Greengiant Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 they will not deliver until you have paid any duties etc Nick They delivered mine a month before billing me the duties. Martin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
flubrush Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 I think I remember having to pay the VAT, etc., before my Emblaser 1 was delivered. Jim. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyper Aus Posted December 14, 2017 Share Posted December 14, 2017 Wow, things going FROM Australia obviously move faster than things coming TO Australia. MY dubious record is 9 months for a book to get here from a European Amazon reseller. Ironically, the book was 'The Fatal Shore' an account of the early settlement of Australia, which I was not able to buy in hardback down here... Obviously sent via tall ship...... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted December 14, 2017 Share Posted December 14, 2017 Or perhaps rowing boat... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alangdance Posted December 14, 2017 Share Posted December 14, 2017 I think total cost was about £2300 with extras. Alan Maybe due to the exchange rate now. Alan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alangdance Posted December 15, 2017 Share Posted December 15, 2017 Pick up emblaster 2 tonight. Will start having a play tomorrow once setup. I have a couple of questions:- What is best for fire protection (blanket,etc) Can anybody recommend a supplier of 3.6mm (or close) oak hardwood panel. Alan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold JCL Posted December 16, 2017 RMweb Gold Share Posted December 16, 2017 I don't know about the best, but I have a blanket in arm's reach, and I make sure that the machine isn't in front of the socket. I know I had a grumble about Cut2D, but it's settle down now. It hasn't crashed Windows 10 for a while, and the issues have either gone away, or have been fixed by Charlotte at Vectric. The functionality is a lot better than when I was using it last winter, and I'm appreciating the fact I can save my settings now for each material and type of cut. To get back into things properly I'm revisiting a project I previously did with the Silhouette cutter and styrene which is the GCR Barnum. This time I'm using 1mm and 1.5mm mdf and the tab and slot construction where possible to keep everything square. The photo below is the current prototype. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alangdance Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 I have tried to run a calibration for the first time but I am not getting any engraving on the calibration card.I have done the calibration as stated in the manual.I can see the beam and it follows the correct path as shown in setup.But after about 6 tries I am not sure hat to do next Any help would be most grateful Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeysarefun Posted December 16, 2017 Author Share Posted December 16, 2017 I have tried to run a calibration for the first time but I am not getting any engraving on the calibration card. I have done the calibration as stated in the manual. I can see the beam and it follows the correct path as shown in setup. But after about 6 tries I am not sure hat to do next Any help would be most grateful Apologies if this is way too basic, but its best to start from the beginning. You have placed the card in the centre of the laser bed, and when you press the laser button on the right hand front of the emblaser body it glows red? Does the laser light come on and does it do the calibration job (ie the laserhead moves around and appears to be trying to compete the task?) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alangdance Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 yes it glows red does the full movement but does not engrave the calibration ines Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greengiant Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 I have tried to run a calibration for the first time but I am not getting any engraving on the calibration card. I have done the calibration as stated in the manual. I can see the beam and it follows the correct path as shown in setup. But after about 6 tries I am not sure hat to do next Any help would be most grateful When you say you see the beam, what actually do you see? There should be a very intense very small light surrounded by a lighter halo of light. If you do not see a fine point and you have the air assist nozzle on, I will have money on the nozzle is not aligned properly, it is not easy to align until you get the hang of it. To rule out the nozzle, remove it and run the test again. When you remove the nozzle have a look inside, if you see some light grey charing the lazer has been hitting the nozzle and not passing through the hole correctly. Martin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alangdance Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 Thanks Martin Just managed to get it working . It was the nozzle .It does require some playing around with to get it central. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greengiant Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 Thanks Martin Just managed to get it working . It was the nozzle .It does require some playing around with to get it central. Yes been there, got the T-shirt! Glad you are up and running. Took me a while to get it settled down and work out what is going on. I have been in contact with Darkly about having something in the new software to help in the whole line up issue. The main problem is with the whole nozzle being rubber and not a very precise location method, would be better to have a solid metal or plastic main nozzle with just a small rubber tip. My first solution was to make the hole larger, the downside is the air assist pressure is reduced, lucky they sent two nozzles with my machine. Martin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alangdance Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 Had at good play yesterday and had some good results for first time use but can anbody recommended settings for ply and mdf cutting and engraving. I am using the default settings in Laser web at the moment. Will now need to get my head round inkscape to come up wit h better designs. Alan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeysarefun Posted December 17, 2017 Author Share Posted December 17, 2017 Had at good play yesterday and had some good results for first time use but can anbody recommended settings for ply and mdf cutting and engraving. I am using the default settings in Laser web at the moment. Will now need to get my head round inkscape to come up wit h better designs. Alan Glad you got a good start. Ply is very variable, rubbish ply like what is sold here at Bunnings can be very frustrating, the decent laser ply (3mm) should be able to be cut in 2 passes at 100% at 6mm/sec. I always use 100% power, unless its delicate paper or something, and adjust the speed or number of passes. When using MDF clean the lens and nozzle with an Isopropyl wipe after every job. I learned pretty much all I needed to know about Inkscape from these two threads by Mike Trice and Jason, a Canadian Border Collie http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/80563-introduction-to-using-inkscape-to-produce-cutting-files/ http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/79025-a-guide-to-using-the-silhouette-cameo-cutter/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alangdance Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 I have found that I need 4 passes at that setting. I buy my ply from Hobarts so believe it decent. Is there a setting I needd to add to make it cut at 2 passes. Default setting say 2 passes. Alan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greengiant Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 (edited) Alan, I have been doing a lot with 2mm MDF at the moment, to cut through I have found 100% power, 4 passes, start height 11mm (includes the 10mm mat) at a speed of 200mm/min. Etching I used the inbuilt material library settings for 3mm MDF fill, laser width 0.15, angle 45 degrees, start height 12mm and a speed of 2000mm/min. Brick courses I use a cut rather than etch so I get a groove to take the mortar paint. For this I found 80% power, 1 pass, start height 12mm at 400mm/min. Cannot temember my ply settings, not with my log book to check. I do find it useful to have a basic 20mm square file and run various tests which I log into a spreadsheet as I go, from this I will create my definitive settings reference. What I have found frustrating is you can cut a job at 4 passes and find some parts dropping out on the third pass, run it again at 3 passes and it does not cut right through. From my cuts so far I have noticed cut lines near each other take more passes, I think this could be something to do with localised heating up of the area affecting the adhesive, so when it comes to do the next nearest cut the material properties have changed, I could be wrong though. Rest assured, whatever settings work for you, someone else will find half the number of passes and twice the speed works for them! Basically it is down to the batch of material you have, but even then, on the same sheet some areas will cut through, some won't, I ran a job yesterday which took nearly nine hours (will post a pic later), consisting of very similar shapes, some of which cut through, some didn't, so it will be out with the piercing saw this afternoon to finish the job properly. Probably my own fault, I reduced the number of passes from 4 to 3 and reduced the speed thinking this may work. Martin Edited December 17, 2017 by Greengiant Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alangdance Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 Thanks Martin thats a great help. Could you explain the following in Laserweb . Have not been able to find much info on the web anywhere, Laser Fill Path Laser Raster Merge Alan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greengiant Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 (edited) Thanks Martin thats a great help. Could you explain the following in Laserweb . Have not been able to find much info on the web anywhere, Laser Fill Path Laser Raster Merge Alan From my understanding laser fill gives an even colour fill to a predifined vector area by effectively cutting a series of closely spaced parallel lines, set at whatever angle you wish. You may want to change the default horizontal setting, I tend to go for 45 degrees, but if you had a diamond shape to fill, you may prefer horizontal. Set up a small shape and experiment with changing the line spacing and angles, start at 0.15mm and increase sligthly, you should notice, even at 0.2mm spacing, you start to see the laser lines. Wider spaced lines can be handy to give you a different affect.Raster is really for greyscale images, i.e. photos, which I believe probably turns a photo into a bitmap image the laser understands, I could be wrong. My background is graphics and print, so converting my understanding from print into CNC machine thinking has been my first hurdle. Like you I found it difficult finding basic information on the whole process, it is out there, just not always easy to find. I probably learnt more on this forum than the Darkly one. The new software coming out in the New Year may well give us all the tools and a better understanding on what can be done. Above all, keep asking and sharing here. Martin Edited December 17, 2017 by Greengiant Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greengiant Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 Thanks Martin thats a great help. Could you explain the following in Laserweb . Have not been able to find much info on the web anywhere, Laser Fill Path Laser Raster Merge Alan Alan, When I was researching Laserweb settings I did find a website, from which I downloaded the photos and text and made my own reference manaul as a PDF. Basically it has all the screens with a description of what each setting is about. I can let you have a copy if it would be of help. Martin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeysarefun Posted December 17, 2017 Author Share Posted December 17, 2017 Laserweb tries to be a litle bit intuitive by only giving you the options that work with the file you have imported. So for instance if it is a raster file, ie jpeg or bitmap - you will only get the raster options and depending on the subsequent settings you choose, either allowing you to do photo engraving: Or - if you play around with the settings to do Laser Engraving: If you import an svg, dwg file or whatever from Inkscape, autocad and so on you will get the option to laser cut it: I think laser cut fil will do a fill on an svg or dwg file such as this but then go around the edge to clean it up. This first one is a raster only without edge cleanup: And here it is with the cut fill option, the edge is less pixelated: This creates a pocket that can be filled with resin or metallic powders and polished: I'm not sure what the raster merge is, I assume that you can combine multiple raster files into one job or something? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alangdance Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 Thanks again Martin. Have been trying to cut some names out in joined up writing for my daughter has taken a long time to do in inkscape am sure there is a quicker way. Any idears Alan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alangdance Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 Hi Martin That pdf would be great. Alan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greengiant Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 Hi Martin That pdf would be great. Alan Alan, PM sent hopefully the PDF comes through. There are small errors on the website but I corrected those as I went along making the PDF. In hindsight I should have kept notes of what I corrected and sent to Darkly/Laserweb so they could do the same. Martin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greengiant Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 (edited) I have been cutting out some brick walling that gradually increases height for about 700mm then levels off. This I broke down into sections of pillars and brick wall, all of which interlock. This is the prototype test piece. The main artwork I rejigged to fit on one and half sheets. This is the first sheet which took nearly 9 hours to cut. In future I will break things down into smaller jobs, having said that, the new software coming out is supposed to have a feature that tells you how long the cut will take, a feature I will find very useful when organising machine time. Foolishly I did not use my proven 4 cuts, but tried 3 cuts at a slower speed, as you will see, it did not always go right through! As an aside, is it only me who seems to have lost the 'preview post' button until after I have posted? Martin Edited December 17, 2017 by Greengiant 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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