LaserUser.com Forum (formerly RDWorksLab)

Dave,r

Thanks for the suggestions! I have watched almost every single one of the Sarbar Multimedia Youtube videos and have printed out the index which I have loaded up to our Google Shared Drive for all of our members to reference. Love Russ' s dry humor and like him, I almost always have a cup of coffee in my hand .

During the time that I was trying out the new power supply I will admit that I did commit an stupid mistake that had me tearing my hair out for a while. It was all my fault. I had to create new wires for the PS control. The 3 wires that go from the Controller to the PS for Analog Power , Low output enable,and Laser power ground from CN6 for tube 1 were too short to reach on the new PS so I made new ones. After installing and testing the new PS sometimes it fired and sometimes it didn't. This caused great consternation and I went crazy until I looked at the individual power settings of each level. I discovered that tube 2 was being fired instead of tube 1! Wow, was I going to have to go through and change every single file to use tube 2 instead of tube 1? No, all I had to do was to plug the D**N newly wired plug into the correct D**N socket on the controller, CN6 instead of CN7!!! I was taking input from, the tube 2 socket on the controller instead of the tube 1 socket!! What a moron . Plugged it back into the correct socket and all was right with the world, except that the new PS was driving my tube at 30ma!

Anyway, thanks again!

I've downloaded every file he has on RDWorks, and gotten a few directly from him. He's a great resource, and will answer your emails if he has an answer to your question.

If I had to choose my basics, it would be the Dohicky ( I got the meter on Amazon. ), the Ma meter and the water temp display also from Amazon. Russ was kind enough to run the power graph for me as well.

I did make some mods on the Ma and temp setups. I did a DPDT switch to swap between the analog and a pair of posts for a digital to access, and I did the digital dual temp gauge so I can see the difference between the return temp and the general water tank temp. The dual aquarium unit on Amazon did the trick. Had to send the first one back, wasn't paying attention and got a C unit instead of F.

Going to post all my mods soon, have the exhaust to finish then I thought I'd post them at the same time.

Check your nozzle if you don't know the difference between engraving and cutting. The nozzle tip hole size and air elbow port size is completely different between engraving and cutting. Getting the adapters and nozzles for cutting has made a world of difference in my work.

Well, it seems to be plugging along, until the next time . At least well enough to engrave 25 Tap handles for a nearby Micro Brewery.

Our Makerspace is on the 5th floor of a re-purposed tire manufacturing plant in downtown Akron Ohio USA, also know as Rubber City. The only access to the elevator forces us to walk between 2 Micro Breweries (each with an excellent kitchen) on the ground floor. Makerspace policy is to not stop on the way in but they do occasionally delay our trip back home.

Thanks for the help and I will give it yet another close look-see just for good measure.

PS, Our president just walked in last night with another one. A Full Spectrum Hobby laser. Just freshly discontinued. My work never ends!

Mike,

Do check your nozzles for size and air flow. Even with watching all of Russ' videos, I never picked up the difference between an engraving setup and a cutting set up. He pointed out what I had when we talked about the special tubes he sells.

My original nozzle / air fitting combo were for engraving. A 3mm to 4mm nozzle opening, and an air fitting in just about the same diameter if not smaller. A 2" lens in a short nozzle sitting about 20mm above the engraving surface. It would cut, but at much reduced speed.

When I got my new cutting nozzles I was amazed. Partially at the much smaller nozzle opening, but mostly at the large, almost full 1/4", air fitting opening. The air flow / velocity from the tip make all the difference in cutting, especially thicker materials at slower speeds. The cutting lens / nozzle setup will be in the 4mm to 6mm gap range.