"That's a problem for future Zach" - CO2 Laser Cutter Part 6
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 เม.ย. 2024
- I've been building a CO2 laser cutter for over a year now. I'm designing a lot of it as I go along, so I often find myself saying "that's a problem for future Zach". Well... now I'm future Zach and I'm having to deal with all the problems I previously pushed down the road.
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If you're like me you have creative ideas and sometimes they get trapped inside your mind. Here on Byte Sized Engineering I make project videos that get you excited about unleashing your inner maker and making those creative ideas a reality!
Chapters:
00:00 - I'm stalling so much, I don't even want to do the intro
00:14 - Intro
01:48 - Motorized bed for Z axis
10:03 - Electronics control panel
14:05 - Building a lid
15:30 - Enclosing the laser cutter
22:53 - It's no longer a janky looking DIY laser cutter!
23:10 - I hate talking about this stuff, but I need your help
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Watching this at 4 am. The "snatchblock" insert nearly gave me a heart attack.
RIP headphone users
use a bit of solder flux for those wire ends next time, it helps wet the solder and make it draw into the stranded cable
You may want to have it cut the exhaust/air assist a few minutes after it's done, make sure it clears it out.
Good thinking
Honestly, I have only found your channel an hour ago but I've been loving these videos.
But after 12:30 now I'm a bit worried that you're not up for discussion or advice. The reason people recommend ferrules when terminating stranded wires is because stranded wires can come loose easier, and stray strands which are hard to see could make contact.
Nobody in the universe would be worried about 120v arcing over that distance even 2KV has a spark gap of ~1mm; that's not the concern though mate.
Anyways, awesome video, cheers.
Thanks! I'm totally open for discussion and suggestions! I've been doing this a long time and my comments range from down right nasty and disrespectful, to totally friendly and helpful like yours. There are a lot of armchair experts out there, and they all seem to be in my comment section! I was specifically talking about the comments I received saying that my bare copper connections would cause a fire and burn down my house. I appreciate their worries, but I'll be fine.
I'm glad you found my channel! I've got videos on so many different projects. What kind of things do you like to make?
@@bytesizedengineering Ah fair enough. It must be so frustrating putting so much work into a project & video only to get angry pedants in the comment section.
I've mostly only done small projects like a spot welder I made, but I've also tig welded together a BBQ as a personal project. I've moved house so the projects are on the back burner, but videos like yours make me itch to get into the workshop.
Snatchblock Dustin startled me.
Believe it or not, I've not used ferrules on my 3d printer and after 3 years of use when I took it apart the block where the wires connected was melted into a blob and the insulation on the wires was melted too, almost burned my house down. What happens is the wires wiggle loose in time causing a high resistance connection, thus dissipating a lot of heat. It's not that electricity jumps across or whatever, it's that loose wires work themselves free in time if you don't have a spring to keep constant pressure on them.
It's only required for stranded wires, if you use solid core it's fine without.
Did that melting happen on the AC input side of your power supply? Or was it on the DC heated bed terminals? What kind of printer was it? I had an anet a8 and cheap printers from China are notorious for using wire that's too small. When you run too much current through too small of wire it warms up and gets soft and deforms. Also most cheap 3D printers don't have safety measures in place for thermal runaway. I put a version of the Marlin firmware on my machine that had these safety features.
@@bytesizedengineering nope, dc supply to the main board. You're right about the AC being lower power, a loose wire will likely just short to earth and pop the breaker assuming it's just one wire that goes for a ride :)
My printer is a fully diy thing, it's using ferrules now and haven't had an issue, but I still check it on a regular basis.
@@bytesizedengineering dude just accept that this is the right way to do your terminala😂
Those ferrules are there more to consolidate and compress the stranded before it goes into the screw terminal. The reason for that is to prevent the strands from shifting and settling in the terminal which can cause poor connection between the wire and terminal and create a build up of heat at the terminal which is the fire risk that people are talking about. It's really only a problem when running power but may cause an annoying issue of intermittent signal on data lines if they come lose.
The car audio world has good examples of why they are needed if you want more information.
that was some interesting soldering on the stepper motor 😳
Future Zach you also need a way to feed material front and back of your machine as an avid user of these machines that is a very nice feature to have!
I love your build! I appreciate leaving the oops in, helps me think through my design. You, sir, are an inspiration!
lol @ the ferrules. I’ve worked on hundreds of industrial control panels in the field, some 20+ years old. 480V down to 10V. Never seen anything go wrong because someone didn’t use ferrules. But they are really really nice, especially when you make an oopsie and need to move things around, and it gives a nice professional appearance.
Thanks for the videos, super excited to do a project like this! I appreciate how thorough AND concise this series is
I so want to build one of those. Just have to wait for my house to finish being built.
This has been a great video series for anyone wanting to learn how to build their own CO2 laser cutter. And it's great you share your trials and tribulations with it too, so it helps others avoid pitfalls. Bravo!
So much work! Really cool stuff man!
Damn! This channel is amazing! I discovered this channel today and I'm already binge watching all your videos! Thank you for this wonderful content!
Ferrules help to ensure connection points can withstand the same loads as the wires between them. A lack of them doesn't necessarily create a fire hazard; but for engineered systems that use a minimum of materials for their load requirements, their lack is a known and common point of failure.
Great video! I really like this series.
On the enclosure, instead of fitting pannels into the channels, and having to have notches specially cut for all 4 corners on every pannel, one could put screws into the very outside channels with corresponding holes in the pannels that are fitted to the outside dimentions and held in place with attractive chrome or stainless steel cap nuts or end caps.
Your idea is the efficient way but the way he did it just looks sick
Great video series man! The only thing that genuinely drove me nuts was the music... had to turn the sound all the way down and use captions. A more tame score perhaps? Thanks for sharing.
worst music of any channel, it's like he's seeing how much we can take. I'm about to break lol
man, you did some epic job there and defntly deserves helluva more likes!!!!!
This is an awesome project man! Thank you for shooting it
That was an amazing project, I really enjoyed, I have a 80w laser machine but size of bed is small might one day try this just subscribed thanks
The reason people are telling you to use ferrules isn't for insulation. It's for reliable electrical onnections. The ferrules keep the wire connections from becoming loose after the strands spread out under the screw. Those loose connections can cause poor conductivity, resulting in heat.
I've printed that exact belt holder apart a dozen times like 10 years ago , funny thing is , you said you designed it .
I found little belt clips for 6mm belt but not 10mm so I designed one in fusion 360 in the same style as the 6mm clips I found on thingiverse. I have the fusion 360 file if you want it.
Cool machine! Great video!
But I need to comment the end sleeves for flexible wires:
The problem is not the 30kv/cm!
The problem is that screw terminals with flexible wires are not really robust. Wires my get loose, weak contacts can cause high voltage drop in the terminals. Heat is produced, and this can cause fires.
Will not happen very often, but i have seen burnt sockets, and terminals. They will probably not burn your house, but damages in your projects are annoying as well…
Last but not least: great laser, great video, and greetings from Austria
This was the main cause of 3D printer fires in the early days. It's what gained the Anet A8 the firestarter nickname.
Being an electrician myself...
Wires getting lose is just as much of a problem with solid core wires, witch you basicly turn a multicore wire into (at least the tip) with ferrals.
@@theqwert228 Their main point is to provide some mechanical protection and increase pull-out force via the ridges on their exterior, with a ferrule you can loosen and tighten the screw terminal many times with minimal wear which is very practical on a DIY device, without a ferrule the wire will be damaged each time which at best is annoying at worst will severely worsen the connection.
They also supposedly lessen the effect of vibrations since the stress point of the screw isn't concentrated to such a small point but I can't say I've ever had the opportunity to test that.
So while they're technically not necessary, if you're using screw terminals of dubious quality I'd certainly spend the extra 30 seconds to attach a ferrule.
That looks NIIIICE
Some nice crimping pliers... different style but nice.
( A&P mechanic 20 years)
Looking forward to build guide and BoM. This makes me want to build one. I’ve been eyeing similarly sized machines and like you said $12k+
Here are my two cents:
#1: Can the translucent acrylic in the lid block laser beams?
#2: You need a mechanism to block your lid, so nobody can open it as long as the laser runs // OR // Put a kill switch into the lid that deactivates the complete laser as soon as someone opens the lid
really liking this video series. would love to see the next step of software setup and longer term use and bugs you may have found along the way.
Hey! I stumbled across your video's by chance and I love the projects you've taken on! One question about this build - what safety precautions have you taken against fire, (toxic) fume extraction, etc?
On screw terminals like those on the power supply, you should be using open spade terminals rather than ferrules...
Mr. Zach...please do 3D print corner coverings for the machine, to round off the corner edges of the machine...if you want to though, maybe you like the look of the profiles ends sticking out...but just for cosmetics😉😄
Do the translucent panels of the lid block the wavelengths of the laser sufficiently to make it safe from accidental reflection?
We used a load-sensing power strip for my laser setup at the work makers' lab. So this way, when the laser was on, the water was running, and the air pump was.
After the last video I was worried you weren't going to enclose this beast of a machine
Was gonna switch around my design to a neat one like this but i think its best not to have the outer frame attached to the internals. Any shifting from the outer shell affects the alignment.
The hinge is attached directly to the internals and it has to be opened and closed everytime the machine is used so i can see frequent mis alignments in the future
On terminating your wires, I could be wrong especially since i had not yet seen that episode, but I think their the criticism were less about electricity jumping through air with a dielectric strength of about 3kv per mm of gap, but ratherly that oxidation might cause Hotspots. (Edited after reading other comments) stranded wire also can compress making a bad connection.
I used to work in the military on communication equipment and excluding operator head space, I mean operator error, 95% of the real problems were oxidation at the connectors. its a very real problem. Incidently this is why some computer problems go away when you take it apart and put it back together breaking through an oxidation layer.
oxidation doesn't allow current to flow. It has a high value of resistance. If a connection become say 95% oxidized, current is only flowing through the remaining 5% cross section that isn't oxidized and with current flowing through a smaller cross section, the connection tends to get hot. Which in some cases may cause a fire at worst, or eventual equipment malfunction at the least.
Loving the videos :) PLEASE though, change the top acrylic to laser safe or something! You have a 100W laser that may bounce off of one of those divides between the honeycomb and it will bounce straight up to the acrylic, which is one thing CO2 lasers cut VERY WELL! I'm inspired but please, do change this bit ASAP!
Agreed, I was just looking at that and it's a bit concerning! Though hopefully by the time the laser makes it up to the acrylic, it'll be out of focus. And the acrylic will absorb the laser rather than transmit it through, after all that's what lets you cut acrylic that way.
I've just come across your build, which is fortuitous as I've just decided to build my own laser ... I'm going to be a bit simpler with the frame using MDF or plywood ... only extrusions will be C-Beams with two for X axis and one for Y axis .......... I've still to decide whether to go with CO2 or a diode laser, although I suppose I could fit both (it's just money after all) .... still to decide on electronics as well.
Thanks for sharing, it's been very interesting and will help me avoid some of the issues you have come across 👍
Have you decided which lazer yet, and if so what was the reasoning?
@@kreynolds1123 Hi, had a bit of ill health lately so not done any more research ... I've been looking at two diode lasers in particular (longer lifespan and easier to set up than CO2) the XTool 20W module and the AtomStack M100 20W module ... I'll most likely go for the AtomStack as it's 1) a fair bit cheaper and 2) it comes with everything required (including the air assist bit).
I have a feeling that all of these lasers originate from one or two places and it's only the clothing (casings etc) which is changed for each company.
@@barry.w.christie If you want to cut wood - or PCBs and lots of things other than clear acrylic, diode would be good (though they tend to burn out faster but are cheaper).
As tempting as a diode laser is, I am more inclined towards CO2 despite the extra cost and requirements purely because it can cut transparent acrylics
Hmmm ... when I looked a 40w CO2 laser was cheaper than buying a diode and the info I found said that the CO2 would burn out faster than the diode ... more research needed before I decide!
I've got a bathroom and a boiler to install first before I go anywhere near my mill and laser 👍
@Barry Christie i think CO2 without a cooler and water pump burn out faster.. as far as i know, they can go for longer if maintained. We have a couple of CO2 at a makepeace with extreme heavy use and i think they've outlasted diode. That's with chillers. If coolant is circulated it may eventually heat up in a closed system reducing any cooling. Maybe this is where the data comes in against CO2, diode don't require the same cooling so could last longer without being careful. Water < coolant < coolant + radiator :)
If be keen to hear about your findings!
Back in the day I worked with commercial high power CO2 lasers - I guess it surprised me that the laser tubes you can get these days are kind of turnkey. No need to mess with optics, gas mixes, vacuum pumps or any of the rest of that. No need to align the mirrors, etc.
My gut tells me that those side panels you installed will probably act as mirrors at 10 micron wavelengths. The acrylic will definitely absorb the beam (put a piece in the beam just for fun, but make sure you have good ventilation).
You might keep a refractory brick on hand (the things that people who build kilns for pottery use). You can use it as a beam stop - it will absorb the beam and get quite hot, but it won't burn up.
I am building a laser cutter that's big enough for me to fit in actually lmao.
I bought the build guide too its up next.
Where could we get those 3d print files for the bed lead screws?
I called it at 18:50 the use of blue tape. I was just telling my self you better blue tape them in place or they will drop.
If you want to bend non-ferrous sheet metal without stressing it to shear, try annealing it first, heat it too much with a torch, and let it cool...
in the future, when leveling a bed, cut four pieces of hard aluminum or wood stock that are the exact same length and rest the bed on them in order to level, you'll get FAR more accurate leveling, and no need to pull the tape measure out,
there's only one thing left that you really should do with that cutter:
change those gray acrylic panels to proper laser safety ones
Man, I have had my laser machine for 2 years. If you don't get it UV shielded, you're gonna cause yourself some eyesight issues.
No one's perfect. Are you confident that you'll ALWAYS shield yourself from the UV rays while it is running? It is useful to check large jobs while running them. I am currently doing a 4 hour job, and I check it about every 20 to 30 minutes. My machine has a UV shielded cover though. You're gonna forget to wear UV glasses in the middle of long jobs.
So first of all, no judgement. That being said, is that translucent gray acrylic blocking the laser's wavelength? If so, how did you know? I've tried shopping around for laser-blocking materials, but I've always found it difficult to confidently know whether a given material will block a given wavelength. Is there a resource out there I'm unaware of? Or did you just test by shooting at paper, with the acrylic between? Very curious.
Great question. I'm not expecting the acrylic to block all of the energy of the laser. I haven't eliminated all of the risk. There is still risk in my setup. My first line of defense is having mirrors that are aligned in all locations of the work area. My second line of defense is wearing safety glasses that are rated for 10,600 nanometers which is the wavelength of my tube. Lastly, I know that this laser will cut through acrylic so in the event of a failed mirror alignment the acrylic will absorb some of the energy. Obviously some of the energy will make it through and that's why I wear safety glasses. I'm not aware of any translucent materials that would block the right wavelength. Other than the material that is in my safety glasses.
@@bytesizedengineering consider using polycarbonate, if memory serves it blocks nearly all light at CO2 laser wavelengths. Don't take my word for it though and look into it yourself.
@@oliverer3 I'm pretty sure that's about right. reguardless, if it lazer light went wild, it could still burn through and one would still need safety glasses.
Consider a all clear and in operation status light. While you may be able to hear the machine running and know to have you're glasses on future users may not be as knowledgeable or careful. In addition you may want to entertain a N/C switch on you're door ties into the E-stop for similar reasons. Amazing job.@byte sized engineering
So people know, and your self Zack with rubber, you want to use really good stinky contact cement (not the water base stuff, and make sure to use a mask). You place it on both smooth sides like the cut-out you have and let it dry 100%. Then you touch both sides that were glued, and they fuse. It is crazy how it works. I used this on EVA foam and on leather too.
What's the countersink bit you're using? it looks fantastic.
issue I see with the panels is that it will be hard to servive the machine. since you need to take the frame apart to open it up. Probably would have made more sense to just use a surface mount panel that you can easily remove. You could have just used the t-nuts and machine screws to hold the surface mount panels.
Can you please link to the material you used for the enclosure panels?
It's called aluminum composite material. I think it's sometimes called Dibond. It might be best to get it from a local source. I got these panels from the video sponsor Send Cut Send. sendcutsend.com/materials/acm/
@@bytesizedengineering thank you very much. I'm in the process of building a machine too. I'm building off of the plans from @furtherfabrications.
Can you adjust the power output of the tube?
Ferrals are importent to keep the strands together, if u just put drilled wire into an screw terminal, they can get lose over time, because the get compressed and spread apart, witch may or may not can create short, therefore fire hazards.
Do you have a file for the Ruida controller enclosure you could share?
Is your build guide posted anywhere?
I haven't made one yet, I'm sorry!
Are the files for the 3d printed parts available?
It would be easier to bolt the panels on to the faces of your construction. Having to do major disassembly anytime you need to get at something is unnecessary complication.
That relay board looks somewhat exposed… I'd be screwing down a plastic cover box over that ASAP, especially with kids around.
Where's part 7? Was this project ever completed?
What kind of heat gun is that at 7:14?
I have a complete solder station like this:
amzn.to/3WktcSs
But you could also buy a standalone hot air gun like this: amzn.to/3Xn3luD
TBH the triangles on the lid weren't really needed, the acrylic sheet would've provided plenty of support. I would question, though, whether that acrylic is really appropriately opaque to your laser wavelength...
Next video, "I blinded myself building my own Co2 laser machine".
Did you ever post the design files?
No, I'm sorry.
Why?
LMAOOOO 🤣 SNATCH BLOCK
I'm concerned about the choice to use clear material for any part of the case. At 100 W optical power, simply looking at the spot the laser makes is enough to cause permanent eye damage. This is nothing to play around with; make absolutely sure that the shell of the machine is 100% opaque to the wavelength the laser produces (9.6 µm and 10.6 µm for a CO₂ laser, or 28.28/31.2 THz). This includes the corners where you notched out the material for the braces.
What was the total cost of this project ?
I don't have an exact amount, but I know it's around $3,000 to $4,000. An industrial machine with similar specs would cost $15,000 to $20,000
Where are the plans ?
i laughed when you designed the belt connector and used an m3 bolt after going through so much effort to make everything m5
Hi, bro, your video is amazing how make easy way projector tell me iam engineering student college give project assignment idea 💡
Wait, I watched *all* of the laser cutter videos, and not *ONE* shark?
I might be stir crazy, but why spend $300 on honey cone when you could just use thick gauge chicken wire and some supports?
Hi never seen any earthing anywhere on build the laser generates 1000,s of volts
Not sure what these comments experts you speak of have been reading, but it's fine to use bare stranded wire in screw terminals, what IS wrong is tinning the ends or using the orrdinary automotive style crimps (although ring style or the fork style are ok with the type of terminals in this video) - screw terminals rely on you being able to compress the wire slightly, this is what creates the 'grip' and makes the connection secure. If a solid copper, tinned or crimped wire is used it doesn't 'crush' and so can easily become loose and THEN your house burns down (potentially). Hope you fastened that bl@@dy vice already.
L I K E 👍 👍 👍👍👍👍💯💯💯 😻 😻 😻 😻 😻 😻 😻
How mad were you when you realized you couldnt use all those angle bracket/fasteners after installing the black panels? Lol Lots of mistakes were made on my build too but its still running 7 years later.
I watched the whole video series, but you forgot to show us how it works....
The wire ferrules are to keep stay stands from coming into contact with the housing to the power supply or anything else that it's not supposed to. When/if you are disconnecting and reconnecting wires and they get deformed and broken this keeps everything a lot easier to reconnect... And safer when the wires start getting deformed and broken. Was a fan until you passive aggressively gaslite people trying to help and give suggestions, especially if you don't understand the reasons you are arguing against. It comes across way better if you humbly accept advice from likely more experienced people instead of blowing them off on your channel.
you don't go blind if you don't use glasses when laser cutting if you are not looking at laser, but it's required by safety protocols. Your house will not burn down every time you don't use ferrules, but it's safety protocol to use ferrules on cables that are stranded because stranded cables can have loose strands or strands separate from each other and come loose. also it's a cable relief just like every other usb, laptop or vacuum cleaner cable has. and all that said, you are making your strip your cables way too short on many of your videos. The core of the cable is not contacting whole ferrule, which is problem on some of you connections where you have a really long ferrules, but really short cable striping which means you just clamp down on empty ferrule ends where there is no cable. You can strip cables so much that they poke out on the other side of ferrule and then cut them after crimping to be sure it correct length. Also you can cut ferrules shorter after criming if you have long ferrules, but not so deep terminals.
god damn jumpscare
M3 bolt??? 😲😲😲😲😲
How much rs. In India co2 laser machine form rajsthan delivery rs I m resale is machine size 1. 900mmx1200mm 2. 1200*2400 working size tube 130wt. singal or double had Haney pad up Dune 5300 chiller pl. Sand quotation
Maybe it is not very clever to stop exhaust fans immediately with the end of the job, as this means, that a lot of smoke will stay inside your machine everytime, you finish lasering.... !?
Well, now you know how to make these and you can be the one selling them for $10k+
For as much as I like the feral crimps you should have used fork crimps so when tightening down the screws on the power supplies it would have an equal pressure on it.
Great videos no doubt about it! But you are an electrical engineer so you should know about proper wiring and proper terminal connections. Stop complaining that people are giving you advice on how to do things properly. The right way to terminate will give longer lasting and more secure connections. Your house may not burn down, but you will have a lesser chance of problems hapening.