to eat away the coating for the lettering?

    The tumblers are either painted or anodized. The laser removes that and exposes the stainless. I also used a marking compound to add black to stainless as in the next pic. Wherever laser hits it transfers. This is a marlin my friend drew and I added his boat name

     

    Caleb

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    I'll be building a 2'x4' working area co2 laser in the next couple months...that's the plan anyways.
     
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