Darkly Labs emblaser - affordable laser cutter - review

[flubrush]

 

One thing I did notice is that the focus lens seems to be quite loose. I did purchase and use the 3d printed focusing tool but it was of poor quality and bent far too easily

 

 

That is a problem a few of us seem to have.   When the focus is correct the lens is barely holding on by one thread.   I got round this by moving the diode down to poke out of the alloy housing by about 3mm then the lens had more thread engagement when focussed.    By loosening the grub screw at the bottom rear of the diode housing,  you can move the diode down then re-tighten.   If your diode is a tight fit in its hole,  take off the fan and push it down from the top.

 

Jim.

[Giles]

You get a cleaner cut, with less surface marking with the larger fan, as the smoke is dispersed much better. Aside from the issue of blowing paper, if you are cutting ply, MDF or acrylic, the larger fan does improve performance.

[flubrush]

You get a cleaner cut, with less surface marking with the larger fan, as the smoke is dispersed much better. Aside from the issue of blowing paper, if you are cutting ply, MDF or acrylic, the larger fan does improve performance.

 

Giles,

 

Thanks for that.  I'll look at getting the larger fan and see how I get on.

 

Jim.

[Hyper Aus]

That is a problem a few of us seem to have.   When the focus is correct the lens is barely holding on by one thread.   I got round this by moving the diode down to poke out of the alloy housing by about 3mm then the lens had more thread engagement when focussed.    By loosening the grub screw at the bottom rear of the diode housing,  you can move the diode down then re-tighten.   If your diode is a tight fit in its hole,  take off the fan and push it down from the top.

 

Jim.

 

Well I decided to investigate a bit more and pulled the laser off the gantry. The focusing lens is loose through the entire length of the thread. That little spring does very little to prevent movement.

 

I will wait until I receive the G7 lens and see how it fits. May require a stronger spring or some thread tape.

[flubrush]

Well I decided to investigate a bit more and pulled the laser off the gantry. The focusing lens is loose through the entire length of the thread. That little spring does very little to prevent movement.

 

I will wait until I receive the G7 lens and see how it fits. May require a stronger spring or some thread tape.

 

I suspect that my lens fit is much the same as yours but my compression spring is strong enough to provide a fair bit of friction on its movement.   It might be worth seeing if you can lengthen the spring by stretching it a bit to increase the pressure on the back of the lens.   I would go careful with thread tape since the thread is quite fine and you might make it too stiff which would make adjustment quite difficult in situ.

 

I'll see if I can get my head off tomorrow and measure the uncompressed length of my lens spring.

 

Jim.

[flubrush]

 

Here's my laser head showing the compression spring fully seated and projecting 2mm from the casing of the diode.  This gives adequate friction to hold the lens in place.   It also gives you and idea of the gauge of wire used in my spring.  If you have got one with a much lighter gauge then there might be inadequate spring force.

 

You can also see the projection of the diode case from the alloy extrusion of the head assembly.  Originally the diode case was flush with the end of the extrusion and I was barely engaging half a turn of the lens thread when at optimum focus.   The lens was also able to "wave about in the breeze" because of the minimal thread engagement and I wasn't sure that this wasn't happening during cuts giving loss of registration and accuracy.  I pulled the diode case out by about 2.5mm from the flush position and that required about three-quarters of a turn engagement at optimum focus which really cut down the waving around.

 

You will note the brass 8BA screw locking the diode case.  This replaces the grub screw at the rear of the head (you can just make out the hole for that screw) and this allows me to take the complete head assembly off for lens cleaning without having to remove that grub screw and possibly disturb the diode setting.

 

I suspect a problem that Emblaser might have is that the positioning of the diode in its housing is variable and this would alter the back focus.  Maybe other diodes have a slightly different position that meant the lens screw engages several threads for proper focus.

 

Jim.

[monkeysarefun]

Emblaser-005.jpg

 

Here's my laser head showing the compression spring fully seated and projecting 2mm from the casing of the diode.  This gives adequate friction to hold the lens in place.   It also gives you and idea of the gauge of wire used in my spring.  If you have got one with a much lighter gauge then there might be inadequate spring force.

 

You can also see the projection of the diode case from the alloy extrusion of the head assembly.  Originally the diode case was flush with the end of the extrusion and I was barely engaging half a turn of the lens thread when at optimum focus.   The lens was also able to "wave about in the breeze" because of the minimal thread engagement and I wasn't sure that this wasn't happening during cuts giving loss of registration and accuracy.  I pulled the diode case out by about 2.5mm from the flush position and that required about three-quarters of a turn engagement at optimum focus which really cut down the waving around.

 

You will note the brass 8BA screw locking the diode case.  This replaces the grub screw at the rear of the head (you can just make out the hole for that screw) and this allows me to take the complete head assembly off for lens cleaning without having to remove that grub screw and possibly disturb the diode setting.

 

I suspect a problem that Emblaser might have is that the positioning of the diode in its housing is variable and this would alter the back focus.  Maybe other diodes have a slightly different position that meant the lens screw engages several threads for proper focus.

 

Jim.

 

My original lens was within half a thread of dropping out when properly focussed but my G7 lens is a couple of turns further up the tube so the problem went away for me!

[JCL]

And I hate to say it, but mine was the other way around, and the G7 lens has much less thread engaged with the holder than my original lens.

[nick_bastable]

I have been very quiet a cracked main lens mount has not helped ( replaced by Darkly  FOC    ) however I have finally got on with one of the area groups fiddle sticks, this was a bit of a afterthought and should have been planed and installed prior to building the track      Probably of more interest is I have reverted to the original lens which cut  3mm lite ply very well without the slight blurring I feel  the G7 gives. 

 

 

 

 

the ply came from Hobarts and is quite cheap if I was ordering a lot I would collect as they are only 50 minutes away also their MDF is quite good

 

Nick

 

edit for pps

Edited July 6, 2018 by nick_bastable

[JCL]

3mm? Blimey, I'm impressed. Based on that, I've just got some 2mm MDF that I can try.

[nick_bastable]

3mm? Blimey, I'm impressed. Based on that, I've just got some 2mm MDF that I can try.

alas they only ship to EU

 

this is the stuff https://hobarts.com/3mm-laserplylite-italian-poplar-plywood-ab-ab-new- if only for info

 

Nick

[flubrush]

Probably of more interest is I have reverted to the original lens which cut  3mm lite ply very well without the slight blurring I feel  the G7 gives. 

 

I found much the same.   I couldn't get the focussed dot size of the G7 as small as I could with the standard lens and reverted to the standard lens.  My G7 lens (second one) was a bit more efficient but I got better definition for another pass or two with the standard lens.   I might have another go with the G7 lens and see if I can get any better results.

 

Jim.

[Hyper Aus]

My G7 lenses arrived today. I was able to do a test fit but won't have a chance to do a focus and cut until next week.

 

The G7 lens still was loose in the thread with similar amount of wobble when adjusting the focus. Forgot to measure the spring though.

 

I'm thinking the thread used in the laser mount is cut over size. Thread tape won't work as you need to be able to adjust as required and I think it will just cause the tape to fall apart with too much movement.

[Greengiant]

I see an E2 lens upgrade has been released, will make cleaning easier, but not cheap.

 

https://darklylabs.com/product/e2_lens_assembly-v2/

 

Martin

[JCL]

Hi there, 

 

I've been reading the last few pages and I've realised I hadn't thanked Jim (fluebrush) for his thoughts on the latest Cut2D - so thanks Jim.

 

In the end, last week, I decided to go for LightBurn - partly because it was cheaper, and partly because of good reviews. I've not been able to use it a great deal, but I've had a go at the engraving, and that's come out really well. I also like the fact I'm not fighting against the software when getting it to print (I didn't like the old transfer program). Only things I'm missing are good node editing for making those last minute refinements - the node editing on my version of Lightburn is a bit hit and miss.

 

One question though, has anyone had a go at engraving? If so, is your minimum power option greyed out?

 

cheers

 

Jason

[flubrush]

 

I've been reading the last few pages and I've realised I hadn't thanked Jim (fluebrush) for his thoughts on the latest Cut2D - so thanks Jim.

 

As a side issue,  a free update of Cut2D has just been announced - V9.5.  I downloaded it yesterday but I haven't yet installed it.    Here's a video describing some of the additions.

 

 

And here's a much more informative (IMHO :-) ) web page on the improvements

 

https://docs.vectric.com/docs/V9.5/Cut2DLaserDesktop/ENU/Help/Reference%20Manual/Whats%20New/Whats%20New.html

 

I will also check out if they have sorted out the annoyance of resetting the line position to "ON" when recalling a vector to edit it.

 

I haven't been working my machine recently,  having to get involved in making scenery for my layout,  but I could start churning more stuff out in a few weeks' time.  I am now finding that the machine,  and me!!!,  have settled down and I can now fire it up and cut something with no hassle.  If the V9.5 has sorted out the unwanted modifying of edited profiles,  then I can store small sample files of all the materials I use to act as aide memoires when setting up.   Modifying my laser head also means that I can whip it off quickly to clean the lens and replace it without losing the focus setting.

 

Jim.

[flubrush]

As a side issue,  a free update of Cut2D has just been announced - V9.5.  I downloaded it yesterday but I haven't yet installed it.    Here's a video describing some of the additions.

 

 

I take this all back - it's V9.5 for CNC milling.   It's only just dawned on me when I installed it and tried to work on some laser files. :-)

 

Hopefully there will be a similar upgrade for the laser version.

 

Jim.

[nick_bastable]

thanks its expensive though how does it glue?

 

meanwhile

 

DSC_4193a.jpg

 

some of the lines need thickening up as when you breath they break shame as once glued it would not matter

 

guess which dummy used the mk1 cad instead of the revised version with thicker cross beams on the sides 

 

Nick

Just to bring this up to date this is what happens when an extremely talented Jerry Clifford   get  to work on a basic shell and overlay

 

 

 

please remember this is 2mm and the whole wagon is touch over 50mm long

 

Nick

Edited September 29, 2018 by nick_bastable

[Greengiant]

I am having a love hate experience with my Emblaser 2!

When it works correctly it produces good results, when it plays up it very nearly ends up in the bin.

Mine has always been problematic with the lid contacts breaking connection and shutting off the laser, really annoying when you have walked away from the machine, you don't always notice the slight change in sound, to come back to what you hoped was the finished cut to find the laser head has just been along for the ride. My workaround has been a 2.5kg weight and some tape, but frustrating sometimes when you forget, besides it should not be like that.

I had last done any real cutting on the E2 last December/January, only recently starting again this September/October. I now have a big factory wall job to run, so decided to contact Darkly about the lid switches, they said do the test to check the contact position, this involves a soft pencil and masking tape which gives these results, you can see in the photo they are very close to the edge of the contact area.

 

 

 

After trying their suggestions about chassis twisting which made no difference they kindly offered to ship me their later updated contacts which put the pins further out from the frame.

 

The PCB I am holding is the updated version, clearly showing the increase in depth of the mounting points for the pins.

 

 

This is the old one in place.

 

 

Here the new one in place showing the pins now further inward.

 

 

They said it is a simple job to remove screws to replace, unfortunately it is not quite that simple, for a start you cannot get a screwdriver square on to the end plate screws, if you could, there is no way you can lift out the plate and contact PCB because the carcass side extrusion gets in the way.

So it has to be off with the corner, held on by a bolt at the bottom which passes through a rubber foot, then two bolts at the top at the sides.

 

 

Now you can easily get to the two mounting screws, then you wiggle the bracket and PCB to get it free once the two cable plugs have been pulled out.

 

 

When it was all put back together I ran a few tests which were positive, then I ran a job to find the laser cut out again midway through ARGHHHHHHH!

Having another look, it seems the felt seal is lifting the lid from the pins, so I cut off the little pieces of felt which you can see in this picture.

 

 

Ran it again, worked for a while then cut out. So back to my original solution of the 2.5kg weight and tape, at least it works, but rattles now that the felt seal is missing. After further close examination I think the corner moulding is now preventing the lid from dropping down better onto the contact pins, better solution is trying to find a way to mount the pins higher. I have sent off a message back to Darkly to see if they have any suggestions.

 

Apart from that I am now running Lightburn and find the whole setting up much much faster than Laserweb and really quite flexible, but I do only import files from Illustrator, so have no idea about LB drawing capabilities.

I have experienced a couple of 'Alarm lock errors' in the console window, so have asked the suppliers what that means because it aborts the job, which it may subsequently run fine again or abort in a different place in the cut, so a bit random.

 

The Focus calibration app drops the head too far at start up and pushes the nozzle into the card and drags it until the head starts rising, something it never did with Laserweb, so I have sent a support ticket for this as well.

 

Much as I want to like this machine because it has at times produced what I wanted to the standard I required, but my experiences recently and the ever increasing pile of scrapped material, not counting the incredible waste of time and huge frustration it is giving me, my confidence with the E2 is at rock bottom. It has got to the point where I am seriously thinking about going back to the scalpel and plasticard, I could produce things quicker at that rate.

 

How is everyone else getting on with their E2?

 

Martin

Edited October 25, 2018 by Greengiant

[Giles]

I'm afraid I'm still actually using my E1, which of course is much more basic (and therefore doesn't suffer from dome of these problems....  I have yet to fire up the E2,,,,

 

Regarding those contacts, I'm afraid that if I run into the same issue, I shall simply by-pass the contacts, as the lid will stay down, and frankly, I'm not likely to forget to lower the lid (the E1 doesn't even have one!)

Edited October 25, 2018 by Giles

[monkeysarefun]

I haven't been using the lasercutter for a few months - I've since bought a cheap Chinese CNC and an Anycubic Photon Resin printer and playing around with these has taken up all my hobby time! (Love the Photon!)

[Ralph R]

Martin, I have now been using an E2 for 12 months and I can only say my experience is totally the opposite of where you are. I had(have) a problem with the micro switches but a quick packing under one corner always rectifies it - I have never had it cut out in the middle of a job, it usually happens when trying to start off. There is obviously a little flex in the chassis of the E2 but I have always been able to rectify it with packing - usually a small piece of 3mm ply.

 

Over the 12 month period I have spent well over 1000 hours cutting with the machine and the only issue I have had was with the air assist pump which conked out and was replaced very quickly by Darkly under warranty. I have to say their support is second to none and there is no issue with the supplier being based in Australia, their support is much superior to some organisations who are based 2 miles from me. I have had it fail in the middle of a job and that proved to be the laser head circuit board which was caked in soot and just need cleaning but other than that it has performed exactly as I expected, without any problem.

 

In terms of software, Laserweb was an absolute pain in the a** and Lightburn has been a magical switch for me. Jobs that sometimes took 20 minutes to set up in Laserweb now take less that 2 minutes and the flexibility Lightburn gives is superb.

 

The E2 has opened up big changes to the way I can work and I can't think of working without it now. Hope you are able to persevere as I am sure it will be worth it in the end.

 

Ralph

[Greengiant]

Ralph, I agree about Darkly aftersales support, things have moved on for which I will update next week, currently busy prepping stock for the Tolworth show this weekend.

Agree about LightBurn, really enjoy using it, Laserweb was so painful and slooooooooow to use! I use Illustrator so the a ability to take native files into LB is a big thumbs up from me, plus LB is looking to add layer support as well which suits my method of drawing production.

The ‘Alarm lock’ error was overheating PCB, I had no idea there was a second cooling fan for the PCB at the rear, or indeed the ability to remove the rear cover to hoover out dust, both were filthy. Since doing that I have not had an alarm error.

Having a Gen 1 machine I find lens cleaning a real faff, the Gen 2 looks so much easier.

Air assist nozzle alignment is quicker now I know how to activate the laser ‘Fire’ button in LB.

Lid contacts are still an issue, even Darkly are getting stumped, I am beginning to suspect the laser on/off switch itself, but need to do some tests.

 

Martin

[Simond]

Another vote for Lightburn!

 

Best

Simon

[JCL]

Plus one for lightburn here too. I’m pleased I made the jump from Cut2D