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Cheap Chinese Laser Cutter


ROBERT BURLACE
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Posted by chris larkins on 30/09/2019 00:10:04:

I just ordered one of these, 50x65 engraving area and with a 3000mw laser, worked out at £117.28 inc postage and insurance.

LINK

Good stuff Chris,

by the looks of it, this should be expandable should you wish to make it larger in the future.

Ask away if we can be of assistance in setting it up or using it.

Rob

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As this eleksmaker is primarily an engraver and not a cutter there is no z axis ability. Should you decide to modify the laser carriage to accept a 3rd party z axis you will need to change the board too, if you add that to changing the frame dimensions there is precious little of the original kit left.

All the individual parts are readily available from 3d printer parts suppliers on Ebay (other suppliers are available) Of course, you may not want to change any of these items, in which case the eleksmaker is perfectly suitable for the task.

Incidentally..for those that are not aware...the frame is not stainless steel as advertised..it is extruded aluminium...

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Thank you Rob, I am going to download some software whilst I am waiting for it to arrive.

How would you go about getting a plan onto your pc? I have an A4 scanner which will be ok for smaller ribs and formers but large wing ribs or a fuselage side will be too big for my scanner. Would a print shop be able to scan a plan and turn it into a pdf?

Also for something like a long fuselage side that is too big for the engraver is there a simple way of adding some sort of finger joint in the software to join / align 2 pieces of wood together such as in this picture?

joint.jpg

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Posted by chris larkins on 30/09/2019 11:37:25:

Thank you Rob, I am going to download some software whilst I am waiting for it to arrive.

How would you go about getting a plan onto your pc? I have an A4 scanner which will be ok for smaller ribs and formers but large wing ribs or a fuselage side will be too big for my scanner. Would a print shop be able to scan a plan and turn it into a pdf?

Also for something like a long fuselage side that is too big for the engraver is there a simple way of adding some sort of finger joint in the software to join / align 2 pieces of wood together such as in this picture?

joint.jpg

Hi Chris,

Scanning plans at full size, I think the print shop option as recommended above is probably your best option. But before you spend the money check and see if the plan you have is already done here:

www.aerofred.com

Or here

www.profili2.com

You may save yourself a few quid.

If its a magazine type freebee plan, you could cut it into A4 sheets and piece together using software without too much difficulty, but it wouldn't be as accurate I don't think.

I have never considered making finger joints because I am able to cut full length balsa sheets and anything up to about 1100mm long. However, I have made a few small boxes using a plugin (or extension as they call it) on Inkscape. Perhaps one of the box jointing options would work? There may be better alternatives available though, so don't quote me on that!

https://github.com/paulh-rnd/TabbedBoxMaker

Rob

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**Update**

I have started cutting parts for my spitfire. Using 3 and 4mm poplar ply. The plan calls for a mix of 2 and 3mm liteply, but I hate the stuff. My spit will be slightly larger than the original plan too (1500 vs 1200mm).

img_0338.jpg

Most of the parts were cut out nicely but a few held on - presumably where adhesive was a little thicker. I have slowed the cutting speed down slightly for subsequent cuts which seems to have fixed the problem.

Test fit on a few pieces to check that the tabs all go together - a tiny bit of sanding but that's all. They will all be cleaned up properly before the final assembly.

img_0340.jpg

A few of the other formers cut out and ready to go.

img_0339.jpg

I don't think I will set off multiple pieces on the same cut again. Some wing ribs I was cutting last night went wrong for some reason and all of the following parts were affected, wasting a big chunk of the ply. It's easy enough to set them off individually and position them to minimise waste anyway.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Posted by ROBERT BURLACE on 30/09/2019 08:25:42:
Posted by chris larkins on 30/09/2019 00:10:04:

I just ordered one of these, 50x65 engraving area and with a 3000mw laser, worked out at £117.28 inc postage and insurance.

LINK

Good stuff Chris,

by the looks of it, this should be expandable should you wish to make it larger in the future.

Ask away if we can be of assistance in setting it up or using it.

Rob

Thank you, I have sent you a PM

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Hi chaps.

I have just added a 5W laser (diode) to my homemade CNC cutter. It uses G-Code and I can set the power of the laser, speed of movement and number of passes.

I have had a quick play but haven't really found a good combination of the settings yet. Full power tends to set fire to the balsa, lowering the power and adjusting the speed increases the number of passes required a lot .

It would be really useful for me (and others new to laser cutting) If people could share their laser settings

for cutting various types of balsa/ply thickness and what type (power) of laser they have.

Thanks in advance.

Geoff...

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I assembled mine a few days ago, if you have any questions or want a picture of any specific part let me know.

I have done a few test cuts using the benbox software but I have now downloaded Lightburn for the free 30 day period, it has taken me a while to get it set up on lightburn as you have to flash the firmware on the card, simple enough once I figured out how.

If you have any issues connecting it up on Benbox let me know, it took me several frustrating hours to figure it out

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Hi everyone,

Sorry for my inactivity for a couple of weeks, the rugby has meant I haven't done much. How are those of you who are trying it out getting on? Setup instructions are a little vague but I found youtube to be my friend. I think we're all pretty technically minded so you won't struggle with it. Take care not to crack any of the acrylic. Belt tensioning with the stock parts isn't very good....there are alternatives available for anyone with 3d printers, or ooznest.co.uk are pretty good.

A bit of an update on my spitfire...

image0.jpeg

I tried several ways to build the wing centre section and finally settled on this. The ribs on the plan are weak at exactly the point the undercarriage mounts. With some dense XPS and laser cut ribs I hot wire cut the centre section, which will have spars and a 2mm balsa skin. Planning to router away and install the U/C mount in the next day or so.

This opens a new problem to solve around wing joining. I think I will fix the centre section in place permanently, making the work around the fairings easier. I am thinking that I will use a tube through the middle to join the outer sections - any suggestions on getting the dihedral right with this method? Bending the tube (only possible with aluminium?) or displacing the joiner holes on the ribs?

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