Darkly Labs emblaser - affordable laser cutter - review

[Simond]

Don't cut PVC with anything hot, particularly a laser, unless you particularly welcome chlorine poisoning!

 

(And the damage it'll do to your machine)

 

Best

Simon

[nick_bastable]

use thin perspex or laser friendly materials plenty of reference in this thread as to what works

 

Nick

[Giles]

Hi Chris, welcome and good luck with it.... acrylic in its various form is a very useful material (Trotec or Rowmark, for instance).

 

It is also worth upgrading the lens to a G7 for not very much money, and up the performance a bit!

 

Assuming you're using Cut2Dlaser, I'm not quite understanding your accuracy question.

[Chriss76]

Hi Giles

 

Thanks for answer. Yes, I wil use the cut2d laser desktop

I mean about it (see link below).

I wrote about it.

https://darklylabs.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/223181847-Fine-Calibration-of-Emblaser-movement

 

Please write something more about G7 lens. How can I upgrade existing?. Where can I buy etc?. What are results after upgrading?

 

Thank You

 

Chris

 

PS

 

Now I trying to build something like this

http://www.konradus.com/forum/read.php?f=1&i=326975&t=326975&filtr=0&page=1

Edited September 3, 2017 by Chriss76

[Giles]

There is a thread all about the lens upgrade here......

 

https://darklylabs.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/115000699612-G-7-Lens-upgrade-

 

You will need to buy a spare focus ring from Darklylabs to hold the new lens, and then it screws straight on as a direct replacement. It produces a more efficient beam, so if something took three passes to cut through before, it will certainly only take two, and possibly at a higher speed. It is good news for large amounts of cutting, as it speeds the job up significantly.

[nick_bastable]

There is a thread all about the lens upgrade here......

 

https://darklylabs.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/115000699612-G-7-Lens-upgrade-

 

You will need to buy a spare focus ring from Darklylabs to hold the new lens, and then it screws straight on as a direct replacement. It produces a more efficient beam, so if something took three passes to cut through before, it will certainly only take two, and possibly at a higher speed. It is good news for large amounts of cutting, as it speeds the job up significantly.

Darkly supplied the focus ring FOC postage costs  only to me

 

Nick

[monkeysarefun]

Hmmm, I just took the focus ring off of the original lens, am I the only one who did that...?

[Giles]

.... yes..... the rest of us thought we may need to swap back over!

[monkeysarefun]

.... yes..... the rest of us thought we may need to swap back over!

 

I   waited for you early adopters to confirm if it worked before I  commited..

Edited September 4, 2017 by monkeysarefun

[Greengiant]

Just had an email from Darkly, my Emblaser 2 should be shipping next week

 

Martin

[monkeysarefun]

Just had an email from Darkly, my Emblaser 2 should be shipping next week

 

Martin

 

Christmas comes early  for you!

 

You can download Laserweb at any time form the darkly site, so if you haven't already it might be a chance to become a bit  familiar with it before the laser  arrives, so then you'll only have the hardware to work out.

 

Also, I have found that those tiny rare earth magnets are perfect for holding material down to the base, the ones that look like small camera batteries. You can get them under 2mm thick which will not get in the way of the laser head, You can get them in bulk off Ebay.

[JCL]

Hi everyone. I've been off the site for most of the year, but I've finally managed to get some time to myself and I've pulled out my Emblaser 1.

 

Over the summer I bought the G7 lens from Sanwu lasers in China (https://www.sanwulasers.org/product/lenses ). The product in the invoice was called "[Lens] 3 element / G2 / G7 Laser lenses". The picture below shows the focus ring from Domenic (he sent three over, which was very kind of him), then the new lens in the middle, and the original one on the right.

 

The new lens with holder is about 2/3 of the length of the original one, and there's a v narrow amount of thread at one end, and a wider amount of thread at the other with a gap in between. Looking at the thread on Darklylabs, it seems to be right. When fitting it to the collar, am I right thinking that the narrow thread band seen at the bottom of the new lens in the photo goes into the collar?

 

From the left, collar, new lens in holder, original lens in holder

 

Finally, I've had to buy a new computer since the last time I did this, so I downloaded Cut2D Laser Desktop 64-bit software version 8.517. Has anyone had any problems in the latest version using files created in previous versions of the software? I can get new test drawings to cut, but not drawings I created last year and I can't see what I need to do to rectify the problem.

 

cheers

 

Jason

[flubrush]

Finally, I've had to buy a new computer since the last time I did this, so I downloaded Cut2D Laser Desktop 64-bit software version 8.517. Has anyone had any problems in the latest version using files created in previous versions of the software? I can get new test drawings to cut, but not drawings I created last year and I can't see what I need to do to rectify the problem.

 

 

 

Jason,

 

I have had problems using old files on the latest Cut2D version.  When I open files created on the previous version the power settings are over-written to 100% and even if you change them to a different power output,  the .NC files created remain at 100%.   This caused me a fair bit of grief when I was trying to chase a fault with the power of my laser.  I found that I had to start a new project with the new software when the power setting and .NC file creation was fine.   I mentioned this to Domenic in email exchanges about the laser problem and he did say that I should start new projects on the latest software.

 

My problem with this was that I was using my files to keep details of power and speed settings for different materials and cuts and I've now lost that and I'll have to start over again - that's when I've got the Emblaser working properly. :-(

 

Jim.

Edited November 11, 2017 by flubrush

[JCL]

Thanks for your reply Jim. I'm afraid I've been underwhelmed with the software since the beginning. That said, I've just been over to Darkly Labs and found that there is a patch to apply. I've just applied it, but it's midnight here, so I won't check it until tomorrow. I wonder if the patch will help you at all. It's at https://darklylabs.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/115000107571-Updated-Cur2D-Laser-Post-Processor-PLS-UPDATE

 

Cheers

 

Jason

[flubrush]

 

Thanks for your reply Jim. I'm afraid I've been underwhelmed with the software since the beginning. That said, I've just been over to Darkly Labs and found that there is a patch to apply. I've just applied it, but it's midnight here, so I won't check it until tomorrow. I wonder if the patch will help you at all. It's at https://darklylabs.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/115000107571-Updated-Cur2D-Laser-Post-Processor-PLS-UPDATE

 

Cheers

 

Jason

 

 

Jason,

 

I missed that!!.  I think I assumed that the thread was about the earlier update I had downloaded and installed after I had been involved in the problems with the machine stopping,  or being very slow and hesitant with files from the new version of Cut2D laser.   I'll try a download and see how it goes.

 

I too haven't been all that happy with Cut2D Laser and VTransfer since its update and I've been tending to use saved files and Universal GCode Sender since it appears to be a more reliable method.  In fact,  at the moment I can't get Cut2D to send files direct to the Emblaser via VTransfer.  I've used Cut2D Desktop for several years with my CNC milll and it has been rock solid with no problems so I'm a bit surprised that these problems are happening with the laser version.

 

Jim.

Edited November 11, 2017 by flubrush

[Giles]

I confess that I haven't updated the software since I received the machine when they were first brought out. I have to say it works very well and i really dont want an updated version!

[flubrush]

I confess that I haven't updated the software since I received the machine when they were first brought out. I have to say it works very well and i really dont want an updated version!

 

Giles,

 

The advantage of the new version of Cut2D Laser is the ability to set the width of the laser beam and then being able to place it either on a line or on the outside or the inside of a line.  I find this a great improvement over the original version since it allows more predictable accuracy in cutting.   For example,  when I was trying to cut accurate bricks and brick corner joints with the previous version,  I found I was having to draw extra lines offset from the actual drawing lines to use as the laser cutting lines.  The new version can do this for me.

 

I think the problem is with VTransfer interacting with Cut2D Laser when sending a cut direct to the Emblaser.  In tests I did at the start of the year when I got the hesitant cutting problem with the software updates,  I found that files created with the updated Cut2D worked fine when sent to Emblaser via Universal GCode Sender.  It was only when sending direct to Emblaser that I got the hesitation and stopping during cuts.  I'm now using the updated Cut2D with UGS and that seems to work very well.

 

On another matter,  I believe I was cutting 160gm light grey card for window frames using 20mm/sec and 5% power before my Emblaser started giving problems.   These were the settings in the file I used immediately before my problem appeared.  Now the laser wont cut the card at 20mm/sec:20% setting.  I've been in contact with support and I've swapped the laser head,  head PCB and FFC and still no solution.  What settings would you use to cut 160gm card?    I'm using the original lens.  I was just about to swap to the other lens to try it out when the problem occurred.

 

Jim.

[Greengiant]

Had my Emblaser 2 nearly a week now and so far not managed to actually produce anything!

I have had frustration after frustration and banging my head against the wall trying to make some progress, is it just me?

My first issue was trying to maintain a USB connection to my Mac, eventually solved by working my way through the various USB choices and ending up with the one with the least likely name.

 

Got the calibration test done and bowled over with excitement ploughed on creating a test file.

The file was created in Illustrator CC 2017, consisting of some lines ranging in thickness from 0.1mm to 0.5mm, some squares, some circles from 3mm to 20mm and some simple text. The lines were also duplicated and outlined to form effectively long thin rectangles.

Used save as to produce an svg file, this I imported into Laserweb, or so I thought, the import box saw the file but imported nothing, got a 'this file has serious errors' message, so made a new file with just one line, used save as, went through the same import process and again nothing.

 

Thought I would try exporting the original file as a dxf file, this imported, but I got the the outlined lines and not the original lines, the squares appeared but not the circles, the text appeared but also had some formatting text included as well.

Had a thought and tried export rather than save as when creating the svg files. This imported with a message 'this file has minor issues', the original lines and outlined lines came through, although the original lines all came in at 0.1mm and not their various sizes, the squares and circles were nowhere to be seen!

 

It really should not be this difficult, looks like I have a lot of searching to find a solution, otherwise I have a very expensive doorstop and a pile of laser materials I don't need.

 

Edit

Had a nose around the Laserweb page and found a setting that needs to be changed when saving as Illustrator files into SVG, under Advanced Options, the CSS Properties need to be changed from Style Elements to Style Attributes, this I did and now the file imports into Laserweb with all the lines, although the various sized ones are now all 0.1mm, which won't really be a problem, the outlined lines are all the correct width and filled, the boxes and circles have appeared at the correct size, but the text is just a grey box. I suspect I will need to convert the text as outlines for that to come through which is fine.

Now to progress further and see if I can get it to cut something

 

Martin

Edited November 12, 2017 by Greengiant

[Greengiant]

Managed to cut some squares and circles in 3mm ply today, so another step forward.

Things I need to remember is make sure laser is ‘enabled’ before cutting and open a window and put the extration hose out!

 

Martin

Edited November 13, 2017 by Greengiant

[JCL]

I think that some of the new functionality looks like it'll be great, especially being able to take into account the kerf as Jim said, and being able to save material types. Unfortunately I'm having a number of problems with my current setup, and as soon as I get approval to post to the Vectric forum I'll put something up there. To give you an idea of the problems, here's my current list in ascending order of importance:

• I can't add/edit/delete a material. Every time I try to save, the save is aborted and a message "Tool Data is Invalid..." is shown.
• It seems the software doesn't like my Inkscape SVG files. To give it the benefit of the doubt, it could easily be Inkscape that's causing this problem.
• Sometimes the Emblaser will start cutting as soon as I click on "Save Toolpath to File", sometimes I have to click on Cut! in the Transfer program. Not a biggie, but it is inconsistent and I'm not sure what I"m doing to influence the software one way other the other.
• Sometimes the Emblaser head doesn't move, so I have to switch the laser off before it burns through the material. I think I might have this cracked, but if I have I'm not sure what I'm doing differently to before.
• Yesterday, the Transfer program crashed, taking Windows with it. It's the first time I've had the blue screen of death for years. It took the laptop 2 goes to reboot, which was a worry. Although I've got my laptop backed up, it'd be a pain to have to rebuild it. I have to admit it was at this point I switched everything off and backed away slowly.

I'm also wondering why the Vectric Transfer program is still in Beta after all this time.

 

Anyway, I'm sure all of this will get sorted out, but it is just a little frustrating trying to do anything at the moment. I might dust off my old laptop and use that for now so I can get something done.

 

cheers

 

Jason

Edited November 13, 2017 by JCL

[JCL]

Managed to cut some squares and circles in 3mm ply today, so another step forward.

Things I need to remember is make sure laser is ‘enabled’ before cutting and open a window and put the extration hose out!

 

Martin

I've taken to having the cooker hood on full blast at the moment with my Emblaser 1, which seems to be working so far. That said I'm thinking of giving one of these a go at some point.

 

 

https://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/4-in-duct-booster-fan/A-p8665267e

[flubrush]

 

I think that some of the new functionality looks like it'll be great, especially being able to take into account the kerf as Jim said, and being able to save material types. Unfortunately I'm having a number of problems with my current setup, and as soon as I get approval to post to the Vectric forum I'll put something up there. To give you an idea of the problems, here's my current list in ascending order of importance:

• I can't add/edit/delete a material. Every time I try to save, the save is aborted and a message "Tool Data is Invalid..." is shown.
• It seems the software doesn't like my Inkscape SVG files. To give it the benefit of the doubt, it could easily be Inkscape that's causing this problem.
• Sometimes the Emblaser will start cutting as soon as I click on "Save Toolpath to File", sometimes I have to click on Cut! in the Transfer program. Not a biggie, but it is inconsistent and I'm not sure what I"m doing to influence the software one way other the other.
• Sometimes the Emblaser head doesn't move, so I have to switch the laser off before it burns through the material. I think I might have this cracked, but if I have I'm not sure what I'm doing differently to before.
• Yesterday, the Transfer program crashed, taking Windows with it. It's the first time I've had the blue screen of death for years. It took the laptop 2 goes to reboot, which was a worry. Although I've got my laptop backed up, it'd be a pain to have to rebuild it. I have to admit it was at this point I switched everything off and backed away slowly.

I'm also wondering why the Vectric Transfer program is still in Beta after all this time.

 

Anyway, I'm sure all of this will get sorted out, but it is just a little frustrating trying to do anything at the moment. I might dust off my old laptop and use that for now so I can get something done.

 

cheers

 

Jason

 

 

Jason,

 

Try saving your toolpath(s) to file and sending it to Emblaser via Universal GCode Sender as I mentioned above and see if that works OK.   I suspect that it will.   Any project that I have saved to file has worked as expected when the file is used.  

 

The latest version of the post processor has the following included

 

+================================================

+                                                

+ History                                        

+                                                  

+ Who      When       What                         

+ ======== ========== ===========================

+ EdwardP  27/03/2017 Added 'dummy' retract and plunge

+                     moves which were causing zero

+                     feedrate values and stalling machine

+ EdwardP  13/06/2017 Made feed rate always output to prevent

+                     a suppressed plunge moves masking the

+                     first feedrate.

+ ======== ========== ===========================

 

...which shows that EdwardP has been chasing a problem with turning the laser on and off interacting with the feed rates to the laser head.    The plunge move - M3 in GCode - turns the laser on;  the retract move - M5 in GCode - turns the laser off.   Here's a sample from a .NC file

 

( Generated with Darkly Labs PP v2.4)

( File name: Laser Cut 11 )

( File created: Friday November 03 2017 - 03:38 PM)

( Material Size: X= 150.000, Y= 150.000)

( XY Origin for Material = Bottom Left Corner)

(    XY Origin Position  = X:0.000, Y:0.000)

N60 G21

N70 G00 X74.500 Y10.000

N80 M3 S48

N90 G1  Y100.000 F1200.0

N100 M5

N110 G00 X76.000 Y10.000

N120 M3 S46

N130 G1  Y100.000 F1200.0

N140 M5

 

...where everything looks OK with the fast move to start of cut  - G00 - then the laser turned on - M3 Sxx - then the cut command - G1 Fxx - then the laser off command - M5.   The Sxx parameter sets the laser power level where 100% = 255 and the Fxx parameter sets the feed rate in mm/min in metric setup.

 

However,  I'm not sure about the setting of the cut parameters changing for a cut.   I have certainly seen the software changing parameters in projects started on the original Cut2D laser,  where the laser power was being reset to 100%.  And if I set it back to another power level,  the file output still had the laser power at 100%.  I'm also suspicious that there have been other power setting variations and I've got a feeling that I've been led a merry dance over the past few weeks chasing my laser power problem.  I had been using direct output using VTransfer when I got the problem.   I'm now using UGS and checking the .NC files to ensure that the power setting is what I had set.   I'm also going to have to find out all my power,  feed and number of cut settings again since I was relying on the Vectric CRV files storing the, :-)

 

Jim.

[JCL]

Hi Jim

 

Cheers for that. I was trying to do it all the way I imagined it was designed and without using the GCode sender, but I think you're right, I'll have another go at the weekend with that and see how I get on.

[JCL]

 

Thanks for your reply Jim. I'm afraid I've been underwhelmed with the software since the beginning. That said, I've just been over to Darkly Labs and found that there is a patch to apply. I've just applied it, but it's midnight here, so I won't check it until tomorrow. I wonder if the patch will help you at all. It's at https://darklylabs.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/115000107571-Updated-Cur2D-Laser-Post-Processor-PLS-UPDATE

 

Cheers

 

Jason

 

 

 

I've had a chance to check the update and the Emblaser 1 is working correctly now, which is good news. I've also worked out that, currently, I can only automatically send a file to the Emblaser and have it start automatically once in a session, after that I have to press the Cut It! button on the transfer program. Now I know this is the case it's fine, so I'll just get on with it. The new lens is on the Emblaser, but, erm, I didn't take it into account and forgot to change the settings. Lets just say that it really does cut like a knife through butter for me, I'm v impressed.

 

Finally, I've been onto the Darkly Labs site, and there's a chance we might get a choice of software to use on the Emblaser 1 as they are looking to make it compatible with Laserweb by the end of the year. Just need to read up on Laserweb now and see what it's all about.

[monkeysarefun]

I've had a chance to check the update and the Emblaser 1 is working correctly now, which is good news. I've also worked out that, currently, I can only automatically send a file to the Emblaser and have it start automatically once in a session, after that I have to press the Cut It! button on the transfer program. Now I know this is the case it's fine, so I'll just get on with it. The new lens is on the Emblaser, but, erm, I didn't take it into account and forgot to change the settings. Lets just say that it really does cut like a knife through butter for me, I'm v impressed.

 

Finally, I've been onto the Darkly Labs site, and there's a chance we might get a choice of software to use on the Emblaser 1 as they are looking to make it compatible with Laserweb by the end of the year. Just need to read up on Laserweb now and see what it's all about.

 

Laserweb is very underwhelming at the moment, especially compared with the Cut2D product the Emblaser uses. It is basically just a gcode sender that you plug your required laser speed. power values etc into. It does a good job engraving greyscale images to get a 2.5D effect but for just plain cutting out stuff and engraving bricks and so on  it sux a fair bit.