Slowed down to 12ipm, added a big fish tank pump for air assist, and because I can’t resist a good candle holder project (my wife has actually banned me from making anymore on the lathe until I sell some, fooled her!):
Most pieces literally got blown out as they cut through!
Dan
Looks great, which air pump did you go for?
VIVOSUN Air Pump 1750 GPH 102W 110L/min 12 Outlet Commercial Air Pump for Aquarium and Hydroponic Systems (102 W) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072N2HPWB/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_iQv6CbNKFAV05
I’m glad I went with their largest, I think much less and it wouldn’t be enough.
Dan
Dan, I don’t know if it is the picture, light or something else but at the top of the drop shapes, the wood appears to be discolored, is this an artifact, an over burn or something else?
It’s from the air assist blowing smoke across the wood. Ultimately it’d be better to have the air blowing straight down instead of at an angle, but due to the JTech magnetic shroud that’s not possible. I’ve reached out to JTech to see if they sell a magnetic attachment without the shroud, or if I can cut the current shroud apart to remove the annoying cross piece, but it’s a holiday weekend, so I don’t expect a quick reply. Some of that staining can be removed with a wire brush though, so it’s not a show stopper, just irritating. I refocused my laser to extend the beam a bit so there’s more room for the air assist, and I don’t use the air unless I plan to cut through, so at least the engraving is clean.
Dan
I kind of like the effect myself. It’d be interesting to alter the angle of the air to create different outcomes. Maybe?
Maybe is the key word in that sentence. The hardest part of this whole adventure has been getting a small invisible stream of air to intersect with a tiny invisible stream of light. I can fire the laser at 2.5% power and set it to focal height, then futz around for about 15 minutes getting the invisible air stream in place. I just ordered a loc-line “Y” connector, so I can split my 1/4” loc-line into 2x 1/16” invisible air streams. I figure it’s worth a shot and my ever expanding loc-line arsenal doesn’t have a Y yet!!!
Funny thing my pump spit my hose off it’s nipple today and I lost air for about 30 seconds while I reconnected. There was a very noticeable difference (and charring) in that short 5” area of a 5 pass cut through. Hooked it back up, couple twists of safety wire to hold it on and back in business. In case I had any doubts about how much the air helps, no doubts now.
Dan
Had a couple pretty ugly failures a couple days ago, just couldn’t get the fire to air mix correct and was unable to cut through the 3mm plywood I had been cutting great. Honestly think I got a little lazy with my setup and just wasn’t really making sure everything was dialed in before starting the job. So tonight after getting it right I decided to try something different. I’m a Triumph motorcycle guy and a couple years back I found this hand drawn image online and have wanted to do “something” with it to hang in the shop:
100% power, 59 inches per minute. I think it’s about 8”x9”? Took about 45 minutes total.
Dan
@DanoInTx That’s a bonnie bonneville! I had a Street Triple until last September when it was stolen. Somehow ended up buying a Duc to replace it… not quite sure how that happened.
What do you have?
2014 Street Triple R that’s no longer very stock:
I don’t ride nearly as much as I used to and a few non-bike related injuries make any long rides a bit tough. It’s days are numbered!
Dan
@DanoInTx Ugggggh, reminds me of mine - same color, but yours is one year younger.
I have the same Comp Werkes 'zorst for the Hypermotard, should sound ‘vibrant’. Interesting to see you went from twins to the single headlight, looks LED based - I’m betting it’s pretty bright?
Sorry to hear that it’s got to go, I rode mine from coast to coast back in 2016. This was me arriving in Victoria on Vancouver Island to visit with my parents (who flew in from the UK) after 15 days on 2 wheels with 5800 miles, 11 states, and 3 Canadian provinces under my belt. BEST. VACATION. EVER!
The single LED is much brighter, but very spendy by the time I did the LED micro turn signals(over $1k iirc). It was a conversion from MotoDemic, lights and windscreen. The Werks exhaust is loud (even with silencer installed). It’s not even that it’s SO much louder, it’s the frequency,…it’s like the sound crawls right under my helmet. I have Bluetooth speakers in my helmet though, add that to half deaf and it doesn’t really bug me. Funny I went for a short ride last weekend with a friend on his SV650 Gladius with a Coffman Shorty exhaust. At one stop he asked if his bike was annoyingly loud, I just laughed because his bike was dead silent to me! The downshift gurgle from the Werks is freakishly awesome though. I had a straight piped R6 with a Yoshi on the end before the STR, that bike made small children run away!
Double shoulder surgeries, biceps reconnected, pins, humerus split lengthwise, parts of clavicle removed, on and on. I do 100+ miles and I’m done for a few days. Thinking I may get a more relaxed Street Twin or some other Bonneville variant.
Dan
I don’t want to get this too far off topic, but seeing as we’re on the subject… my late best mate used to run a street triple and I was on this, they make quite the pair!
Evening all.
Has anyone used their JTech for cutting mats (mattes) for photography or artwork?
Thanks!
When I’m mounting and framing, I generally use thicker bevel-cut mattes, but for thinner mattes, it might be interesting to try out some laser cut designs. If I can easily whip up paper designs and cardboard wasn’t too bad, thinner mattes might just work.
Do you have any particular medium or design style in mind? It might be a reasonable excuse to play around a bit with the laser on a different project than my usuals.
I have not tried that, but I suspect you’d have to figure out a way of masking the surface to not get smoke/char marks. Dark colored matt may not have this issue though. I know when I cut plywood I have to be somewhat careful when handling before I clear coat to not leave smudges/fingerprints. The smoke blown away by using air assist will also leave trails. Some of it I’ve been able to remove with a brass wire brush. If they’re thin enough you could probably cut them on something like a Cricut too(I have one, but have only cut card stock with it). A Cricut or drag knife might be the better tool for the job, and cheaper too if that’s all you need it for.
Dan
@ClayJar - Hmmmm, don’t laugh, I hadn’t thought of doing something other than a rectangle! It could indeed be fun when I don’t want a bevel cut - that’s definitely a “nice-to-have” for me.
@DanoInTx - Thanks for the pointers on smudging. I think you might be right about a regular tool being easier for cutting bevels.
I don’t have a laser so I may be off base but what about an air deflector on the opposite side of the air assist across from the laser. Nothing very complicated but a piece of sheet metal in the shape of an L with a 135 deg angle. So you have the air assist the laser in the middle and a deflector that is just above the work surface that sends the air up and sideways. Smoke that stains the wood would be deflected maybe towards a vacuum hose.
I can picture in my head what you’re explaining, but I don’t know how well it would work. If I look at @ClayJar ‘s Smokesucker design above is pretty close to what you’re describing I think, except you wanna move it closer to the cut right? His leaves trails also. If I’m engraving I don’t use the air assist, and cutting I’m trying to get the air moving as vertically as possible. On larger lasers the air assist actually comes out of the same hole as the laser. So part of this issue is caused by the air moving horizontally because of the type of laser. Having said that I know even with larger lasers and proper air assist that smoke staining is an issue, so some folks use mask on their work.
I have a 50 watt CO2 laser on the way, with proper air assist, so maybe in a few weeks I’ll be able to share the difference in cut/smoke staining.
Dan
