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Thread: It's alive! :d

  1. #1

    It's alive! :d

    I finally got around to cleaning the bottom mirror on my GCC last night...

    Now, I knew it was going to need cleaning, as the others need a wipe nearly every day. But since it's not in the smoke-filled cabinet, I figured it couldn't be too bad--

    NO!! WRONG!!! FAIL!! ( )

    yeah, it was bad. When I finally got to it (it's a chore, and why I haven't done it till now),
    the dust cover had an inch of dust on it. But when I got to the mirror itself, it was just as bad.

    I tried a couple of wipes with it in place but couldn't get at it good.
    Fortunately GCC made them easy to remove to clean. When I got it out, there was a very bad haze covering most of the mirror.
    I couldn't see my eye in the reflection--

    I put some DNA on a Qtip to clean it off. DNA didn't even budge it. Ended up taking about 2 full minutes with Qtip and Fantastik to get it clean.

    While I was down in the thick of things, I lined up the LED, it's dead to rights now

    For the past few months we've been having to slow the machine down quite a bit, like 20% down from the settings I saved when I first got it.
    The old settings would barely make it thru the white, so my first test was to use the old settings...

    IT'S ALIVE! The engraving depth is now about .004" at the OLD settings!

    I've been doing quite a few powdercoated Hydroflasks in the thing, and while the bottom mirror is out of the main cabinet,
    I'm sure smoke can find its way in, and I'm thinking the guck in that smoke is likely what was all over that mirror.
    I can't believe the difference it made---

    So I wrote all this just to say--

    MAKE SURE YOUR MIRRORS ARE CLEAN!
    Last edited by Kev Williams; 10-21-2016 at 11:33 AM.
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  2. #2
    And also make sure your exhaust blower is clean - check it NOW. I was getting so much smoke, and no extraction, til I removed the ducting and the perforated metal mesh directly inlet side of the turbine was nearly 80% clogged with every remnant of past jobs. Now it will suck the eyes out of a parrot (Tim Allen reference).
    john.blazy_dichrolam_llc
    Delta Unisaw, Rabbit QX-80-1290 80W Laser, 5 x 12 ft laminating ovens, Powermax 22/44, Accuspray guns, Covington diamond lap and the usual assortment of cool toys / tools.

  3. #3
    It's sharing a blower with the Triumph, so extraction is less than stellar for sure. I do block one or the other when possible...
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Suwanee, GA
    Posts
    3,686
    I'd be inclined to blame the blower. In the whole time I owned it I probably cleaned that particular mirror a dozen times. I checked it quite often, but if it didn't need cleaning I left it alone.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Medina Ohio
    Posts
    4,514
    I would make 2 blast gates for that set up

  6. #6
    HF sells blast gates, but every time I think about them when I'm there, they're out of 'em. I really need separate blowers...
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    Seattle, WA
    Posts
    1,664
    Blog Entries
    1
    Kev....if you have a Harbor Freight near enough to get to, how about a Rockler or a Woodcraft? Both of them would carry gates for dust collectors. Just a thought.
    900x600 80watt EFR Tube laser from Liaocheng Ray Fine Tech LTD. Also a 900x600 2.5kw spindle CNC from Ray Fine. And my main tool, a well used and loved Jet 1642 Woodlathe with an outboard toolrest that helps me work from 36 inch diameters down to reallllllly tiny stuff.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Medina Ohio
    Posts
    4,514
    Quote Originally Posted by Kev Williams View Post
    HF sells blast gates, but every time I think about them when I'm there, they're out of 'em. I really need separate blowers...

    They sell on line also

  9. #9
    Just got 4 gates online at HF, a whole $4 each
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


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