Darkly Labs emblaser - affordable laser cutter - review

[flubrush]

Bill,

 

I got some laserable 0.8mm and 1.5mm ply last week from Kitronic

 

https://www.kitronik.co.uk/materials/laser-plywood.html

 

But I have succumbed to the flu bug and I'm just about becoming human again. :-) So I'll try and get a test or two done over the next day or two to see if  their stuff is truly laserable.

 

Jim.

[bill badger]

 

life has restricted my modelling somewhat how ever 0.8mm ply from this source has been reliable in the past 

 

Nick

Thanks for that - just ordered a sheet to try.

[Giles]

I get my ply (0.8mm and 1mm) from Hobarts laser, which seems to be very good stuff. Certainly it always cuts well and reliably.

[nick_bastable]

managed to finally get round to installing  Lightburn today  initial tests have been encouraging and hopeful will avoid the stalled job syndrome ( we shall see )  for info W7 dedicated PC no problems encountered    rendering the job is so much quicker

 

Nick

[flubrush]

Bill,

 

I got some laserable 0.8mm and 1.5mm ply last week from Kitronic

 

https://www.kitronik.co.uk/materials/laser-plywood.html

 

But I have succumbed to the flu bug and I'm just about becoming human again. :-) So I'll try and get a test or two done over the next day or two to see if  their stuff is truly laserable.

 

Well,  I got things set up today and did some test cuts on the ply from Kitronic.

 

With the 0.8mm ply,  a 4W diode at 90% power and the original lens,  the ply cut through with 7 passes at 12mm/sec or 4 passes at 8mm/sec.

With the 1.5mm ply,  it cut through after 6 passes at 4mm/sec or 4 passes at 2mm/sec.

 

I've gone back onto the original lens primarily since it can give me a smaller kerf than the G7 lens.  I've also been getting variable results with the G7 (the second one I got - the first didn't seem any improvement on the original Emblaser supplied lens.)

 

Jim.

[1965Paul]

Hi All
 
Proud, but confused recent owner of an 4W A3 Emblaser 1 here. I blame the contributors on here for their fantastic skills for HAVING to buy one. I have a long way to go to match the work on display but was making some progress. An early test piece, 2.5mm MDF approx. 7cm diameter.

 

 

I started off cutting fairly well, but over last few days, cannot cut through 2mm MDF, even after 12 passes, 100% and 10mm/sec. Previously I was able to get through in 7-8 passes, same setting, and same piece of mdf!. After trying, then trying again, and again for luck to focus, I took the lens off to check if was dirty, seemed fairly clean as had only cut for less than 1 hour. I checked the diode hole (if that's the right terminology??) and there appears to be something covering part of it. 

 

Have checked all dip switches in the 1 position to give max power, and workpiece is supported off a large ceramic tile by some washers approx. 2-3mm thick to make sure bottom of workpiece not in contact with base. I have ringed the offending area. I don't know if this is normal, or I have some further problems. I have also posted on the DarklyLabs support pages, but don't think they can take photos. Any advice greatly appreciated

 

thanks in advance, and kind regards

 

Paul

[bill badger]

Well,  I got things set up today and did some test cuts on the ply from Kitronic.

 

With the 0.8mm ply,  a 4W diode at 90% power and the original lens,  the ply cut through with 7 passes at 12mm/sec or 4 passes at 8mm/sec.

With the 1.5mm ply,  it cut through after 6 passes at 4mm/sec or 4 passes at 2mm/sec.

 

I've gone back onto the original lens primarily since it can give me a smaller kerf than the G7 lens.  I've also been getting variable results with the G7 (the second one I got - the first didn't seem any improvement on the original Emblaser supplied lens.)

 

Jim.

 

Thanks for the info. I have various sheets of plywood on order from the suppliers mentioned above and will give them a go. If I get no joy with these, I'll try the MDF route for structural items and thin card for detail overlays. 

[Giles]

Just for comparison, I get through 0.8mm ply (Hobarts) in a single pass at 100%.

2mm MDF (Hobarts again) in 3 passes - to be safe - actually 2 passes nearly all the time. I do use the G7 lens.

[flubrush]

Just for comparison, I get through 0.8mm ply (Hobarts) in a single pass at 100%.

2mm MDF (Hobarts again) in 3 passes - to be safe - actually 2 passes nearly all the time. I do use the G7 lens.

 

Giles,

 

What speeds of cut do you use in these cases?

 

Jim.

[Greengiant]

Paul, you can post photos on the Darkly forum, it is not immediately obvious, you hover a mouse at the top of your message and another row of grey icons will appear, one of which will be for photos, can't remember which one, been a couple of months since I last did it.

Looking at your photo, are you sure you are getting a good uninterupted beam?

 

Martin

[1965Paul]

Paul, you can post photos on the Darkly forum, it is not immediately obvious, you hover a mouse at the top of your message and another row of grey icons will appear, one of which will be for photos, can't remember which one, been a couple of months since I last did it.

Looking at your photo, are you sure you are getting a good uninterupted beam?

 

Martin

Hi Martin

 

I got a response from Darkly with some suggestions on how to post a pic - I can only echo what others have said about their standards of customer support, I can think of many organisations that could learn a lot from them. Have managed to post same pic as above post on Darkly community and wait for their response.

 

I don't think I am getting an uninterrupted beam, certainly seems oval when very large and clearly out of focus, but difficult to tell when I am getting a far smaller beam, tried looking at in a darkened room and via the "live" photo from an IPad, but still can't be certain.

 

thanks for taking the time to respond.

 

kind regards

 

Paul

[Giles]

In the region on 6mm per second.

 

Being a diode laser, the beam is of course actually rectangular, rather than the circular beam that you would expect.

[flubrush]

In the region on 6mm per second.

 

Being a diode laser, the beam is of course actually rectangular, rather than the circular beam that you would expect.

 

Giles,

 

Thanks for that.  That gives me parameters to measure against.

 

I've not quite got the problem that others have as noted on the current thread on the Darkly Support forum but I do suffer from variation in performance which can be very annoying.  I recut a set of sides for a building with a lot of brick interlace at the corners using the previously used settings, only to find that the laser had not cut through sufficiently to allow the pieces to be removed from the sheet without damage.  So everything was a write-off and I found that I needed another three passes (nine instead of six) to now get a clean cutout.

 

Jim.

[1965Paul]

Hi

 

thanks for the responses to my earlier post #1119. I wasn't aware that the beam wasn't round, so I have learnt something. Have continued to play with focus but no improvement in cutting performance on MDF. I have looked at all the connections and can't see any darker marks or burning. I then ran a simple test with a 31mm diameter circle on an old piece of cereal card, 10mm/sec, 1 pass, 4 watt laser. I know the focus isn't where it needs to be, but I was quite surprised by the output - expecting a solid burn line, not cutting in/out as below

 

 

Seems to me to indicate an intermittent beam?  Has anyone got any ideas that can help me fix this

 

thanks in advance

 

 

Paul

[Giles]

That is a surprise.... Certainly an intermittent beam - which it shouldn't be. Try the test piece/program from Darklylabs, which we know (ish) doesn't have any software flaws.... I.e, that should cut without interruption.

 

Also, it would appear that the laser is losing registration. Check that your sideways are clean and greased (therefore moving smoothly and readily) and that your belt tensions are correct.

[nick_bastable]

had a play with Lightburn today it does  not like dxf  and crashes on import however same file saved as pdf works.....................

 

slowly recovering some mojo there may be a giant pound coin shot soon 

 

Nick

[flubrush]

had a play with Lightburn today it does  not like dxf  and crashes on import however same file saved as pdf works...

 

 

Nick,

 

Did you try earlier versions of DXF if your program which produces the DXF can do that?   I tend to use the R12 version of DXF since most programs seem happy with it and my version of AutoCAD LT and Draftsight will export R12 DXF.  I think a lot of programs have problems trying to keep up with the latest version of DXF from AutoCAD.

 

Jim.

[JCL]

Good evening everyone, I found this in my inbox this morning. If you have the Vectric software I thought you might find it interesting.

 

 

 

 

 

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[flubrush]

 

Good evening everyone, I found this in my inbox this morning. If you have the Vectric software I thought you might find it interesting.

 

 

 

 

 

I was wondering if V9 would be appearing for Cut2D laser.     I upgraded my Cut2D Desktop for my CNC machine to V9 a few months ago.  I'll go and have a look at upgrading since I'm used to working with Vectric Cut2D and would prefer to stay with Cut2D laser if the V9 upgrade sorts out some of the existing bugs.

 

Jim.

[1965Paul]

Hi 

 

Many thanks to all who have posted to offer suggestions to get my emblaser 1 in better order. Really appreciate the time to post. Ran the darkly labs calibration file as Giles suggested, looks fine APART from first 1-2" of the path, tried again on plain circles and squares (both drawn in Cut2dlaser and imported as .dxf from inkscape), and they also showed no impression over first 1-2" of path. This is repeatable from any feed speed from 5-20mm/sc. The laser head appears to follow the full path and the laser seems to be firing?

 

Tried to refocus (again) yesterday, dot looks to be getting smaller, right up to the point where the lens fall out!, With the lens just screwed in, seems to be a significant light spill around the laser.

 

 

Can't recall this from earlier attempts to focus, is this normal.

 

Tried to cut through 2mm mdf, yesterday 15 passes @ 5mm, 100% on 4 watt didn't cut through, couldn't seem anything on the reverse, so clearly not on top form, (that's both me and the emblaser, in case you were wondering)

 

As always, appreciate any help, just hoping the laser head isn't knackered; that may be a very expensive mistake.  

 

On another matter, I upgraded to Cut2dLaser 9.0, and new Vtransfer. The upgrade was painless on Windows 10 laptop, don't know what's going on under the bonnet, but only difference I can find in operation is that cutting doesn't start automatically when sent to the machine, need to trigger the cut in Vtransfer when you get the "ToolPath Loaded" info box.  For me, that's good, its a hard stop to allow me to check the laser is enabled and the workpiece is where I want it.

 

kind regards

 

 

 

Paul

 

[flubrush]

Hi 

 

Many thanks to all who have posted to offer suggestions to get my emblaser 1 in better order. Really appreciate the time to post. Ran the darkly labs calibration file as Giles suggested, looks fine APART from first 1-2" of the path, tried again on plain circles and squares (both drawn in Cut2dlaser and imported as .dxf from inkscape), and they also showed no impression over first 1-2" of path. This is repeatable from any feed speed from 5-20mm/sc. The laser head appears to follow the full path and the laser seems to be firing?

 

Tried to refocus (again) yesterday, dot looks to be getting smaller, right up to the point where the lens fall out!, With the lens just screwed in, seems to be a significant light spill around the laser.

 

IMG_0139crp.jpg

 

Can't recall this from earlier attempts to focus, is this normal.

 

Tried to cut through 2mm mdf, yesterday 15 passes @ 5mm, 100% on 4 watt didn't cut through, couldn't seem anything on the reverse, so clearly not on top form, (that's both me and the emblaser, in case you were wondering)

 

As always, appreciate any help, just hoping the laser head isn't knackered; that may be a very expensive mistake.  

 

On another matter, I upgraded to Cut2dLaser 9.0, and new Vtransfer. The upgrade was painless on Windows 10 laptop, don't know what's going on under the bonnet, but only difference I can find in operation is that cutting doesn't start automatically when sent to the machine, need to trigger the cut in Vtransfer when you get the "ToolPath Loaded" info box.  For me, that's good, its a hard stop to allow me to check the laser is enabled and the workpiece is where I want it.

 Paul,

 

Is it possible to see the .nc file which is used when you get the problems cutting a circle.  When it keeps happening in the same place after you changing parameters,  there has to be a constant somewhere and that could be in the Gcode - for whatever reason might cause that.

 

I've also been working with the upgraded Cut2D laser V9 and it seems to work well although it refused to produce a tool path for a brick etch which had worked OK in earlier versions.  It looks as though they might have put a bit more error checking in their code generation but with thousands of bricks in the etch,  I didn't feel like checking every one to find out which one might be causing the problem. :-)

 

The main improvements in Cut2D V9 Laser would appear to be in the drawing facilities - much the same as in the CNC Desktop version.  There is a video about the new Cut2D Desktop CNC version which shows the added drawing facilities which look to be the same in the new laser version.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMFClBMD2x8

 

But they have tightened up the generation of tool paths and they are now quite tightly integrated with the tool database.  The kerf width setting has disappeared from the tool path dialogue box and you can only set it in the tool database settings.   I found the same as you with the use of VTransfer and sending direct to the cutter,  which I prefer as well.   One thing I noted was that the basic preferences for VTransfer for A4 set the X width to 305 when it should be 300.   So if your cutter goes to an X setting between 0 and 4,  it hits the left hand end X end stop with a bit of a bang.  :-(    It was the same in the previous version of VTransfer.   The X and Y defaults can be reset in "File/Settings".

 

On your cutting through problems,  I've been having similar concerns but nowhere near as problematic as you.  I've now got my 4W cutter cutting cleanly through 1.5mm MDF at 10mm/sec and 90% power with four passes but it was having difficulties cutting cleanly at 16mm/sec at 90% and nine or ten passes.  Pro rata,  with the speed difference,  the 16mm/sec cuts should have been achieved with six or seven passes.   I am suspecting some form of charring which is preventing clean cutting at the higher speeds.   So you might try dropping you cutting speed and see if your situation improves.   I'm using the MDF I get from Maple Street and I was thinking about trying some from another source to see if the problem is repeatable.   For the above cuts I'm back to using the original lens since both of the higher efficiency lenses I got don't seem to provide much improvement and the original lens gives me a smaller kerf width.

 

Jim.

Edited April 2, 2018 by flubrush

[1965Paul]

 Paul,

 

Is it possible to see the .nc file which is used when you get the problems cutting a circle.  When it keeps happening in the same place after you changing parameters,  there has to be a constant somewhere and that could be in the Gcode - for whatever reason might cause that.

 

I've also been working with the upgraded Cut2D laser V9 and it seems to work well although it refused to produce a tool path for a brick etch which had worked OK in earlier versions.  It looks as though they might have put a bit more error checking in their code generation but with thousands of bricks in the etch,  I didn't feel like checking every one to find out which one might be causing the problem. :-)

 

The main improvements in Cut2D V9 Laser would appear to be in the drawing facilities - much the same as in the CNC Desktop version.  There is a video about the new Cut2D Desktop CNC version which shows the added drawing facilities which look to be the same in the new laser version.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMFClBMD2x8

 

But they have tightened up the generation of tool paths and they are now quite tightly integrated with the tool database.  The kerf width setting has disappeared from the tool path dialogue box and you can only set it in the tool database settings.   I found the same as you with the use of VTransfer and sending direct to the cutter,  which I prefer as well.   One thing I noted was that the basic preferences for VTransfer for A4 set the X width to 305 when it should be 300.   So if your cutter goes to an X setting between 0 and 4,  it hits the left hand end X end stop with a bit of a bang.  :-(    It was the same in the previous version of VTransfer.   The X and Y defaults can be reset in "File/Settings".

 

On your cutting through problems,  I've been having similar concerns but nowhere near as problematic as you.  I've now got my 4W cutter cutting cleanly through 1.5mm MDF at 10mm/sec and 90% power with four passes but it was having difficulties cutting cleanly at 16mm/sec at 90% and nine or ten passes.  Pro rata,  with the speed difference,  the 16mm/sec cuts should have been achieved with six or seven passes.   I am suspecting some form of charring which is preventing clean cutting at the higher speeds.   So you might try dropping you cutting speed and see if your situation improves.   I'm using the MDF I get from Maple Street and I was thinking about trying some from another source to see if the problem is repeatable.   For the above cuts I'm back to using the original lens since both of the higher efficiency lenses I got don't seem to provide much improvement and the original lens gives me a smaller kerf width.

 

Jim.

 

Jim

 

thanks for such a prompt response. Just rerun another test, and the same result.... A picture of the result on copy paper is attached, 100%, 10mm/sec, cant upload .nc file, so have sent a pm. 

 

 

I am afraid Apple are up to their normal tricks, the picture is rotated 90^o anticlockwise, the cutting mats are at the Bottom of the emblaser (away from the control panel)

 

really appreciate the support.

 

regards

 

 

Paul

[Giles]

I suppose there is a outside chance the lense is upside down...? However, regarding the intermittent cutting, I'm afraid I'm at a loss - software is really not my thing!

 

Domenic at Darkly Labs is extremely helpful when it comes to people with problems though - we'll worth getting in touch with him.

[flubrush]

Paul,

 

I got the file and had a quick look at it and it looks fine.  I thought it might have somehow got multiple laser ON/OFF commands but there was just one "ON" (M3 S255 (100%)) at the start of the file and two M5s (OFF) at the end.  So the laser should come on continuously for the whole of the cut of the circle.   One thing I did notice is that the file consists of a series of short chords to draw the circle using the G1 command,  and there are 843 lines in the file.    This is the way that your machine controller actually generates a curved path but the GCode to drive it is usually a lot more efficient and uses the G2 or G3 codes to describe the circle for the controller. 

 

I drew the same circle in Cut2D and generated a file and that used the G2 code and contained only 15 lines. :-)   It might be worth drawing the circle in Cut2D and see if that works any differently when cutting the circle in the Emblaser.   You can view .nc files in a simple word processor like Notepad or Wordpad - they are basic text files - and it gives you a chance to check the line count of the files and whether G1 codes (lots of lines) or G2 codes (much fewer lines) have been used.   If it cuts OK with the G2 code then there might be a wee bug in the Emblaser firmware which doesn't like circles described as very short chords in GCode.  But I suspect that your fault will be elsewhere since a lot of graphics programs use short chords to describe circles and I think such a fault would have been reported already.

 

Another possibility might be a poor contact with the flexible cable which gives a poor connection when the laser head is in a certain position.  If you cut the circle and the gap is still there,  try cutting again and persuading the cable to adopt a different loop and see if the fault is still there.

 

Jim.

Edited April 2, 2018 by flubrush

[alangdance]

Eblaster 2

 

Has anybody had any issues with the mirrors. I had one fall out today while cleaning the lens

Tried refitting but laser not working at all now. Not sure of correct position so more than likely have not put back correctly.

The more  I use the machine the more I wish I had not brought one. Not a happy bunny at the moment.

 

Alan