The old [Laser Cutter thread][1] is getting a bit large at over a hundred entries and a lot of it pertains to the old version of the laser cutter, which is no longer relevant. It’s about time to fork it!
If you haven’t noticed, I’ve gotten involved with getting the laser cutter working again (mainly because I need to use it for a personal project). I’ve only put in a fraction of the time other people have (big shout out to @nogthree, @leon, @crofty, @lhovo, @devians, and others I’m sure I’m forgetting!) but I noticed there hasn’t really been any complete status updates on the whole machine and what needs to be done to get it working again. So consider this a complete update for better transparency - as well as a call for help if you want to get this machine running!
Stepping back to explain what happened with the machine: the power supply gave us troubles, then the controller board died, then the manufacturer essentially went MIA so we’ve had to swap parts with different ones we hacked together. This laser cutter was very cheap and had many shortcuts taken that we have already/should probably redo properly. Additionally, due to misuse by members (almost all of it completely unintentional and done with the absolute best intentions) both before and after these incidents, many other things have compounded together to impede its proper operation.
The more I work on getting this machine running, the more I’ve realised that we just can’t treat this thing like other HSBNE equipment or else it will be destroyed again in only a few months. We’re going to have to lock it down, because there are regular maintenance things that just simply cannot be done by the average member (even those who have been inducted on just how to use it) because they’re so delicate and if you don’t do them in just the correct way, you run the risk of not only making it worse but also permanently damaging parts we’ll have to replace. So things are going to have to be a little different the second time around and a little more restrictive, but not in any way that prevents people from making cool stuff - just ways that keep it running. For instance, after every hour or so of cutting time, the machine will need to be temporarily disabled until someone who is capable of maintaining the machine can give it a quick once-over service (this might sound like a short interval but an hour of cutting time actually represents a lot of cutting, especially now that it’s cutting much better).
To give you an example of how delicate this machine is - a large speck of dust in the wrong place can seriously impact its performance, and a single human hair or eyelash has the ability to outright destroy pieces of this equipment. Parts of it need to be regularly cleaned so perfectly that not only do you need to avoid touching them with your bare hands, but you also can’t even touch the cleaning equipment’s handles with your bare hands to avoid any secondary contamination. So you can see why I’m saying I think we have to treat this machine a little differently to everything else at HSBNE.
Anyway enough rambling, here’s the current status of the laser cutter!
-The new power supply is a 50W unit, and given we have a 65W tube in there, this is the thing that’s limiting our power output. This is also a cheapy, dodgy-looking power supply so you don’t want to push it too hard. I expect that one day it will fail on us, and at that time we can look at buying a better one capable of supplying the full output of our tube, but that’s a problem for future-us once it dies.
-The new controller board is a [Smoothieboard][2] (yes this machine thinks it’s a cross between a 3D Printer and a CNC mill). It’s all wired in, working beautifully, and is waaay more reliable than the old unit (in fact if you look at [the official Smoothieboard Gallery][3] you might see a familiar sight in the second video from the top!).
-Two of the three mirrors have been replaced and the third is what I’d call “acceptable” quality but not great. The lens is also only “acceptable” quality, with scratches and marks on it, and it will need replacing soon. These are basically consumables and how long they last depends upon how well the machine is maintained (which we’re hoping to improve because replacements costs ~$30 each, minimum). We have one spare mirror and one spare lens in stock, and we will need to order more soon. Please no one attempt to touch, adjust, align or clean the optics in any way at all unless you’re one of the few people that knows how & what you’re doing (and there only are four people at HSBNE who know the correct procedure - to put it another way, if you don’t have the black carry case, you do not have suitable equipment to work on the optics and shouldn’t so much as breathe on them).
-Once the new optics were put in, over the past few weeks we’ve been giving it a complete clean and recalibrate. Even with the remaining semi-dodgy mirror and lens in there, the machine is now far more calibrated than it came from the factory let alone after a few months of HSBNE use. Power output variance is now under 20% over the whole bed, though most is under 10%, meaning you can cut over the whole bed. It’s also now operating at 350-400% more power than it used to have. Yes really. Our test cuts are being made at half the power & twice the speed compared to just a month ago. It’s amazing what properly cleaned & aligned optics can do!
-Leon has written us a plugin for Inkscape that exports a design into Gcode. It’s still a little clunky and it does not support Raster engraving, only Vector, but it does work and he is amazing for doing this. We currently use Pronterface to push the Gcode to the machine (I told you it thinks it’s a 3D printer 
).
-If the above hasn’t made it clear, if you used this machine in the past then all your knowledge about how to use the machine or what speed/power settings to use are completely inaccurate. In addition, it’s really not ready to be used right now, even by those who know how to use it and are the ones repairing it. Some people tend to be a bit cavalier about ignoring Borked or Broken signs, but this time it’s serious. I’m going to say that again - if you attempt to use this machine right now you will undo many weeks of cleaning & calibration work. Even opening the lid could damage it. Do not use in any circumstances under pain of infractions and making me a Sad Panda.
There’s still lots more that has to be done to this machine before we’re ready to run inductions. But it doesn’t have to be done by just us, you can help too! Yes you! I knew nothing about laser cutters until around 3 months ago when I started learning whatever was necessary to get this machine going, so just because you think you don’t know anything that’s no excuse. If you want this machine working, be the change you want to happen. However please don’t just get to work on the machine without saying anything, come talk to us on a Tuesday or ask in Slack/IRC so we can tell you any “gotchas” or safety things you might not be aware of. I’ve thrown up a rough to-do list on [Trello][4] that doesn’t cover everything (none of the swipe interlock, billing or induction stuff is on there), but it lists most of the stuff necessary to make the machine either reliable or safe, and we need to cross off most of these before it’s open for use. [Here’s an example][5] of a fairly easy thing I’d love some help on - modify an air conditioner’s filter into the front panel so the machine stops getting filled with dust. Or [add more interlock microswitches][6] on the other panels to disable the laser when you open the other access panels - this shouldn’t be too hard because you can just wire them in series with the existing interlock’s microswitch.
Also some heads up - in the future when this machine is “ready”, everyone who wants to use this machine will need to be inducted before they can use it and this will be enforced with no exceptions and with a swipe interlock. Inductions will be a 3-hour course roughly equivalent to a cert-1 TAFE course because I really cannot think of any other way to avoid having this machine broken again. There will be homework you’ll be expected to read beforehand, plus an open-book exam at the end of the course, and there will be a small fee attached to inductions to cover both the paper booklet you’ll receive and also consumed cutting materials because you’re going to be making stuff. It won’t be just a quick “here’s the ON button now have fun” thing, it’ll cover all safety procedures and also show you how/walk you through actually making different cool things with the machine.
[1]: Laser Cutter - Setup, concerns, processes etc
[2]: http://smoothieware.org/smoothieboard
[3]: http://smoothieware.org/gallery
[4]: https://trello.com/b/ebCvJ4Th/inbox
[5]: https://trello.com/c/xfKExmqf/177-air-intake-filter
[6]: https://trello.com/c/R7WaTVwC/175-microswitch-interlocks-on-all-unlocked-access-panels
That’s why we’re trying to make it better! We’re almost there with the safety and the reliability issues, but not quite there yet. As always, you can see our current to-do list on the HSBNE Trello, and we’d love some help.
