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Thread: My 15th machine came today!

  1. #1

    My 15th machine came today!

    So in addition to one 20" vinyl cutter, ten CNC engraving machines and three C02 lasers, I'm finally the happy owner of a fiber laser!


    I figured out how to make it work (no mean feat considering the instructions!), and got some surprising results...
    one of which was cutting a 1/2" tall outlined arrowhead looking thing into aluminum in the blink of an eye, like 1/2 second.
    Ok, so it was only about 2 linear inches, but it was also about .002" deep! The surprise of this was, it was awhile later
    that I finally figured out that the 30 power setting I had entered wasn't the wattage, but the percentage!

    So after cranking it up a bit, I got some jet-black results on stainless- ooohhh, if only this thing would engrave a 30x30" area....

    one other surprising result, so far, is I haven't been able to make a piece of black anodized aluminum look decent...?

    So half the fun is going to be figuring this all out...
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    United States
    Posts
    1,038
    Congrats Kev, that's quite an accomplishment to build a business big enough to support so many machines!

    Quote Originally Posted by Kev Williams View Post
    So in addition to one 20" vinyl cutter, ten CNC engraving machines and three C02 lasers, I'm finally the happy owner of a fiber laser!


    I figured out how to make it work (no mean feat considering the instructions!), and got some surprising results...
    one of which was cutting a 1/2" tall outlined arrowhead looking thing into aluminum in the blink of an eye, like 1/2 second.
    Ok, so it was only about 2 linear inches, but it was also about .002" deep! The surprise of this was, it was awhile later
    that I finally figured out that the 30 power setting I had entered wasn't the wattage, but the percentage!

    So after cranking it up a bit, I got some jet-black results on stainless- ooohhh, if only this thing would engrave a 30x30" area....

    one other surprising result, so far, is I haven't been able to make a piece of black anodized aluminum look decent...?

    So half the fun is going to be figuring this all out...
    Trotec Speedy 400 120w, Trotec Speedy 300 80w
    Thunderlaser Mars-130 with EFR 130w tube
    Signature Rotary Engravers (2)
    Epson F6070 Large Format Printer, Geo Knight Air Heat Presses (2)

  3. #3
    Awesome Kev can I come play with it
    If the Help and advice you received here was of any VALUE to you PLEASE! Become a Contributor
    Rabbit RL_XX_6040-60 watt Laser engraving/cutting machine Oh wait its a 3D Printer my bad LOL
    Lasercut 5.3
    CorelDraw X5

    10" Miter Saw with slide
    10" Table Saw
    8" bench mount 5 speed Drill Press
    Dremel, 3x21 Belt Sander


  4. #4
    Anytime Bert!

    I just found out 2 somethings the hard way...

    I've been testing a bunch of scrap stuff, love the red box thing...

    --until I put a real part on the machine and assumed the engraving would be centered in the box...

    And I used like 20% power just in case something like that happened, but it engraved at least .002 deep!

    in hardened steel! --and FAST! I'm gonna love this thing!

    Anyway- are the red lights adjustable to match the actual laser output, or is it a 'move the engraving layout' deal.

    Not a big deal, but the box to engraving is off a full 2mm/.080" vertically-- Otherwise, big WOW is all I got...
    (because I don't have to sharpen a laser beam!)
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Location
    Ohope, New Zealand
    Posts
    66
    Quote Originally Posted by Kev Williams View Post
    So in addition to one 20" vinyl cutter, ten CNC engraving machines and three C02 lasers, I'm finally the happy owner of a fiber laser!


    I figured out how to make it work (no mean feat considering the instructions!), and got some surprising results...
    one of which was cutting a 1/2" tall outlined arrowhead looking thing into aluminum in the blink of an eye, like 1/2 second.
    Ok, so it was only about 2 linear inches, but it was also about .002" deep! The surprise of this was, it was awhile later
    that I finally figured out that the 30 power setting I had entered wasn't the wattage, but the percentage!

    So after cranking it up a bit, I got some jet-black results on stainless- ooohhh, if only this thing would engrave a 30x30" area....

    one other surprising result, so far, is I haven't been able to make a piece of black anodized aluminum look decent...?

    So half the fun is going to be figuring this all out...
    What??? Do you ONLY have 15 Machines ??? How can you live with that

  6. #6
    Can I ask what type of fiber laser you got?
    Shenhui SG350 fitted with a 60w tube.
    Aeon Nova 10 100w tube.
    Aeon Mira 5030 30w RF tube.
    20w Fiber Laser.
    50w Fiber Laser.
    Located in the Isle of Man, which isn't in the UK but almost surrounded by it.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Suwanee, GA
    Posts
    3,686
    Quote Originally Posted by Kev Williams View Post
    one other surprising result, so far, is I haven't been able to make a piece of black anodized aluminum look decent...?
    Try 1500 speed, 100 power, 45 freq, one hatch at 45 degrees and .05mm spacing - I think you'll be happy with the results!

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Washington state
    Posts
    233
    Congrats Kev,
    New toys are the spice of life, and learning how to use them is part of the fun.
    If I had a customer that needed work from a fiber I would be all in.
    Enjoy and share some pictures of your new projects.
    Scott
    Rabbit Laser RL-60-1290, Rotary attachment, Corel Draw x6, Bobcad Ver 27
    Juki-LU 2810-7, Juki 1900 AHS, Juki LU-1508, Juki LH-3188-7, Juki LH 1182
    Sheffield 530 HC webbing cutter

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Cape Town, South Africa
    Posts
    3,922
    you have to calibrate the red box to a cut , and calibrate the cut as well, and calibrate the hatching...

    Are you using ezcad..I can help if you are

    What did you get... I imported a 20w .. had it 3 weeks and have got to grips with it big time . brilliant machine .. 110 lens and a 200 lens and rotary .. still got to get to grips with rotary
    Cost me less than $6k door to door .. they have come down big time in price

    Mine works real well on laser engraving plastics.. and all metals and some platics that the co2's wont touch
    Rodney Gold, Toker Bros trophies, Cape Town , South Africa :
    Roland 2300 rotary . 3 x ISEL's ..1m x 500mm CnC .
    Tekcel 1200x2400 router , 900 x 600 60w Shenui laser , 1200 x 800 80w Reci tube Shenhui Laser
    6 x longtai lasers 400x600 60w , 1 x longtai 20w fiber
    2x Gravo manual engravers , Roland 540 large format printer/cutter. CLTT setup
    1600mm hot and cold laminator , 3x Dopag resin dispensers , sandblasting setup, acid etcher

  10. #10
    Since I've had good machinery and customer service from Triumph, I thought I'd give them more of my money!

    What I got is a portable unit, I've seen others just like it, this one just has Triumph's name on it...



    It's a 30 watter with a 150 lens. They sell a 'desk' version with the cabinet and the lens mounted to a post etc, but I was told it's the exact same machine otherwise, and besides taking up more room, it would cost more to ship because it would have to go BY ship. DHL put this on a airplane a week ago Monday. Should've had it Friday but customs held it up in Cincinnati.

    It came with a laptop (with Win7 Ultimate, I couldn't be happier, lol), all loaded up with ezCad ready to go! I could've gotten a 20 watt unit for under $6k, but remembered I've never ever complained about anything having too much power... -those extra 10 watts they didn't just give away, either.

    Funny story about the laptop, I'm the first person they've sold one of these to in the 110 volt version, but they couldn't locate a 110v laptop, so they sent along a 110-to-220 volt step-up transformer to run it. But I don't need it because the 19 volt output charger works from 110 to 240 volts- I plugged it in and it works fine!

    --What's the foot pedal for? Not sure I'll find info about it in the instructions. And who's bright idea was it to make "F2" the 'start' button? I've accidentally started the laser up probably 10 times already just from trying to type a regular "2"! I don't like laptops anyway, I'll soon be running this from one of my desktops...
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  11. #11
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Cape Town, South Africa
    Posts
    3,922
    I have the almost identical machine .. 20 w IPG fiber
    110 x 110mm work area
    lens is a 112-163..whatever that may mean .. my focal gauge from lens rim to workpiece is exactly 192mm (made an acrylic gauge)
    Ezcad

    foot switch = manual f2 (start mark)

    you need to do 2 things

    1 - calibrate the actual engraving
    2. calibrate the red square

    1. engrave a 10cm x 10cm square

    Measure it and check it isnt barreled sided , sloped , has concave sides etc .. if its NOT exact and the sides not dead straight
    then go to params (f3)

    the first tab is "field" and you will see you can make adjustments
    scale corrects for actual vs desired size
    the rest have to do with the shape of the square
    get the square to be exact by fiddling with values

    once you got your cut/engraving 100%
    then go to the tab "other" in params and click on red light pointer
    mess with the settings till the red light pointer is exactly the same as the cut/engraving
    Not too difficult

    I too cannot get a solid black on aluminium .. even with 10 speed and 100 power (painfully slow).. best is a dark grey

    As to metals , often the mark looks slightly brownish straight off the laser , but a wash with a cloth and some dishwasher liquid or a very light abraisive houshold cleaner takes away the brown "overburn" , crisps up the image and makes it black



    Here are my settings for various materials .. works supremely on most laser engraving lams .. except those with white substrates

    You will note that I havent used superspeeds like 3000 + -- or even 1000+ as with very fast speeds , very small letters do not get properly hatched
    There are some corrections for this as well , I havent fiddled with them .. less detailed graphics can support higher speeds



    MATERIAL SPEED POWER FREQ


    Bronze black rowmark 800 40 20
    Cutting rowmarks 15 100 20
    blue mirror 250 100 20
    pink mirror 600 70 20
    blue white cannot mark
    sparkle gold black 800 50 20
    white black 800 50 20
    black mirror 500 100 20
    not a good mark
    gold black row 800 40 20
    silver black 800 40 20
    red mirror 500 100 20
    purple mirror 450 100 20
    not a good mark
    gold mirror 450 100 20
    black white 2pass 1000 100 20
    not a good mark
    silver mirror 600 90 20
    Black acrylic 800 90 20
    blue acrylic 500 100 20
    white abs grey mark 800 40 20
    anodised colour 600 100 20
    anodised black lightish wht 600 100 20
    anodised black , white mark 2 pass as above
    anodised natural light mark 800 100 20
    anodised natural dark mark 150 100 20
    raw alluminium grey mark 100 100 20
    chrome 100 100 20
    stainless polish 1200 30 200
    stainless frost 800 80 200
    stainless black 100 100 20
    brass frost 700 90 100
    brass black 80 100 20


    I use only one type of hatch .. 0 degrees , 0.02mm line spacing . will experiment more...
    Last edited by Rodne Gold; 07-07-2016 at 6:15 AM.
    Rodney Gold, Toker Bros trophies, Cape Town , South Africa :
    Roland 2300 rotary . 3 x ISEL's ..1m x 500mm CnC .
    Tekcel 1200x2400 router , 900 x 600 60w Shenui laser , 1200 x 800 80w Reci tube Shenhui Laser
    6 x longtai lasers 400x600 60w , 1 x longtai 20w fiber
    2x Gravo manual engravers , Roland 540 large format printer/cutter. CLTT setup
    1600mm hot and cold laminator , 3x Dopag resin dispensers , sandblasting setup, acid etcher

  12. #12
    Kev

    Congratulations! I look forward to hearing about your adventures with with your new toy.
    Mike Null

    St. Louis Laser, Inc.

    Trotec Speedy 300, 80 watt
    Gravograph IS400
    Woodworking shop CLTT and Laser Sublimation
    Dye Sublimation
    CorelDraw X5, X7

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Suwanee, GA
    Posts
    3,686
    Quote Originally Posted by Rodne Gold View Post
    I use only one type of hatch .. 0 degrees , 0.02mm line spacing . will experiment more...
    I have been experimenting with wider spacing, mostly I use .05 but I've been trying .075 and the results are still extremely good. I think you'll find a huge time savings going from .02 to .06 and although you may have to increase the number of passes to get the same depth, the time savings per pass is well worth it.

  14. #14
    You guys are making this easy, you don't know how much I appreciate it!
    Because my customers are keeping me extremely busy, my biggest enemy right now is TIME, and any saved is a blessing!
    Speaking of wasting time, right now the laptop is installing 170 updates, 24 done so far in about 20 minutes,
    so I'm looking at maybe a couple of hours before I can even use it this morning
    (guess I can do some other actual work in the meantime)
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Gary Hair View Post
    I have been experimenting with wider spacing, mostly I use .05 but I've been trying .075 and the results are still extremely good. I think you'll find a huge time savings going from .02 to .06 and although you may have to increase the number of passes to get the same depth, the time savings per pass is well worth it.
    Agreed. This tip from Gary shaved a ton of time off a very large project. I'm actually still running it and I can't imagine how long it would take at .02mm. I liken the hatch spacing to DPI. You don't need to go 1000 DPI if 380 will do in much less time.
    Scott Challoner
    30W LaserPro Spirit (Need more power)
    30W Wisely Fiber Galvo

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