Laser Engraver/ Cutter

[Lesgold]

Hi Folks,

I know very little about laser engravers and was wondering if any of you have any knowledge or experience in their use. They are now very affordable and would have many uses for a beekeeper. Could you imagine making your own engraved signs for market stalls, producing fancy wooden honey labels, etching your hive brand into frame top bars, etc, etc, etc. The uses for this piece of equipment would be endless and only bounded by your imagination. Some of the better quality lasers will cut pine up to 20mm thick in one pass. The cutting of box joints on the ends of boxes would also be possible with such a machine. Holes for screws or nails could be accurately made and complex shapes could also be produced. Do any of you use them? I?m after any advice that you could provide such as brand selection, laser type, software etc. Thanks in advance.

Cheers

Les

[BeeMaster2]

Les,
I have been looking at laser engravers for a while. I have also looked at adding a laser engraver to my 3D printer. Decided it would be too much work switching it back and forth.
I don?t know how much you want to spend but this one below is a nice one from Creality. It is a 4 laser, 22 watt unit. This enables you to control how much power you use for a given job.
Creality Laser Engraver 22W Output, 120W High Power Falcon2 Laser Engraving Machine CNC, DIY Laser Cutter and Engraver Machine for Metal and Wood, Paper, Acrylic, Glass, Leather etc, 17" x 16" https://a.co/d/fi8aTkr

Jim Altmiller

[Ben Framed]

I know barley anything about them, but I am interested in this conversation..

Phillip

[Lesgold]

Hi Jim,

That was one that I was looking at also. It has some pretty good qualities when I looked at youtube videos. A woodworker who sells toys, cutting boards etc at the markets, engraves a lot of his work. He bought a cheap one off eBay for about $350 Au. and it appeared to do a good job on engraving. Unfortunately it only cuts to about 3mm. That would be fine for thin plywood but would not cut the thicker timber that beekeepers use. Phillip, I?m in a similar position to you. I?ve only been researching for a couple of days. About 10 years ago I bought a CNC router for the school so that kids could do some decorative work on their woodwork projects. Much of the hardware and software seems fairly similar so it wouldn?t be totally foreign to me. At this stage I?m not sure if I should bite the bullet and buy a good one or get a cheap EBay engraver to find out if it has potential.

[Ben Framed]

Les how much would you expect to pay for a good one?

Phillip

[Lesgold]

Hi Phillip,

You can get a reasonable laser engraver for around $450 Au. I ordered one two days ago and paid a bit over $1000. Got a couple of extras as well. It was actually the one that Jim mentioned. I had been looking at it and a few other alternatives for a week or so. Hopefully it will arrive before the new year.

[BeeMaster2]

Les,
I mentioned to my son that I was interested in getting a laser engraver so I might be getting one for Christmas 🤞. I was looking at that unit on Amazon so hopefully Judy saw that and gets the same one. If so we can share what we learn.
The vice president of our bee club has a nice one but I have never had the chance to talk to him about it.

[Lesgold]

That would be great Jim. I have watched a few reviews and clips on the unit and there is just too much information for the old brain to absorb. There will be a huge learning curve  as the software is quite powerful and has many features that will take time to find and take advantage of. I bought the basic unit with a honeycomb bench. I think that I will make a box and extraction unit for the engraver rather than purchasing one. I will use the unit for a while before a decision is made in relation to this. There will be plenty of beekeeping related uses for this engraver and I?m looking forward to exploring some of them.

[Lesgold]

The laser cutter arrived a couple of days ago and I finally found a few minutes to unpack it. The unit was basically assembled and only took a few minutes to plug in cables, air hoses etc. The biggest problem is that there won?t be an opportunity to play with it for a couple of weeks due to Xmas. Something to look forward to (I hope). Jim, hopefully you will be up and racing soon and will be able to mentor me. I was hoping to be able to use it before New Year?s Day to make some small signs for the market stall but this task may have to wait.

[BeeMaster2]

Les,
I don?t know if I will be getting one but is I do , having made hundreds of 3d designs for my 3d printer will give me a good head start.
What program do you have to make the designs?
Jim Altmiller

[Lesgold]

Hi Jim,

I have downloaded Lightburn on my wife?s laptop. It seems to be the standard for laser engraving. I have it on 30 day trial at the moment. I won?t be able to use it until I connect it to the engraver but from a few clips that I?ve watched, its potential is amazing. It appears to be quite straightforward for simple tasks but as with all software of this type, there are stacks of icons with drop down menus which will take a long time to unpack. I tend to only learn what is needed for the task at hand which will mean that I won?t be using it to its potential for quite a while. There are plenty of tutorials online which will be helpful.

[Lesgold]

I grabbed my 11 year old grandson to have a play with the engraver. He designed a simple name tag and after a couple of minutes of play time, we cut it out of 2mm plywood. The result was quite reasonable for our first effort. There was a bit of smoke generated so a cabinet with an extraction fan will be needed. I could make one using a computer fan and some plywood or just buy a complete unit online. I?ll look at flexible ducting availability and other components before making a decision.

[Lesgold]

We then imported one of my labels as an image and then put a square around it. I was interested to see what the quality of the burn would be like without any modification or editing. It was a little smudged but wasn?t too bad considering our total lack of experience in this area. My grandson has now taken over the use of the laptop to do some design work so my learning will come to a stop for a while.

[BeeMaster2]

Looks good Les.
I did not get a laser printer for Christmas.
I did get a night scope, a case full of router bits and a new Apple Watch.
I want to do some night time rat hunting as soon as I get it mounted on my pellet rifle.
On the first laser cut, I wonder if a little sanding would make the lines look better.
Jim Altmiller

[Lesgold]

Hi Jim,

Sounds like you ended up with some nice goodies for Xmas. I think you are right about the sanding. Most clips I watch suggest a bit of light sanding afterwards. The honeycomb board that I purchased with the unit hasn?t been sent yet and this means that the smoke, debris, burnt resin etc has nowhere to escape. I?m currently sitting the plywood on some sheet aluminium which results in some staining on the bottom surface as well. I?m hoping these blemishes will reduce when the honeycomb board arrives. I will purchase some 16mm MDF to make a baseboard in the next couple of days. A grid will be burnt onto it. That will help to align material for engraving. I managed to do some testing yesterday afternoon. A small pricing sign for the markets was quickly designed with finger joints attached to the base. The kerf of the laser was going to make loose joint work but it was important to establish the size of the kerf so that adjustments could be made. After a few tests, the final slot offsets were established and some close fitting joint work resulted. You will notice the bad staining on the underside of the sign. The aluminium baseplate sheet is now stained and a bit sticky. It should have been cleaned prior to this burn but the impatience of using a new toy pushed logic and common sense to one side.

[Lesgold]

I wanted to try importing a copyright image of a bee into the engraver to use but it was going to be too much of a hassle to sign up to free trials etc. My eldest daughter is a wizard on Photoshop so she decided to get in and design one herself. She has spent a couple of hours looking at designs and getting proportions right before sending me something that I could print off. Made a guess at cut settings and as you can see the first image was running too hot for the ply and burnt through. Through a few tests, the settings were adjusted until the engraving looked OK through my untalented eyes. Tried a burn on MDF which worked quite well and then I put a blank that would be used for a wooden lid under the machine. This also came out quite well. A lid may have to be turned and then engraved to see what happens. My daughter continues to manipulate the bee as she feels it has masculine legs. She really is a perfectionist.

[Ben Framed]

Thanks Les.. Good stuff, with your daughters help as a bonus!

Phillip

[BeeMaster2]

They look great. I like that you are able to cut matching sign and base. Nice bee.
After couldn?t find a pellet gun mount to Picatinny mount, I spent a part of today designing on to 3D print. I finished it and finished printing it. Everything printed as designed but the sharp edges that hold  it to the top of the pellet gun failed. They break off. I plan on making thin steel plates with those sharp edges on my lathe/mill.
Here are some pictures:

[Lesgold]

It?s amazing what a 3D printer can make for you. If you can draw it, the printer can print it. What a great way to experiment or to solve that impossible construction problem. Those mounts look great Jim.

[BeeMaster2]

Thanks, I really enjoy designing things and seeing them printed.
Jim Altmiller