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      The Laser Box



      Goal : Creation of a cutting and engraving laser machine


      First point : Excuse my very poor english , i hope you will understand my explanations...


      For a long time I dreamed to play with a laser cutter.

      I do not want to use CO2 Laser ( too hard to build and to setup).

      So I choose a blue laser diode (445nm) for this job

      16049898524_1928cb60e5_o.jpg
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      To control movements , switch ON and OFF and and adjust the laser power , i used a CNC X Pro controler board


      cnc x pro.jpg




      To make the frame i used some vslot profiles ( from vslot-europe.com)


      16415882022_b04718926a_o.jpg



      I have cut specific parts using my CNC and make some other parts were made with my 3D printer.


      16229397060_5f7faab297_o.jpg



      The Laser Diode :


      The laser Diode has a power of 2.8W ( diode + driver from chez JTech photonic)


      16464945067_ea216cf521_o(1).jpg


      With this diode you can cut Foam , Balsa , acrylic ( it is a bit long ..)

      You can also engrave.


      17201243752_53426df602_o.jpg




      How to switch ON anf OFF the laser and adjust his power :


      The lighting of the laser is done using M03 instruction ( gcode ) and to switch OFF laser you must use instruction M05

      Power adjustement is done using S0 instruction (normally used for the spindle speed variation)


      The change can be carried out on 255 levels( de 0 à 254 )


      Your GRBL file must be compiled before being downloaded to the controller card with a maximum spindle speed of 254 and minimum spindle speed 0


      mods to do to the config.h file of GRBL :

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      #defineSPINDLE_MAX_RPM254.0// Max spindle RPM. This value is equal to 100% duty cycle on the PWM.

      #defineSPINDLE_MIN_RPM0.0 // Min spindle RPM. This value is equal to (1/256) duty cycle on the PWM.


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      Example : M03 S254 ( switch ON laser at full power )

      M03 S127 (switch ON laser at 50% of power )

      M05 ( switch OFF the laser )




      Laser Driver Current Monitoring Via MicroController


      You can find more information for this application on the jtech photonics website





      [​IMG] tp.jpg 16285596264_244b8b795a_o.jpg




      Standalone machine

      I add to this project a Raspberry Pi ( with raspbian ) and a 7’ LCD screen ,

      so the machine is fully autonomous


      I use grblcontroller to send the Gcode

      16555652764_1a2af27371_o.jpg 16668168919_5f9120357f_o.jpg 17176978176_2e0608333a_o.jpg 17334014445_c7a36f4ce9_o.jpg


      improvement to come :

      Add a stepper motor on the Z axis // Done , i will post some pictures soon

      Enclose the machine to improve security

      Make some ready to build kit and create a community aroud this project.

      08/01/2015 : I try this build with 2 new electronic cards , 1 x Arduino Uno + gShield V5 and 1 x TinyG V8 , I think that the arduino + gshield V5 is the better choice because of the price and because we don't need all functionnality that come with the 2 other boards

      After some months of inactivity on this build , i take the time to give you all files you need to build the laserbox frame ( dxf , solidworks , stl ...) .
      I hope you will enjoy it .
      lasercut laserbox.jpg

      If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me here or on the website www.vslot-europe.com

      Attached Files:

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  • Build Details

    Build License:
    • CC - Attribution - CC BY

    Reason for this Build

    Love the color of a blue laser diode ;-)
  • Parts list

    Qty Part Name Part Link Comments
    1 Plates for laserbox http://www.vslot-europe.com/home/176-plates-for-laserbox-... Link
  • Attached Files:

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