Talk:Equipment/Laser Cutter

Laser cutters used by other spaces

Model	Owner	Cost	Bed size	URL
HPC LS3060	London Hackspace	3250	290x570	http://hpclaser.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=39
HPC LS3020	Nottinghack	1125	300x210	http://hpclaser.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=40
Epilog Mini 24 40W	FabLab Manchester	(Estimated) 11450	300x600	http://www.epiloglaser.co.uk/legend_mini24.htm

For comparison, a 1200x900 laser cutter from Shenhui (who appear to be the internet's Chinese supplier of choice) comes in at US$4000 + US$250 seafreight + 4.5% import duty + delivery (or collection) from Felixstowe - that's roughly £2775 ex VAT.

Replacement tubes cost £195 ex VAT for a 40W HPC tube (LS3020/LS3060) and £350 ex VAT for an 80W (LS1290). They are rated at 1000 hours, although this is heavily dependent on careful calibration of the machine and will be much lower if it's misconfigured.

Questions and Requirements

• Cambridge Science Centre
  • 600 x 900mm would allow use for exhibit units
• Thickness of materials?
  • 25mm acrylic, 10-12mm ply (depending on ply)
• Do we need a cooler unit?
  • No. More needed for continuous use (we expect regular but intermittent use)
• What are the power supply requirements?
  • 240 V 50hz

How much power does the laser and the fume filter, require? I have looked on their website and it's not clear, I also had a looked on the Bofa Website for information about the fume filter, and there are too many models to be able select the correct model. When you next contact the supplier. Can you ask the following.

What size supply will each item require?

• TBC (nothing out of the ordinary)

I did read somewhere on the site, that the laser and the fume filter would be interlocked, is this correct? If so, this would suggest that only single supply would be required for both items. and one more question,

• The pumps are powered from the back of the laser cutter, but the filter is a separate supply

Does the laser need a assigned PC?

• Yes

• [User:Barhamd] I'm wanting to cut thin 1mm and .5mm ABS or perspex for model buildings. Would like something that can cut and half-cut a fine ~.25mm line. Not so concerned about massive size. Is this some kind of work something that could be done on a large cutter or do we need a smaller unit too?
  • It states "Resetting position accuracy: 0.015mm"
• How often do the lasers need replacing?
  • It depends on lots of things like care, use level, how much degradation is acceptable, luck - "could be 1 year or 5 years"; we will assume every year for now

What (if anything) can this do on metals?

• Possibly mark using a paste, but certainly can't cut

What sort of line thickness does it give?

• Laser width is approx 0.15mm

The bare minimum for me would be something capable of cutting an A3 sheet, which probably means 600x450mm. A 1200x900mm[1] machine from Laserscript comes in at about £6.5K; a used one went on eBay recently for something like £4.5K. The factory gate price for a similar unit from Shenhui, who are a well-regarded Chinese manufacturer, is $4K -sea-freight would come in at $250, and import duty appears to be 4.5%.

I (Dave from the science centre) would be really keen to be able to cut at least A1 on it (840x594mm) As this is the biggest module we are using at the moment.

Powering On Sequence

I wanted to make turning Betsy on & off (turn on Laser 1 switch, turn on laser 2 switch, turn key switch) the same as Jaws (turn key switch and relax). Betsy will trip it's internal circuit breaker very easily. This is because Betsey has a DZ47LE-32 C10 RCD breaker while Jaws has a DZ47LE-32 C32 RCD breaker. The difference between C10 and C32 is the time it takes to trip when the current limit is exceeded, the C10 will trip much faster e.g. on current spikes when the laser, cooler and extractor are turned on.

We could replace the C10 breaker in Betsy for with a C32 breaker from Chine (here) for $13.50 however I'm not sure if it would affect anything else.

--Pinski1 (talk) 14:10, 29 January 2015 (UTC)

So, we talked about this before. I'm against it, given that we don't know what the other electronics are. Adding this so that my stance is written down.

--DianaProbst (talk) 20:48, 25 June 2016 (BST)