diy laser engraving

As it becomes much cheaper to make electronics, manufacturers can get more technology that allows us to create whatever we want.
One of the things I\'m passionate about is laser engraving.
Before I decided which technology I wanted to use, I did a little research that was both affordable and highend.
In this instructable I will give you all the information I collect and instructions on how to laser carve yourself and create anything you want with it.
Look forward to your comments and hope you like them.
The most important criterion when looking for the right laser engraving machine is our ability.
Think about what you want to engrave before you buy.
The more difficult the engraving material is, the more power you need, the more expensive the laser engraver will be.
The normal power you should see on an affordable machine changes between 300 mW and 1000 mW.
Since my main goal was to carve on wood and cards, I chose 500 MW.
After a different review and shop, I finally decided to choose the following laser sculptor: This sculptor usually goes on with the promotion and the price is very cheap (around 80$).
Their 1000 MW version should be a little bit more expensive, about $10.
This laser engraving machine has the following specs: I like to give my bottom line at the beginning, so I will give a short spoiler, this sculptor is very disgusting :)
Learn more. .
The sculptor arrived in a protective box in a few days (
Can be seen in the picture above).
In the box, you can find the following: the time to prepare the machine for our test flight.
This step is very easy, all you need to do is remove the nylon and foam packaging, remove the duck tape on the bottom plate that is used to save the material we carve, and remove the package around the laser pointer.
I also noticed some screws that were not reinforced so I fixed it too.
Any device that emits a laser requires us to use additional protection in the past.
The engraver includes laser protective glasses, a type of glasses used to protect our eyes, as the device emits lasers of different wavelengths.
This laser consists of two wavelengths that are invisible and visible.
Since we do not use a professional laser engraver, I suggest not to look at the direction of the machine when engraving.
I \'ve seen some people create a box around the machine, blocking the light.
Personally, I think this is the best solution.
Still, if you want to get to know the process, either put a camera next to the engraving or use the glasses that came with the sculptor.
Since we are using light, we should avoid lettering on white material.
White reflects the light very well, so it is very dangerous to use a laser.
In addition to the white material, you should also avoid engraving on mirrors, lenses and metals.
There are special sculptors for this material, not what we use :)
Our engraving machine has two ports: the power port is the normal USB port and the data port is the mini usb port so it is easy to determine between ports.
First connect the power supply using 5 v 1A (Including PSU)
, Then connect the data cable to the computer.
We don\'t use the computer, but we need to connect the computer so that the printer can be turned on.
To achieve better results, we need to make sure that the focus of the laser is adjusted to the surface height of our engraving.
Before we check whether the focus is correct, we should put the surface of our engraving on the engraving board (in our case -
The blue board you see in the picture).
Use rubber bands to ensure that the surface does not move when the engraving machine moves the bottom plate.
Once the surface is still, you should see the laser indicator above.
Wear protective glasses and start adjusting the focus until you get the best.
I have attached a picture of the focus screw you need to play.
\"Hello World\" if all goes well, you should see that the laser indicator marks a point on the paper below.
In our test flight, we loaded the engraving default icon into the printer just to make sure our focus settings are correct and everything is OK.
When we load our own artwork, we want to do so before making things more complicated.
Make sure you have done the following before we carve: sculpt preview Click the button at the top (
Yellow in our case)
, Engraving preview mode will be enabled.
In this mode, the engraving machine will draw a rectangle showing you the boundaries of the artwork to be carved.
Here, you can make sure that the machine is carved only on the relevant surface, or you can place the surface, so that you can carve where you want it.
Start engraving another click on the same button to start the engraving process.
Here you should avoid looking directly at the laser and you just have to wait until the process is complete.
If you would like to pause engraving, please click the button again.
In order to operate the engraving machine, you will need to download and install a driver and a software from the following website: Make sure you download the latest drivers and software.
You can also download a pack of pictures that you can play and carve at will.
Once everything is connected, the software can be successfully connected to the machine, following the steps below: Do not be nervous about the smoke coming from the material.
Hope everything goes well, let me know if you have any questions, Aviv Mussali.