Total new guy.

[Zlatan Vuckovic]

Came into a Epilog mini 24 35w, awesome deal, 4 yrs old. Have never used a laser, mostly hobby woodworker, looking to retire and start up part time and get kids working. Not sure where it will go.

Got the engraver with vac motor, manual, rotary attachment, no software and no air pump. I contacted Epilog on what they recommend for software and he pointed me to this forum, said I would get more knowledge here then from him.

I have a mac, no PC, installed parrales, and will be loading windows vista, have not ordered any design software but my wife has photoshop, not sure which one.

The machine looks clean not used much, he was a hobby woodworker with a garage shop but passed away and didn't do too much, I got it from a friend of his.

First question, and I think I got the answer from a post today, how important is air assist, and can I use a compressor with a pressure valve? It says 30 psi max.

Will the photoshop work as far as design work, my wife uses it to design newsletters and brochures? It's fairly new software.

Set up in a garage work shop, covered to protect from dust when not used, vented outside, but no ac in Texas, will the heat affect the laser tube, and how much life can I expect if not a production setting?

Thanks for any help.

[Dee Gallo]

Welcome to the Creek, Z, you were sent to the right place! I also run a Mac, but you will need CorelDraw to use the Epilog driver for your laser, I'm pretty sure. I've tried to print from PhotoShop straight and it did not fly. Personally I prefer Bootcamp, as it is native to Mac OS, is included in your OS, and is a lot less buggy than Parallels (which I tried first). You don't need the latest version, I run X3 and it's fine, so you can get a cheap copy. But a lot of your prep can be done in Photoshop.

As far as the air assist goes, you do not need more than 35, in fact you probably only need about 10 psi. But you definitely should hook it up for best results and safety.

Other more expert people will advise you on the heat thing, but there are lots of threads on this subject here as well. Do an advanced search by clicking on the button towards the top of this page.

cheers, dee

[Mike Mackenzie]

Parallels and Vista are two bad combinations I would recommend Bootcamp and win7 or XP.

[Larry Bratton]

Zlatan:
Welcome to the forum! Your in the right place.
If your laser was new and under warranty, running the machine in temperatures in excess of 90 degrees would void your warranty. Tell you anything? Best to have it in an environmentally controlled space as far as possible. Needs to be as clean as possible as dust also gets on your optics and other components. A clean laser is a happy laser.

[Doug Griffith]

I also run a Mac, but you will need CorelDraw to use the Epilog driver for your laser, I'm pretty sure.

Illustrator works just fine for me through Bootcamp/XP/Epilog Mini. You'll get much more support for Corel Draw here on the creek though.

[Dee Gallo]

I always forget about Illustrator, Doug. Does the same driver work for both?

[Doug Griffith]

But you enjoy the software so much :•)

Same driver. I run Illustrator under OSX where I spend most of my day and then hop over to a dedicated PC where another installation of Illustrator resides. It's also in Bootcamp in case my day is spent doing CAD/CAM.

[Zlatan Vuckovic]

Ok I got the windows vista installed and was able to download the drivers and am trying a free trial of Corel Draw to see how it works, I will use my compressor with a regulator to lower the pressure to the machine for the air assist. Should be able to fire it up by the weekend. Cant wait!! There is a diagram in the book for setting of power and speed. Any suggestion for my first start up or material. Thanks for all the feedback.

[Mike Null]

Zlatan

Welcome to SMC. If you have wood scraps laying around I would experiment with them. Each variety engraves differently so experience gained here will save you time and money later. Companies like Johnson Plastics and JDS Industries will send sample packs of plastics which you can try. They'll be small but usable.

I have no facts to back this up but it seems to me that common sense would dictate that equipment as sensitive as lasers would not fare well in the extreme temperatures of a garage. I have gotten very good life on both of the machines I've had which I attribute to housing them in my basement with a fairly constant temperature and humidity. I also have my machine closed off from my wood shop to help keep dust down.

[Dan Hintz]

I'll second Mike's thoughts... an unheated/uncooled garage is a bad place for a laser. The tube won't fire or fire at lower powers at temperature extremes, requiring you to heat up or cool down the place for several hours before use. Humidity will also be an electronics killer over the years. Large temperature swings also closely correlates with loss of tube power over the months/years due to seal issues.

As a reminder, put your location in your profile here, and add your machine details to your sig so we don't have to ask "What do you have?" every time you ask a question about the machine's operation.

[Larry Bratton]

I just love it when you are redundant. Makes me tingle all over.

[Ron Hartl]

I am sure climate control is important, but I have run my ULS below freezing temps with no issues.

[Robert Walters]

If you are using a shop compressor...
Be sure to filter oil/water from the line before it hits the laser or you could damage the optics/mirrors.

[Zlatan Vuckovic]

Was looking at my set up in the garage and was thinking of closing off a section and installing a ac vent from the house, will probably get a air assist just temp rig up with compressor and regulator, filter sounds like a good idea, Thanks for the input.

I tried to input info in the bottom, lets see if it shows? Will get the hang of this, thanks.

[Larry Bratton]

I am sure climate control is important, but I have run my ULS below freezing temps with no issues.

I don't think too cold is the issue, it is excessive heat.