Laser Engraver/ Cutter

[BeeMaster2]

Les,
While you have the top bars in the laser, why don?t you engrave your name or logo onto top of the frame. If your hives are ever stolen and an inspector comes across them he will have proof that they are yours.
I used to burn my name onto my frames. Me st of my hives have a frame or two that have my name on them.
We had a case here several years ago where our bee college had engraved the school name on the frames. They had so many hives that they didn?t even know that they were missing hive boxes. The bee inspector was inspecting a police officer?s hives when he came across a large number of frames that belonged to the college. He didn?t say anything and went to the college to see i f they had sold any equipment. The officer was arrested and equipment was returned.
Jim Altmiller

[Lesgold]

Good thinking Jim. I could use the current jig to do that job. A lot of people put their hive registration number on frames for that reason. I never got a brand made but this would do the job nicely. I could also do this on commercial frames that I have in stock. I can see now why you are the beemaster.

[Terri Yaki]

Once again, Les, your skills and abilities are impressive to me. Congratulations.

[Lesgold]

Thanks Terri. I?m just an ideas guy who loves playing with toys in the sand. Hopefully some of my dabbling can give people the inspiration  to try things, attempt new techniques or improve on some of the rubbish that I present.

OK Jim,

You talked me into it. I?m currently printing my hive brand on the top bars of the frames that I made. The template that was cut a day or so ago made it such an easy task. Thanks for your ideas. I tend to get a very narrow focus at times whereas you think outside the box. Thanks again.

[Ben Framed]

Looks good Les! As always with your work..  Another thumbs up!

Phillip

[Lesgold]

Thanks Phillip. The laser is proving to be a very handy addition to the workshop. For the price, it does amazing things that would be awkward to accurately make with standard workshop equipment. A slightly larger work bed and a laser that would cut through 3/4? pine with ease would be a real bonus. 

[BeeMaster2]

Looks good Les.
I?m waiting for Creality to sell the 60 watt module as an upgrade. I?m not sure that it would cut 3/4 inch pine but I suspect that it would. One problem, the 40 watt module upgrade cost $800. I have no idea how much the 60 watt modules would cost. The 40 watt upgrade costs 3/4 the amount of the basic 40 watt laser engraver so the 60 watt is going to be pretty expensive.
Creality ask we if I had any questions for them and I asked them when they were going to sell the 60 watt module as an upgrade. Hopefully soon.
Jim Altmiller

[Lesgold]

I noticed the same thing. The 60 watt would be great but the work area is still just a bit small. X Tool have a 40 watt unit with a 600x300 bed but I have read that there are some Lightburn compatibility problems. It would be great to be able to cut be boxes with finger joints. I?m sure that things will progress in the future.

[BeeMaster2]

I just looked up cutting wood with a 60 watt laser. The best it can cut cleanly is 1/4 inch, 6.35 mm.  Our 22 watt units can cut that much but not cleanly.
I suspect because all they are doing is adding more 5 watt lasers and mirrors to increase the power to 60 watt, the focal point/length is not changing.
Jim Altmiller

[Lesgold]

That?s where it is hard. You hit the nail on the head when you said ?cut cleanly?. Our 22 watt machine will cut to about 19mm but not cleanly. Winter growth timber or knots etc will impact the consistency of the cut. I can normally cut to about 12mm without issue but the cut is dark. This is not a problem with the beekeeping stuff that we are making but in a commercial situation it may be considered unacceptable. The other issue that arises with deep cutting is that the kerf of the cut increases with depth due to charring and the beam losing focus. This requires a bit of tweaking of measurements to compensate. That being said, once the file is created and is working, all is good. I have been looking at options for upgrading but have decided to stay with what I have for the moment. When things like my isolation cages etc are made, it is a bit awkward with the small bed to laser pieces larger than the cut area of the machine but it is still doable. To be able to cut frame to bars in one go would also be nice but it is not essential. I have to remind myself that this is only a hobby machine and not something that I plan to make money from. Being retired, I have the extra time to make do with and modify techniques to get the best out of the laser I have purchased.

[Lesgold]

Saw a cool line drawing of a bee online and thought it might look good as an inlay in a solid piece of timber. Imported the image into Lightburn and then cut it out on a thin strip of a light coloured wood. On the darker timber, the image was then engraved using the fill option. This left a recess into which the white bee was glued. A bit of sanding and a quick coat of oil finished the test piece. This was a rush job to see how it would turn out but there is definitely potential for this method. Coasters, cutting boards, wooden lids for honey jars etc could all have this style of decoration applied.

[BeeMaster2]

That is a good bee design. Any chance you could send me a copy of the Lightburn design?😊
Jim Altmiller

[The15thMember]

Nice!  That would be an especially good logo for something that was combining the ideas of bees and infinity.

[Lesgold]

Hi Jim,

The image is not mine and would be subject to copyright so it could not be used commercially. I only took a screen shot of it and used the trace tool to turn it into a vector. You are right Reagan. Infinity does come to mind. A bit like the number of bees in a strong hive.