Darkly Labs emblaser - affordable laser cutter - review

[Nile_Griffith]

Well I did drag the emblaser out, but I got side-tracked into using the picengraver software to try out some '3D' laser projects.

 

This uses picsender to send gcode to the laser, rather than the vectric software. Its not really apparent in the pic, but the finished image has an engraved depth to it, not just burnt onto the top of the wood like it looks in the picture.  (The picsender, picengrave and piclaser software applications are available via links from the darkklylabs website.)

 

The software just uses a greyscale image to calculate the depth - the darker the grey at a given point of the image, the more laser  power is applied and thus the deeper the image is engraved.  so I'm thinking of trying it out on my gothic window files once I've worked out how to convert .pdf files to greyscale jpegs, I'm hoping to be able to combine all the individual layers that make up a gothic window file, and assign each layer an increasing greyscale value, and hopefuly the resulting output would be a gothic window with all the tracery at the right depth.  Or a pile of soot.   Anyway, thats my excuse for mentioning the picengrave software here..

 

This is the sort of thing that I'm hoping the emblaser 2 will improve on, mainly due to its air asist system helping to disperse the smoke and make it less sooty and easier to clean up. I did do this outside using natures own air assist - a full blown blustery southerly, but alas,  that is not consistent enough to depend on in the long term. The wood is huon pine, I think darker fine grained ( but sadly un-Australian) hard wood like walnut or cherry might work even better.

 

P1010064.JPG

 

 

Sort of new to all of this and more of a spectator as I don't anything like the Emblaser or currently use any CAD software.

 

But would it be possible to to create multiple layers in something like Adobe Illustrator and alter their opacity, then by "flattening" the layers (adobe's term not mine) give you a range of "grey". Illustrator would then quite happily export to your required JPEG's

 

Loving the work by the way!!

[monkeysarefun]

Sort of new to all of this and more of a spectator as I don't anything like the Emblaser or currently use any CAD software.

 

But would it be possible to to create multiple layers in something like Adobe Illustrator and alter their opacity, then by "flattening" the layers (adobe's term not mine) give you a range of "grey". Illustrator would then quite happily export to your required JPEG's

 

Loving the work by the way!!

 

I do something similar using Gimp, but select the various greys from a palette. Here's a video of the process on a contour map. A  gothic windows tracery  in my mind at least is an  identical kind of animal - differing depths separated by closed vector lines. The  final product here is sent to a CNC cutter rather than a laser cutter,but  the colouring technique would  the same.

[monkeysarefun]

Still working my way around Laserweb and the Emblaser 2.

 

So far, loving the hardware, still in two minds about the software. Probably because I've spent so long using cutlaser2D and really like some of its features, Laserweb still seems a little unfinished but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

 

The Emblaser itself is a very polished thing. I'm finding its main strength for me over the original is its ability to cut thicker material, and with less passes so finer detail doesn't get burned away. Also its focus is set in the factory so you don't need to rely on trial and error. That said though, you still have to initially establish the  lasers offset height  by running a calibration file then judging which line is 'best cut' then entering that lines value into the Laserweb settings, so there is still room for human error which is nice.

 

If you are cutting mainly material 2mm thick  or less I'd say that the original Emblaser is very sufficient, especially when Darklylabs do the laser unit upgrade that they are promising. The extra niceties such as air assist, venting and so on are good to have but not essential.

 

The Emblaser 2 also has removable silicon mats with cells to allow the air to move around under the job but for cutting fine detail parts this is actually an embuggerance since they drop into the mat, also its not possible to stick small work pieces down to it. When I get around to cutting small detail parts in  card and so on with it, I'll probably remove the mats and use an MDF base with glass on top as I have been using successfully with the Emblaser original.

 

The tight focus and extra power though, does make ridiculously detailed jobs possible.

 

Just to make Giles jealous this is cheap 3mm plywood, some of the details are literally a hairs-breadth thick...

 

 

 

[Giles]

I must say - that is rather good Chris! I can't wait to see what you're going to build with that window.....

 

How many passes did that take you in practice?

 

.....still enjoying my Emblazer 1......

Edited May 7, 2017 by Giles

[monkeysarefun]

The ply took 3 passes at 100% power, 5m/sec. The same plywood took the Emblaser 1 needed  6 passes at 6mm/dec.

 

I still see a use for my Emblaser 1 because there are a few things that the Emblaser 2 cannot do, mainly due to the shortfalls in Laserweb. For instance trying to load an .svg file into it that has a fair amount of rasterised brickwork takes so long that I just assume that Laserweb has hung - I've left one file for over an hour trying to load  with no result. The same file takes about 3 seconds to load into Vector2d.

 

Hopefully these little problems will be ironed out over the coming months as they are highlighted.

[Giles]

Thanks Chris.

 

Likewise I plan on running both machines, as the E1 is superb for some of the stuff I do, and thing so like the silicon mats are not so useful for some of the really small stuff..

[Simond]

Chris,

 

What's the story with the glass on top of MDF? Any hints or tips here?

 

I have an ally honeycomb but it's horribly manky, sticky & grim. Alternatives sought...

 

Best

Simon

[nick_bastable]

what size bed is your laser ?

 

Nick

[Simond]

Hi Nick

 

A little over A4

 

Best

Simon

[nick_bastable]

Hi Nick

 

A little over A4

 

Best

Simon

Simon

 

I use a sheet of metal honeycomb  

 

 

obtained locally  (Deal)  for 2 or 3  quid from memory  glued using nonails to my  original mdf base 

 

Nick

[flubrush]

What's the story with the glass on top of MDF? Any hints or tips here?

 

I have an ally honeycomb but it's horribly manky, sticky & grim. Alternatives sought...

 

 

Simon,

 

I'm using a bit of thick plate glass held in an MDF frame sat on the original alloy base of my Emblaser.    The frame holds the glass about 6mm clear of the alloy base.   I went for glass since I wanted to hold the work in accurate positioning using small squares of double sided tape.  The MDF frame also provides a base to hold a metal square which is used to register material at machine 0,0.    I had got some honeycomb material to use but that would have made work holding difficult and I went for glass instead.

 

I also tried using MDF as the base for a cutting surface but that didn't work well - fine for doing shallow surface etching but useless when trying to cut through material.  I read a suggestion in the Darkly community forum that this was possibly due to the MDF base absorbing the heat of the laser as it got close to cutting through the workpiece and prevented the cutting process.  I could cut through after a lot of passes but the MDF base took a lot of punishment and I gave up on the idea. :-)

 

The glass does accumulate a bit of dirt from the charring when cutting through and needs a bit of cleaning on a regular basis.

 

Jim.

[Simond]

Thanks both. I shall experiment...

 

I have pre-ordered a smoothieboard with the intent of replacing the rather dodgy controller & awful newly-drawsoftware, hopefully resolving my zero-point error issue too. (Mine is a Chinese CO2 laser, not an emblaser in case anyone's confused!)

 

I have a lot of lasering to do for the loco shed, and as the etch takes nearly an hour, to then wreck it with the cut not being in register, is not on. Tried all sorts, not reliable, so fix it...

 

Best

Simon

[monkeysarefun]

Chris,

 

What's the story with the glass on top of MDF? Any hints or tips here?

 

I have an ally honeycomb but it's horribly manky, sticky & grim. Alternatives sought...

 

Best

Simon

Hi Simon,

Pretty much as Jim said - the base of the Emblaser is fairly thin alloy which had a slight dip in the centre making accurate laser height adjustment difficult. I started with a sheet of 12mm MDF which I also lasered on a grid so I'd have an idea of where the origin was, but found it was getting charred very easily, and also gave off unfriendly fishy smells when I cut through whatever was on top of it.

So I added a cheap plate of glass from a photo frame, held to the MDF with double sided tape. Also, I hold thinner material like card and veneer down using masking tape, and this seems to stick better to glass than it did to the MDF.

 

Also like Jim said, the glass does get a deposit of charred bits, plus when doing plywood it also gets a greasy layer which assume is melted glue or whatever, but its easily cleaned with a scourer occasionally.

 

Chris J

[monkeysarefun]

Hey there Emblaserers!

 

 

 

Its annoying that there's no apparent progress on the red tape for you lot in the UK, it is  dragging on.

 

(but then, this is what happens when you join the EEC  at the expense of free trade agreements with YOUR Commonwealth - I blame YOU, the early 1970's!!)

 

In the meantime, heres' two tips'n'tricks ( or 'hacks' if this was the daily mail..) for while you are waitinhg - 

 

1)               when darklylabs announce them, definitely buy a lens cleaning  kit. Maybe its the fact that its in an enclosure but the cutting ability of my Emblaser 2 deteriorated markedly, until I gave the lens a clean.

 

,                 It was  a kind of boiling frog situation, in that cutting ability deteriorated slowly so I didn't notice until I eventually realised that the 3mm ply that I had been cutting in 2 passes was now taking 6. Once the lens was cleaned it was back to new again.

 

.                 MDF seems to be the main culprit according to the forum. I've never had the problem with the Emblaser 1 but then again I use that outside and its unenclosed and there's invariably a stiff breeze that pops  up every time I try to laser something - just  to taunt me that I haven't taped things down enough..as it blows my piece of cardboard over the fence.   I'm wondering how the C02 lasers go with this (the lens clouding, not the breeze thing) - Simon?

 

2)               laserweb is still not my friend but there is an alternative path that works whereby you can use cut2Dlaser to create the file, save it as gcode and then use laserweb just as the sender to the Emblaser,

                  This is spiffing news because laserweb really hates certain files, such as engraved brickwork - it will just hang indefinitely  if importing it as an .svg file. Creating the same project in Cut2Dlaser then saving as gcode and importing THAT into laserweb works  perfectly

 

3)              We had an 'ISIS' clown down here today too, being a d1ckhe@d until  the police popped his clogs for him.. (No Trump tweet as of yet)   Our thoughts are with everyone there.

Edited June 6, 2017 by monkeysarefun

[Simond]

Hi, Yes, you do need to clean the lens on the CO2 machines - and I guess that the prime culprit is MDF smoke/condensate too.

 

My laser is slowly coming to bits to allow me install the new Smoothieboard and power supply - the honeycomb matrix that sits under the item being cut is sticky and horrid, I suspect from the work the previous owners put the laser to.  I am going to junk it and use something else, possibly topped with plate glass to allow easy cleaning.  Suggestions very welcome!

 

I have played a bit with Visicut, it seems to be able to do everything I want (etch, cut, control laser power, cut layers in the order I decide, not what the software "thinks" best, but I haven't got as far as trying it yet.  Something to do with an old Moto Guzzi, and some sunny weather... (and work, and family, and....)  Not sure if you could use this with the Emblaser.  It's free...  this link should work; https://hci.rwth-aachen.de/visicut

 

best

Simon

[monkeysarefun]

 

I have played a bit with Visicut, it seems to be able to do everything I want (etch, cut, control laser power, cut layers in the order I decide, not what the software "thinks" best, but I haven't got as far as trying it yet.  Something to do with an old Moto Guzzi, and some sunny weather... (and work, and family, and....)  Not sure if you could use this with the Emblaser.  It's free...  this link should work; https://hci.rwth-aachen.de/visicut

 

 

Since I've got involved with laser cutters I've learned lots of new words and random collections of letters, such as aduino, GRBL, and smoothieboard etc etc. Apparently they don't get on, and if you have one, that means you can't use one of the others, or something.

 

' gcode' seems to be like  United Nations peacekeepers, in that if you have  something in  gcode, then the other guys will let you through after a bit of haggling (adding a line or two of extra commands, bribing an official  or whatever)

 

I think thats how lasers work.

Edited June 6, 2017 by monkeysarefun

[Simond]

Orange glasses, not blue helmet!!!

 

G-code works on all sorts of CNC machines like lathes & millers, wire cutters, lasers, etc. I'm not even competent, let alone experienced, but it reminds me of the old HPGL graphics processing language, which, given that it's doing something similar, makes sense, I guess.

 

The Smoothieboard is designed to run lasers, millers and 3D printers, it can probably do lathes as well, anything with stepper motors, basically. It's also got power handling for the hot end of the 3D printer, which is PWM controlled, and would drive a spindle motor too. There are other control software packages available, I think the Cut2DLaser package works with it, (but costs real money) so by extension, perhaps the Visicut package talks to the Emblaser.

 

I'll get round to making it work (or breaking it) one of these days, and will report accordingly

 

Best

Simon

[monkeysarefun]

The Emblaser 1 uses GRBL, the Emblaser2 uses smoothieboard, hence needing laserweb. You could give laserweb a try (its free and open source) but I haven't found it too good yet.

[Simond]

Ah, thanks, hadn't realised that. Will investigate!

 

(When I get the hardware done!)

 

Best

Simon

[Giles]

I ordered some 1mm MDF yesterday from The Modelshop, which was delivered this morning - I phoned first to check that it was laser grade (which it was) - and on delivery, duly cut it up into A4 pieces.

 

This afternoon did some test cutting, which did not to well! Basically I can hardly cut it, and certainly not any detail holes. I then did the same job with some of my stock 2mm, which was fine......

 

I contacted the Modelshop, who promptly asked for photos and information, and did their own test cutting , which worked fine.

The upshot of this is that we think the resin in the 1mm is of necessity different to that of the thicker boards, and in consequence, a diode laser just can't cope. Something that the shop hadn't come across before, as they use a large CO2 Laser.

 

The shop have been brilliant about it, but for Emblazer owners - don't think you can use 1mm just because you can work the heavier stuff!

[nick_bastable]

I ordered some 1mm MDF yesterday from The Modelshop, which was delivered this morning - I phoned first to check that it was laser grade (which it was) - and on delivery, duly cut it up into A4 pieces.

 

This afternoon did some test cutting, which did not to well! Basically I can hardly cut it, and certainly not any detail holes. I then did the same job with some of my stock 2mm, which was fine......

 

I contacted the Modelshop, who promptly asked for photos and information, and did their own test cutting , which worked fine.

The upshot of this is that we think the resin in the 1mm is of necessity different to that of the thicker boards, and in consequence, a diode laser just can't cope. Something that the shop hadn't come across before, as they use a large CO2 Laser.

 

The shop have been brilliant about it, but for Emblazer owners - don't think you can use 1mm just because you can work the heavier stuff!

how very odd I have used 4d models 1mm mdf without issues ( the Dutch gable house earlier is 1mm mdf ) although 4d ply was uncut-able

 

Nick

[M Wright]

Hi, I was reading these interesting posts when I read Simond's problem with his cutter base becoming contaminated with cutting grime.  I realise that his laser is a CO2 one and have to caution him not to use glass as a cutting base.  You can engrave glass with  aCO2 laser therefore it absorbs the 10.6 nm wavelength laser beam and converts it to heat. The glass  might (will) break.  The best solution is to use a pin table. Use the laser to mark out holes on a grid in some 4-6mm acrylic. Drill holes a push fit for some 1" panel pins and rest the job on top. (I di not know your laser power but a 40W  should be able to drill the holes too with a bit of luck.  Another useful table is a bit of steel plate.  Gunge comes off with a spray of WD40 and a wipe. If cutting card/paper/tissue it can be help to the plate using cheap small neodynium magnets. Look at Russ Sadler's (Sabar) You tube videos for real solid information and loads of ideas for getting the best out of Chinese Laser machines. All the best, regards.

[flubrush]

I ordered some 1mm MDF yesterday from The Modelshop, which was delivered this morning - I phoned first to check that it was laser grade (which it was) - and on delivery, duly cut it up into A4 pieces.

 

This afternoon did some test cutting, which did not to well! Basically I can hardly cut it, and certainly not any detail holes. I then did the same job with some of my stock 2mm, which was fine......

 

I contacted the Modelshop, who promptly asked for photos and information, and did their own test cutting , which worked fine.

The upshot of this is that we think the resin in the 1mm is of necessity different to that of the thicker boards, and in consequence, a diode laser just can't cope. Something that the shop hadn't come across before, as they use a large CO2 Laser.

 

The shop have been brilliant about it, but for Emblazer owners - don't think you can use 1mm just because you can work the heavier stuff!

 

Giles.

 

I've used the 1mm MDF from Maple Street

 

http://maplestreet.co.uk/hobbys-catalogue-items-board-wood-p-4764.html

 

...and that has cut well.  I did a run of S scale wagon bodies using it with no problems.

 

Their deliveries are not the quickest - I think they keep minimal quantities on the shelf and order up on Mondays to fulfill any orders that have come in.    But other than having to wait for a few days,  I have had no problems ordering from them.    Note that you have to order at least five sheets of the 1mm thickness.

 

Jim.

[Simond]

Hi, I was reading these interesting posts when I read Simond's problem with his cutter base becoming contaminated with cutting grime.  I realise that his laser is a CO2 one and have to caution him not to use glass as a cutting base.  You can engrave glass with  aCO2 laser therefore it absorbs the 10.6 nm wavelength laser beam and converts it to heat. The glass  might (will) break.  The best solution is to use a pin table. Use the laser to mark out holes on a grid in some 4-6mm acrylic. Drill holes a push fit for some 1" panel pins and rest the job on top. (I di not know your laser power but a 40W  should be able to drill the holes too with a bit of luck.  Another useful table is a bit of steel plate.  Gunge comes off with a spray of WD40 and a wipe. If cutting card/paper/tissue it can be help to the plate using cheap small neodynium magnets. Look at Russ Sadler's (Sabar) You tube videos for real solid information and loads of ideas for getting the best out of Chinese Laser machines. All the best, regards.

Thanks for this - very helpful. My laser is a 30W CO2.

 

Steel is easy, but presumably reflective unless blacked. What about marble? I've got a few tiles left over from the bathroom

 

Best

Simon

[M Wright]

Hi SImond, No marble and tiles have the same problem as glass. Both these materials absorb CO2 laser light.  The best absorber of common materials is  clear acrylic (perspex) That is why it is engraved and cut  so much.  To the CO2 laser beam it is like black is to us so absrbs the energy of the beam readily. It take time to grasp that different frequencies of light have such different properties  The work table of your laser is probably made of Aluminium. It is highly reflective to this type of laser as is copper and molydenium ( these materials are often used to make the mirrors of the laser.  You are protected by the acrylic window in you laser lid.  ie any scattered laser light by the Alumiium table for example, is absorbed by the perspex lid, therefore is kept safe inside the box. It is also why any pair of plastic lens safety specs are a good defence from the CO2 laser beam)  Steel is a poor reflector  and a reasonable absorber of your laser's light so makes a good base to work on.  The cheap neodinium magnets off e-bay (1mm thick 6mm dia) make excellent holding devices on the steel but remember you have to slide them off not pull.  TO get the best from your machine please watch some of these videos, they have saved me much heart ache and wasted materials. I have put  a link here  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvrMeUUzaBo. I am sure you will enjoy them.  Have you looked at my post on this page of the forum.  It has got some info in it.  I have tried to keep to a minimum the "hey there, see what I can do" but I hope I have conveyed my enthusiasm for what these machines with a bit of effort can do. I have found Giles Favell's posts on the emblaser thread insirational. I just  cannot see how such stunning results can come from 3 or 4Watts of laser power.

Edited June 14, 2017 by M Wright