This guy has used almost all of them out there presently. This video will help you tremendously.
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Hi @Able,
Would you mind sharing your smoke management setup ? This thread gave me the impulse I needed to go and buy a 20W laser, and the Atomstack M100 looks good, but a question remains. All these 20W modules have air assist, which I understand is an air blast INTO the laser output to blow away the smoke at the laser spot, but then one still has to suck the smoke out of there and push it through the window. Do you have a smoke shoe or something ? My natural tendency would be to 3D-print one to fit around the M100 module, and then build a ventilation system of some kind. Possibly reusing my dust collection hose since it’s there already, and connecting it to the ventilation system rather than the cyclone/shopvac.
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I currently just open the garage 3-4ft and use a high velocity cage fan aimed at the laser until I figure out where I want it to live full time and dig the lid to my old So3 enclosure back out from the shed.
I did buy a dryer vent kit and an exhaust fan that I will hook up to the enclosure and port the smoke out my garage window with a custom window filler board or possibly through the rear door that never gets used.
You only need a 100cfm fan and a slinky hose with a 4in duct flange to make a simple exhaust.
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I use a NEJE module on my Shapeoko 3xxl. It was easy to wire in. I purchased a mount from eBay I believe. I also have 2 stand alone NEJE laser. All of the modules are the A40640 11 watt output, I have been using NEJE laser for over a year and am very happy with all of them. Let me know if you want to talk further and I will give you my phone number.
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If it’s at all possible, I’d love to benefit from the Q&A too. Obviously do a phone call if you’d like, but it’d be amazing if everyone could keep following along.
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We had a big discussion on adding diode lasers a couple years ago. The 4 and 6 combo diodes didn’t exist then.
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Lot of good info here so far.
I have an Ortur Laser Master 2 with a 10W laser module upgrade from Laser Tree.
I can easily cut up to 1/4 inch, but beyond that, doesn’t matter how many passes I make.
I imagine 20w lasers are similar but up to a different thickness–wild guess by what I’ve seen, up to half an inch (more in certain circumstances).
If I were buying today, I would probably get the Xtool, but I would also understand that we’re in the same era as computers were in the late 90s–no matter what you buy today, something better will come out in 5-6 months, tops.
I would say go ahead and get the Xtool 20w now, and expect to upgrade in 3-4 years to something at least twice as good.
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I know nothing of this subject but would something like this work?
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Probably so, but the effort to build one is likely to be larger than making a smoke shoe. I’m surprised how many cases of “I just use a big fan and let the garage doors open” I find while searching. But Donovan’s idea is what I am after for now
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Good morning,
I’m a firefighter as a career, i find it funny (not funny), that the smoke management is “optional accessories” for a lot of these units. I don’t want to breath this crap in on my job, let alone in my shop.
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For what it is worth, this is exactly why I posted this note.
Thank you so much for everyone posting and kicking this around. I appreciate everyone’s input and value you sharing your experience.
Another dark point about “laser cutting” (and the smoke) is that you are burning wood. The only way to get rid of the burnt edge is to cut it off. It isn’t attractive. We spend so much time getting feeds and speeds correct on the CNC so we don’t leave burn marks. Go figger.
I made some disassembling dice towers recently. Since everything I did with the laser created burn marks, I just used some cheap junk 0.1" plywood. The laser cut out precise slots (8 passes @ 80%) for tabs and slots to assemble the thing, but the surrounding wood was always burnt colored.
The only finish that I could apply was paint.
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You see Christmas ornaments or anything cut on a laser and they all have the charred edges. I just figured you have to live with it…or yeah, paint it.
It isn’t attractive. The results of laser cutting that you see everywhere on Etsy is not woodworking.
Occasionally I see people bashing stuff made on a CNC. “Oh, that isn’t woodworking, it’s computer programming”
Whatever, to each their own.
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Please don’t put me in that class of “bashing”. My previous post did not even imply such a thing.
LOL, I’m sure whom ever built the Mayflower would have loved a CNC.
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Oh gosh no. Please, that wasn’t my intention at all.
I’ve heard it before that some don’t like any lasered objects because of the black burned edge. And some don’t like CNC work because it isn’t “real woodworking”. Everyone can have their opinion. Yeah, i get it, this is completely different from stuff like Japanese Joinery. Those guys are true masters. (I’m speaking to the masses that don’t care for what we create)
Personally I like creating stuff with my CNC (although I’m not nearly as advanced as a lot of people on here). I get enjoyment from working through challenges on the computer and then making something.
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I’ve fought with folks in my realm about that same topic. I’ve found that what we do with our CNC routers is really only a third of a project, including the laser add-on. Designing and finishing can be even more complicated. There’s nothing like the stress of having a cut project in front of you while trying to imagine what the irreversible finish is going to do to it.
Use the laser as a supplement to the CNC router, and you’ll have a unique tool. Cutting out parts is not what its good at.
That is good food for thought.
So a question. The stuff you see people make, like furniture. Those interlocking type chairs, (sometimes they almost look like a string of ribs or vertebrae). I think they look very cool and I wonder if I could make such a thing. But they are usually made out of ¾" or 1" stock. That would have to be a big industrial type laser wouldn’t it? Definitely not hobbyist type lasers.