Darkly Labs emblaser - affordable laser cutter - review

[scanman]

G'day Ian,

 

This is what my PCB looks like - and you can see the dip switches there.

dipswitches.jpg

The fact mine says Rev -1 and you say yours says Version 2 might iindicate that they have updated things and removed them. Which makes sense since I don't imagine very many 3W lasers are sold, and the 4 Watt doesn't need its power input limited so they are no longer necessary, I reckon!

 

On a different note while I'm here, has any body tried out the picsense and picsender photo engraving software from the links on the darklylabs site? I downloaded it on Friday but so far its rather frustrating and all I've managed so far is for the laser to sit in one spot and burn a little hole, until I cancel the programme at which point the software loses connectivity with the laser and only a laptop reboot gets it back. If anyone HAS managed to get it going I'd love some tips!

 

I'll carry on again today, the weather is good for nothing else here this weekend, though if the rain keeps up I might have to get started on that ark. Bright note, my house now has water views.

Chris - a picture is worth a thousand words - and (Having nipped up the garden to the workshop) I can conform they are still there - just my c,,p eyesight.  And in the morning

i'll nip back up and reset them all to the 'on' position....  Hope the weather improves - although its giving our rugby team a couple more days to get over the jet-lag!!!

 

Cheers mate- should be able to try cutting in the morning

 

Regs

 

Ian

[monkeysarefun]

No worries Ian,

 

The inset picture shows them as they come - you just need to slide switch 1 and 4 up to match the others.

[Giles]

I'm afraid we've not tried any on the picture software yet - we thought we might nearer Christmas - for presents...... I've had the laser do a similar trick halfway through 'fill' jobs though, which is infuriating.

[monkeysarefun]

Thanks Giles, in between considering if I should move my laser to higher ground I trawled the archives of the darklylabs forum and discovered you need to change a Z to an S in one of the many obscure fields of the picsense configuration screen. That software is definitely CNC nerd centric!

 

That fixes the 'stay in one spot' problem, now I have to figure out how to let it know where 0,0 physically is because when it starts the laser head apparently tries to go a foot or so beyond the physical start point of the emblaser and there is a worrying 5 seconds or so  of the screeching sound of slipping belts as it  jams up against the chassis.

Edited June 5, 2016 by monkeysarefun

[scanman]

No worries Ian,

 

The inset picture shows them as they come - you just need to slide switch 1 and 4 up to match the others.

Hi Chris

 

Funnily enough I've just opened an 'addendum' to the downloaded instructions. A single page showing the switch positions for the 4w version... DOHH!

 

Regards

 

Ian

[JCL]

Up and running again. I was just wondering a couple of things. Does anyone have a hard time getting cuts to line up if you have to run a cutting job twice? Sometimes mine might be off by a few mm.

 

The other thing is, I'm still grappling with attempting to cut brick ends for dovetailing corners. I'm sure it's the settings I'm using, but the brick ends turn to ash. The settings are 5mm/sec, 100%, 5 passes - a lot of passes I know, but fewer passes and the laser doesn't cut through the material. The material is 1.3mm chipboard which apparently is the same as cardboard except that it has more glue.

 

My wife is heading over to England in a couple of weeks, so I'm going to see if she can bring back some of that Laserable plastic. Getting Laserable consumables over here is pretty difficult!

 

Cheers

 

Jason

[nick_bastable]

Up and running again. I was just wondering a couple of things. Does anyone have a hard time getting cuts to line up if you have to run a cutting job twice? Sometimes mine might be off by a few mm.

 

The other thing is, I'm still grappling with attempting to cut brick ends for dovetailing corners. I'm sure it's the settings I'm using, but the brick ends turn to ash. The settings are 5mm/sec, 100%, 5 passes - a lot of passes I know, but fewer passes and the laser doesn't cut through the material. The material is 1.3mm chipboard which apparently is the same as cardboard except that it has more glue.

 

My wife is heading over to England in a couple of weeks, so I'm going to see if she can bring back some of that Laserable plastic. Getting Laserable consumables over here is pretty difficult!

 

Cheers

 

Jason

try taping the work down so it can not move out of register also I rehome if I multicut, mdf probably has too much glue to laser try interior ply or card as a guide the ply I use 0.8mm cuts 5 passes 100%  11mm 

 

Nick

[Giles]

I take it that you're trying to completely re-run the job again, and not getting the registration by a couple of mil?

 

That does seem rather a lot, although its relying on the micro switches for that. I don't think I've ever re-run a job, as I've always presumed it won't be accurate enough.

 

My instinct is that your charring problem is fundamental to the material itself, and that chipboard may very well not lend itself to lasering. Certainly when I bought some ply that was not quite up to laser quality it charred very badly, and of course it was the glue. Charring also tends to be exacerbated by slow cutting speeds. By and large, I tend to cut wood at a minimum speed of 10 mm / sec, and increase the number of passes in order to keep charring to a minimum. This is my preference, but I dare say others do it differently!

I'm also assuming you've got your laser finely focussed.

 

When I bought Trotec, it came in 1200 X 600 sheets, although the do also provide a cutting service (for which I'm sure there's some sort of charge!)

[JCL]

Hi Nick, even taped down it's not quite there sometimes. It's my own fault, I wish that the software would default to run all of the different cut types in one go, that is, "Output all visible toolpaths for file" was automatically ticked. At the moment it defaults to the last one(?) only, and you have to tick a box to output everything. Sometimes I'm so busy sorting everything out I forget to tick the box. And after a cut like the one below its a bit disappointing to only get the score and not the cut. That said of course, I haven't lost the use of my hands, so a craft knife did the job for this piece.



Hi Giles. I forgot about glue causing a problem. And I'll try a higher speed with more passes until I've used this card up. Next time in in Victoria I'm going to try something called butterboard. Apparently architects use it and it's 1mm thick.

On the upside, a miss cut (I cut the bricks far too deeply) gives me a chance to test paint colours. My old part of the world had orange bricks, and Vallejo light orange and orange brown wash with a dry rush of burnt umber on the white primer on the left are looking favourite at the moment.



Cheers

Jason

Edited June 6, 2016 by JCL

[nick_bastable]

Jason

 

brickwork looks very good painted  very industrial decay look about it.

 

It is odd about the registration,  as I on the 2mm stuff etch first card & ply from one file reload a 2nd file to then cut only time I had registration problems was when the card moved  I even then flip out some bits to do reverse etching from a 3rd without obvious registration issues.  However I shutdown the Vtransfer part each time allow it to relaunch  and rehome the head perhaps this is different ?

 

Sure your get there soon

 

not been totally idle a test build for a LCDR early wagon

 

 

 

and the ballast brakes finished although my filling is cr@p 

 

 

Nick

 

amended to add photos

Edited June 6, 2016 by nick_bastable

[JCL]

Cheers Nick. Funnily enough, I've heard the complaint that laser cut bricks can be too perfect. Accidentally cutting too deep on material that delaminates certainly sorts that out!

 

I have to say, you're incredibly prolific. Those wagons look great. Just a reminder, is that 1/16" wood?

[nick_bastable]

Cheers Nick. Funnily enough, I've heard the complaint that laser cut bricks can be too perfect. Accidentally cutting too deep on material that delaminates certainly sorts that out!

 

I have to say, you're incredibly prolific. Those wagons look great. Just a reminder, is that 1/16" wood?

1/32  0.8mm in new money

 

Nick

[scanman]

Up & running at last! I had a problem getting the laptop to recognise the driver - kept telling me 'wrong machine'... I was in the proces of contacting Darkly when suddenly the problem disappeared - proof of the pudding is in the eating!

 

 

 

Now to create some REAL files!

 

Thanks everyone (including 'Darkly' if you're lurking) for all youre help & support.

 

Regards

 

Ian

[Darkly Labs]

Hi Everyone,

 

This is Domenic from Darkly Labs.

 

Reading through these posts, we are constantly amazed at the quality of work and craftsmanship shown. It makes us proud to see the Emblaser being part of the tools used to create these amazingly detailed projects.

 

We have joined this topic to not only learn from the work being done, but more importantly, to answer questions or help resolve issues that anyone may be having with their machines.

 

We are always open to thoughts, comments and suggestions on how we can improve our product and its software.

 

Thanks,

Domenic

[Andy Y]

 

 

We have joined this topic to not only learn from the work being done, but more importantly, to answer questions or help resolve issues that anyone may be having with their machines.

 

 

That's fantastic Domenic and welcome to the forum. I hope it's beneficial to both parties, I'm itching to get one (thanks to what everyone else has been showing) when the new workshop is built.

[nick_bastable]

Hi Everyone,

 

This is Domenic from Darkly Labs.

 

Reading through these posts, we are constantly amazed at the quality of work and craftsmanship shown. It makes us proud to see the Emblaser being part of the tools used to create these amazingly detailed projects.

 

We have joined this topic to not only learn from the work being done, but more importantly, to answer questions or help resolve issues that anyone may be having with their machines.

 

We are always open to thoughts, comments and suggestions on how we can improve our product and its software.

 

Thanks,

Domenic

Domenic

 

welcome can I ask In assume the lens will require cleaning periodically what is the recommended procedure?

 

thanks

 

Nick 

[scanman]

' ELP!

 

I'm creating files in 'Coreldraw', then exporting them in .eps format.  Cut2D recognises the artwork, but when I try to sent it to 'Vtransfer' it says 'no cutting paths detected'.  As I'm creating brickwork with courses in individual bricks, does this mean I have to creat a path for each individual brick???  If so, when I create one brick, can I select/copy and retain the cutting path?  I'm hoping there'sa short cut to this - I'd HATE to have to re-draw everything!

 

I have checked the 'Darkly' forums but cannot find anything there (but that could be me!) and I've read MOST of the pages on this topic....

 

Any advice gratefully received.

 

Regards

 

Ian

[nick_bastable]

' ELP!

 

I'm creating files in 'Coreldraw', then exporting them in .eps format.  Cut2D recognises the artwork, but when I try to sent it to 'Vtransfer' it says 'no cutting paths detected'.  As I'm creating brickwork with courses in individual bricks, does this mean I have to creat a path for each individual brick???  If so, when I create one brick, can I select/copy and retain the cutting path?  I'm hoping there'sa short cut to this - I'd HATE to have to re-draw everything!

 

I have checked the 'Darkly' forums but cannot find anything there (but that could be me!) and I've read MOST of the pages on this topic....

 

Any advice gratefully received.

 

Regards

 

Ian

silly question but after you import the file you are then "edit" select vectors?

 

Nick

[Giles]

I'm unfamiliar with the .eps format, however, once a file has been imported into Cut2Dlaser, you need to select the layer with the data on, go into the edit drop down, and pick 'select all vectors on this layer' or some such...... At this point your lines should go pink.

Then, on the bottom left, select the 'T' for tool paths, and then select your cutting speed, power, number of cuts etc.....save.

If you are cutting more than one layer, you have to do this for each, close them, and then again at the bottom left, click on the memory card, which will bring up the multiple tool path box on the right. Rick the various boxes, and finally click save.

 

By this time all the programs know there is something to be cut!

 

Hope this helps!

[JCL]

That's great news Domenic, good to see you're here.

 

Thanks everyone for your help over the last few weeks. I've actually managed to get two walls to dovetail together. It certainly was the "chipboard" I was using. I switched to 1/16" basswood and it cut like a dream.

 

These are two test pieces.

 

 

Sorry about the upside down photo, it's ok on my laptop.

 

The settings were:

cut: 15mm/sec, 90% 3 passes

sore: 20mm/sec 40% 1 pass

 

That said, with all of the brick scoring, it's become a little too flexible, so I'm going to laminate with pieces with the grain at 90 degrees that will have the inside wall detail scored into it. When I do this for reals (as they say over here), I'll include a 1/4" footing as there will be a hole in the platform to plonk it into.

 

 

One thing that has really helped me with this is the offset button. If I just cut out the parts without this, the kerf would make the fit really sloppy. By using a 0.1mm offset on the outline I've been able to accurately adjust the cut to get a pretty tight fit.

 

I did see another button called Vector Boundary that automatically creates the cut outline, but unfortunately it seems to have a low tolerance for brick gaps, so for me at least it doesn't work, but it might be useful in the future.

 

cheers

 

Jason

[monkeysarefun]

Hi Domenic, welcome to the forum, its great to have you here!

 

Ian - as per what Nick and Giles wrote. I often forget to select any vectors before hitting the 'calculate' button and get a message similar to yours. They will go pink when selected.

 

Jason - great bricks!

 

I had a bit of a disaster from the rains of last weekend which flooded out my hobby room. Luckily the Emblaser was upstairs where I'd been using it in the warm, so was unharmed. Annoying thing is all the card and taskboard and ply that I've been acquiring over the last few months were leaning up against the wall and soaked up water and are now just a soggy mess. Though compared to what others in Picton (just the other side of the hill here) lost after having 2 metres of water through the town, I feel petty whinging about it..

[Darkly Labs]

Lens cleaning

 

Although the Emblaser is pretty forgiving with respect to debris on it's lens, it is worthwhile checking and cleaning it to ensure optimum performance. It is important to be very careful when dealing with the glass part of the lens as incorrect handling could lead to scratching or removal of the special AR coating.

 

We use a set of tools to clean our lenses as can be seen in the pic below. They include:

Blower.

Isopropyl Alcohol safe bottle.

Lint free cotton tip.

Magnifying lens.

Lens tissue.

 

 

Here is the process we follow:

 

1: Before you do anything, please start with a clean work area. We usually lay a couple of sheets of lens tissue down so we can rest our tools on it. It ensures a clean surface and that we are not introducing new debris onto the lens.

 

2: Remove the lens and examine it carefully with the magnifier. We use a 25-30x magnifier with a light. This makes it much easier to see an debris on the lens surface. We usually examine both sides of the lens but the debris is mostly found on the outer surface.

 

Here is a pic of a lens showing a fair amount of debris.

 

 

3: We first us the blower to try an blow away as much of the debris as possible. This is a safe way to remove debris since you do not need to make any contact with the lens. We check with the magnifier every now and then to ensure we have dislodged as much debris as possible.

 

4: If there is still stubborn debris, we now very carefully use our lint-free cotton tip dipped in some isopropyl alcohol. We have a special bottle that lets us disperse very small amounts of alcohol easily by tapping the lid. 

DO NOT USE ACETONE. Although this may be suitable for some glass lenses, acetone will damage the AR coating on this lens.

 

We apply a very light pressure with the cotton tip onto the lens and use a twisting motion to try and capture the remaining debris.

 

Once again we check often with the magnifier to see how we are going. You may find that the blower may help at this stage as well with some debris being dislodged.

 

Please try to keep the contact with the lens to a minimum. If you find some stubborn debris, just leave it. Its impact on performance will be minimal and the last thing to want to do is risk damaging the lens with excessive rubbing.

 

Here is a picture of the lens after cleaning:

 

 

5: Once you are happy, re-insert your lens and focus the laser.

 

 

We have been contemplating offering these lens cleaning kits for customers. Is there any interest in us doing so?

 

Hope that helps.

 

thanks,

Domenic

[Simond]

I had a bit of a disaster from the rains of last weekend which flooded out my hobby room. Luckily the Emblaser was upstairs where I'd been using it in the warm, so was unharmed. Annoying thing is all the card and taskboard and ply that I've been acquiring over the last few months were leaning up against the wall and soaked up water and are now just a soggy mess. Though compared to what others in Picton (just the other side of the hill here) lost after having 2 metres of water through the town, I feel petty whinging about it..

 

was watching the news last week and seeing the destruction the weather brought - wondered about you and the other Aussie modellers... 

 

at least you weren't washed into the sea!

 

best

Simon

[nick_bastable]

Lens cleaning

 

Although the Emblaser is pretty forgiving with respect to debris on it's lens, it is worthwhile checking and cleaning it to ensure optimum performance. It is important to be very careful when dealing with the glass part of the lens as incorrect handling could lead to scratching or removal of the special AR coating.

 

 

We have been contemplating offering these lens cleaning kits for customers. Is there any interest in us doing so?

 

Hope that helps.

 

thanks,

Domenic

Domenic

 

thanks for the comprehensive reply,  I would be interested if only to ensure I used the right product 

 

Nick

[Giles]

I would - for exactly the same reason!