Darkly Labs emblaser - affordable laser cutter - review

[flubrush]

Will you also need an air intake to the box?

 

BigD

 

There are sixty 10mm holes at the other end of the box to act as an intake.

 

Jim.

Edited November 19, 2016 by flubrush

[flubrush]

 you may have problems with it moving light items card/paper ?   

 

 

Nick,

 

I would always expect to stick a work piece down on the table in some fashion.   At the moment I'm using electrician's tape at the corners of paper and thin card.  Certainly,  if thin card or paper was laid with no method of retaining them,  then the airflow might move it.

 

Jim.

[Trofimow]

Here's my rather less elegant take on the same issue.

 

A box with lifting lid cobbled together from wood , aluminium sections and acrylic sheet, all from the "it'll come in handy one day" pile.

 

 

The cooling fan on the emblaser is ducted to an intake through the back of the box,  and a small brushless fan exhausts through a 35mm pipe in the side of the box.

 

A length of extension hose for a central vac connects the exhaust to a central vac point on the wall (not connected to a central vac, I hasten to add)

.

On the back of the central vac point on the other side of the drywall in the loft space is a 100mm extractor fan and ducting out through the soffit.

 

 

Not pretty, but it works.

 

Alan

[SHMD]

I like these “fume hood” compartments ideas – great inspiration for all of us.

 

I don't have an Emblaser (yet) but I'm wondering if holes could be drilled into the Emblaser's bed and the (fume) extraction system connected to it – plus other side extraction as well – to A/ remove fumes, and B/ hold (suck) the work piece down?

 

 

Kev.

Maybe even add a thermal sensor to cut out the power and sound a loud alarm.

(A colleague, at work, half destroyed his CO2 Laser cutter when he left it working alone.)

[flubrush]

 

Not pretty, but it works.

 

 

 

 

Alan,

 

Nice one. :-)   I had thoughts of doing something similar since my son-in-law had gifted me some nice 6' x 2' sheets of ply a short while ago and I had thoughts of buildign a box from that.  But I make a fair bit of use of smaller RU boxes and I wondered if they made one big enough to house the Emblaser,  and they did. :-)   So it might have been a bit more expensive than using my freebie ply,  but only about £26 more expensive. :-)

 

I do like your exhaust exit arrangements.  At the moment I can only exhaust through an open double glazing window which might mean freezing in the winter.   But I might try and devise a plate to clamp over the inside of an open top light to take the tube end and keep cold draughts out.

 

Jim.

[Simond]

You can get an outlet fitting for tumble driers, with three or four flaps to keep the local wildlife out, and they connect to the soft wire-wound air hose. Of course you do need to cut a ruddy great hole (about 4" diameter) in the brickwork. My CO2 laser is in the garage, so this was not a major battle, but still took an hour or two. It might be more of an issue if your workshop is indoors, and you need to make good plastering, etc. There are also kits available for bathroom ventilation, with fan, hose and grilles, etc.

 

Hth

Simon

[Buhar]

An SDS core drill is the answer for round holes in walls. Punches out really neatly.

[monkeysarefun]

Hi again trend setters,

 

 

Its a bit quiet here, , so I thought I'd put up an actual progress shot of a building I'm makiing because I'm starting to realise that it looks like I'm just mucking around here without actually posting up finished things, unlike everyone else.

 

 I guess partly  thats  because I haven't  yet actually finished anything model railway-ish, ,but in my defence I did make a marquetry jewellery box in order earn enough brownie points  to be allowed to pre-order an  emblaser 2!...

 

 

As someone who has been building model structures for 30 years or so, I've been more and more excited about the increasing abilities of computers and their 'attachments'  - CAD packages, printers and laser cutters and so on -  to aid in the precision of my model making.

 

But I'm starting to  realise that model making also has an artistic component. I can now programme my emblaser to score brick work to pinpoint accuracy, but its still up to me to then be able to paint and detail it  in order to get it to look like an actual real brick wall. I think that is  what I love about this hobby, its a combination of precision , and artistry.

 

Kind of like our bowling attack in the  long forgotten halcyon days of  early 1990's  Australian cricket.

 

But, unlike Shane Warne, Brett Lee et al, its my artistry that is letting me down. I've ruined many panels of lasered brickwork trying to get the masonry colours or the mortar right. But, affter much experimenting with exotic media like 'taskboard' and 'laserboard', both of which cost a huge amount to ship from the US, only to be lost in the June flood, I'm finding cardboard from the local art supply place  (mountboard) is a better proposition, Its 1.5mm thick, so is perfect for 4mm brick finger joints and it  fills all my needs. It lasers really well, actually better than the above materials, and its much cheaper - plus  theres no ridicularse US postage costs. And as a bonus, it holds  paints a whole lot better too.

 

Anyway, to try to overcome my artistic short-comings I've decided to build a model of our local A.H and I society hall in order to practice my paint skills.

 

 

 

  - mainly because its the closest interesting brick building to me, its stretcher bond which will  simplify tjhings but on the down side,  it has pretty eccentric brick colouring:

 

 

Here is my first attempt at getting the raw brick colours, These bricks are exactly scale size, but without grout they look bigger for some reason.

 

 

 

 

I was planning to grout the mortar tomorrow, but ;looking at these close ups i'm wondering if I need to.

 

Opinions really appreciated.

 

To be continued...

Edited November 28, 2016 by monkeysarefun

[JCL]

It looks lovely, and the words Agricultural Hall means you cant go wrong in my book. Do you have a colour balanced photo at all? I also love your marquetry.

 

Although I bought some thin MDF while in the UK last month, at the moment I'm with you and using card - in my case the 1mm stuff that I used on the fruit van further back on the thread. Since then I've put a couple of these photos up on the Wainfleet thread - hope you don't mind the cross post:

 

Tipper cart 4mm scale - 1mm card throughout, though when I do it "for realz" I'll use cornflake card for the body of the cart. I bought one of those large pound coins on Ebay to go with it.

 

 

If anyone wants a copy of the crv file for this please PM me as it's too big to upload.

 

A GNR 6 wheel coach is in development. 1mm card for the structural shell, then 110lb Staples card for the sides. This will be a part of the 1988 'Old Flying Scotsman' that was exhibited in 1938 with the introduction of the new Flying Scotsman train. All of the carriages were the same profile, so I'm hoping that once I get the first one done, the others will be a case of just moving windows and panels around. I used Nick's method of tabs to create the shell itself.

 

 

 

[MikeTrice]

All of the carriages were the same profile, so I'm hoping that once I get the first one done, the others will be a case of just moving windows and panels around.

 

Unlikely, they were different widths: http://www.lner.info/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=10667&p=107782&hilit=ecjs#p107782

[JCL]

True, but it would be easy to stretch the ends and base by 2mm, keeping the tabs the same size. I'd have to redo the beading on the end though.

[Simond]

JCL,

 

The carts are a complete "Wow!". PM sent!

 

 

The marquetry is also a complete wow - I wholeheartedly agree that modelling is a conjunction of artistry and technology, I think I find the latter easier, but I guess as a professional Engineer, that's to be expected, however, it's the combination that gives the most satisfaction to me. If it don't go..., if it looks wrong... got to make both as good as I can!

 

Turning to the brickwork, I've been doing some in my PD thread, and am summoning the enthusiasm to laser 28 panels for the loco shed... the ones I've done, and the brickwork on the coal road extension, and that on the coal stage itself, which is a commercial product, need to look sufficiently similar to be convincingly from the same location & era, and I don't think I'm there yet. Mortar is a key element in this, and I don't yet have an answer I'm wholly happy with. White is certainly "wrong", quite dark grey acrylic seems to be favourite at the moment, but much will depend on your locale, local materials, the age of the prototype, and the weathering it has suffered. I guess it's a question of making some test panels, and trying it out.

 

I think your building is lovely and am looking forward to seeing more!

 

Best

Simon

[Giles]

Personally, I do like mortar, as the process also tones down the brickwork. Today's favourite method for me is to use a solution of fire-cement (!) wiped over the whole, and into the cracks, and then wiped off with a kitchen towel, thus leaving it in the courses. Of course it's important to wipe down vertically, so you get weathered streaking.

 

This also works using ready mix plaster, pre-coloured or not....

 

Each to his own though! Nice job!

 

 

(This is deliberately dirty and scummy.....)

 

Edited November 29, 2016 by Giles

[flubrush]

Just got a supply of 1mm, 1.5mm and 2mm MDF from another supplier -

 

http://maplestreet.co.uk/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=mdf&x=22&y=10&categories_id=&inc_subcat=1&manufacturers_id=&pfrom=&pto=&dfrom=&dto=

 

...whose prices are a bit less than 4D Models per square centimetre.  They also supply using smaller sheets - 500mm x 250mm - which may suit some people.  Also,  they warn you that they order out of stock items from their suppliers on Mondays so if you order just after Monday and what you want is out of stock,  you've got a week to wait.   They also have a minimum order of five sheets for the 1mm thickness.

 

I've also found out that picture framers use 2.5mm and 3mm MDF as backing board and my local picture framer supplied me with a 4' x 3' sheet of 2.5mm for £5,  and he cut it into smaller pieces so that I could get it in my Citroen C1. :-)

 

I finally got the extraction tube fitted up in my bedroo0m window and the Emblaser1 in the Really Useful box is working well,  and fumeless. :-)

 

Jim.

[JCL]

That looked great Jim. Until now I've been using the cooker hood on full blast, but given the amount of rain we are experiencing here (practically 4 rain free days in the last two months) I think that your modification is the way to go to get anything proper done. I'm away to Canadian Tire and Home Depot tomorrow, so I'm going to have a look to see what they have in the way of fans and tubes.

 

cheers

 

Jason

[monkeysarefun]

So I'm experimenting with mortar now. Its been interesting to read up on what others use, because it seems like almost anything is fair game. From Giles using fire cement, to others using actual cement, tile grout, bicarbonate of soda, plaster of Paris, spakfilla, DAS, pastels, weathering powders both used dry and in a wash,and various kinds of  thinned paint, ink or washes...

 

No where though have I found anyone using pumice yet, so I thought I'd give that a try because

 

A) its mortar coloured,

 

b) unlike cement, grout, plaster of Paris etc  if rubbed with a damp cloth it won't turn into some cenenty solution that will cover my wall, and

 

c) I have a little jar of it on a shelf just here above me.

 

Here's my first attempt. I managed to knock a couple of bricks off when I was brushing it around - the white bits that you might see, but I can glue them back on after this.

 

 

 

When I finish off  adding the concrete details to the  wall it'll get a wash of grey or black to tone done the mortar a bit, but I'm happy with it so far, considering its just a test thing.

 

Next up is trying  the engraved signage, (I'm torn whether I should actually replicate the bad spacing of the letters... )

 

 

My model bricwork looks very orange comapered to the actual building in the photos but in real life its much closer, One day I'll  get through the whole instruction manual for my camera, and work out how to fix that up.

 

To be continued..

Edited November 30, 2016 by monkeysarefun

[Simond]

hi

 

pumice seems to work.

 

you must replicate the dodgy letter spacing - provided you have a copy of the photo to show anyone who sneers....

 

best

Simon

[monkeysarefun]

hi

 

pumice seems to work.

 

you must replicate the dodgy letter spacing - provided you have a copy of the photo to show anyone who sneers....

 

best

Simon

 

 

Thanks Simon.

 

I chose this building as a test, partly because its so close to where I live, but mainly because it is a bit 'clumsy', so any oddness in my modelling I can try to pass off as "thats how the real one is". For instance, check out the execution of "SOCIETY""

 

- Also, the door seems to me to be a not very good rendition of a 'rea'l one either::

 

 

 

 

Countering this levity  though is the thought that just over 100 years ago this was the local militia drill hall, where our local contingent of ANZACS were recruited, only to be slaughtered at Gallipolli, and if they survived that,  the Western Front.

Edited November 30, 2016 by monkeysarefun

[Simond]

"But the band played Waltzing Matilda

As we stopped to bury our slain.

We buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs,

then we started all over again"

 

 

 

Eric Bogle

[JCL]

Hi there

 

I've a Cut2D question if I can.

 

A while ago I converted the Canadian Pacific Logo into a vector within Cut 2D and used the trace tool. I wanted the shield to be etched, so I clicked on the background and chose the Fill toolpath. This filled the whole image, including the beaver and the text with a hash.

 

Then, I did something and managed to change the image so that the letters and the beaver highlight were excluded from the hashing and set to not be burnt. You can see this as white within the shield. The whole design was successfully burnt onto a piece of wood which my neighbour now has as a coaster.

 

How on earth did I manage to exclude the Canadian Pacific script from the shield fill? I've tried all sorts of things, but can't replicate this. I'm hoping to do some coasters of a different design for some family members back in the UK.

 

 

As a thank-you, if anyone wants the CRV file for the CPR 4"x4" coaster, it's here

 

canadian pacific.crv

Edited December 6, 2016 by JCL

[raymw]

Hi,

 

No idea about your specific software, but the text will need to be in vector format in most cad software, if hatch filling.

[JCL]

Hi there. Thanks for the reply, It's all in vector format in Cut2D that comes with the Emblaser I traced it using that program.

Edited December 6, 2016 by JCL

[raymw]

In my cad sw, if there are small gaps, as in tracing a shape, the hatching bleeds through. If you can export it as dxf or dwg or some other 'standard' cad format, I'd have a look , see if I can sus it out.

[monkeysarefun]

I'm assuming that the screenshot you posted was how you want the final version to look ie its the successful attempt?

 

I've been working on a similar kind of thing in order to achieve the raised text on the  front of the building as per picture in post #656.

 

Out of the 3 possible outcomes - text engraved so it was lower that the sign, everything engraved - similar to what you got - and the background engraved so the  letters were raised, I managed to achieve all of them, depending on what vectors I selected..

 

In your case, I'd be trying to break it down step by step. For instance in Cut2D select just the outline vector and one of  the text vectors, hit the calculate button and see what that results in. If the vectors are both  closed you should get everything but the text embossed. If that works, try adding more vectors to see what happens and at which point it all goes wrong, then check that vector.

 

My brick scribing file is a section of brickwork with the mortar joints as an engraving rather than vector lines and if I misplace a window slightly for instance so that it causes one of the brick joints to be cut it can cause all kinds of weird outcomes, such as the bricks being engraved rather than the mortar, or the whole material outside of the brick wall area being engraved instead of the actual wall. Luckily as in your picture, Cut2D shows a preview of what it is going to engrave before you actually make the mistake of starting the job.

[JCL]

Thanks for the replies, I've worked out my problem - ineptitude. I'd used Illustrator to trace a png (raster) file, and while the trace would have been ok for printing, there was a number of problems with it with regards to burning in CUT 2D. I went through the whole thing moving points/vectors/node around until there weren't any crossing each other, then the burn went the way I hoped. It's going to be a coaster for a friend once I get the burn values the way I want them.