Sir you are a saint!! Who cares about another u tube video when yours shows all of the process and hick ups. Thank you soo much for fighting the battle. I love the clean look of the laser compared to cnc and it's less messy until the final cut out. Would love to see what you do for an enclosure next! Happy snapping
Thank you for saving me a boat load of time. Just received my Snapmaker and you are correct that the learning curve is pretty steep. Coming from a CNC plasma table this is totally different. Will be looking for that contact paper tomorrow.
You talk about "a real TH-camr ", you deserve more credits! I like the tone and speed of your explanation. Not everything must be on 200% speed, flashy and with too much animations ;-). Thanks!
Hey Wilfred! Thanks for the nice comment and I am glad you liked the video. I am working on a new one with the new high powered laser that I hope to have done soon. Appreciate you and everyone else taking the time to comment and subscribe.
Nice video, Rick. Very clear and at a good pace. I felt like I was watching Edison invent the light bulb. Testing a 1000 filaments before finding the right recipe. My advice, keep it real. Don’t become an overproduced TH-cam ’pro’. I can’t wait to try this.
Thanks for posting this Rick. I plan on getting the Snapmaker 2.0 A350 here in a week or so and want do do acrylic laser etching with it. Seems you found a good way of doing it!
You will love it. Like all new software the Luban takes some learning but for this it isn't too bad. I got the new high power laser and I am struggling with it because it is so powerful. I am doing more acrylic etchings as I write this but had to turn the power way down on the 10W laser to be equal to the 1.6W laser. I plan to make a video on this once I figure it out for myself. The A350 has a nice size bed and with CNC and 3D printing it is capable of a lot more than I am. LOL!
@@ricklyon2635 Hey Rick. Are you still messing around with engraving clear acrylic with a diode? If so, I found a method I like a lot. You take a sheet of metal and coat it with gray spray paint primer. Once it's fully dry, focus your laser to the sheet metal then place the acrylic on top. The results are great and there's very little post processing to be done. And when it's time to do another sheet of acrylic, just sand down the sheet of metal and reapply the primer. Don't try engraving without putting a fresh coat down. I tried so you don't have to. The results are not good.
@@EndoBaggins I have been pretty busy with project: JesusMetaverse.org but otherwise struggling to tame my new high powered laser head for Snapmaker. I hope to get back to it soon. I appreciate your advice and will certainly give it a try. Thanks.
Thank you sir for taking the time to make this video & pass on your advice and experience on this particular procedure. It will be truly helpful. All i seem to have achieved on my brandnew machine is drive a brandnew CNC cutter hard into the work-surface whereupon it snapped off, whizzed past my head like a bullet & ricocheted off the wall behind me. Ridiculous yes, (but you certainly do learn from your mistakes). I now hunt down black contact paper & cast acrylic, so thanks again.
Thanks for posting this is very helpful. Can you provide the settings you used in Luban? Did you use dot or line fill? Fill interval? Jog speed? Dwell time? Laser power? Thank you.
A compound square would help getting square with the bed of the machine. A deburring tool would remove the rough edges on the acrylic. A rotary cutter will trim the excess contact paper. And using your ink roller would ensure a smooth application of the contact paper. These are a few suggestions that may help.
Hello, if possible could you please post the link to the clock that you purchased. I am looking for the same one. Thanks for a great video. I really appreciate you explaining everything that you have tried and showing the results. Great stuff.
Suggestion for you: If you have a bubble that you just can't press out, try sticking it with a needle as near the center as possible. Then press around the point of penetration in circles that get smaller as you go. When you get to the center, viola! You're all done! This method worked for me when I was a sign fabricator for a local municipality here in the Dallas area.
@@ricklyon2635 absolutely. I'll be getting some soon. Being 16 with a smapmaker 2.0 I think is an achievement 😂. You should do a series on different material problems with 3D printing (like ABS TPU TEP) and laser. It would be awesome
I have been working with 10W but struggling. I got it to work pretty well by using 16% power wich is equivalent to 1.6W and 200 speed. Even though supposedly same as old laser it seems significantly faster but I am still learning with 10w too. It is powerful and fast. I will do a video when I can creat consistent results. Thanks for asking.
Rick- Great video- I appreciate you including what worked and didn't. I have tried a number of things with dismal results. I looked at the settings you mentioned in the comments below and still had questions-- not sure if it is due to differences in versions of Luban or between the 1.6 and 10W laser. When you mentioned horizontal, density 10, work speed 100, 2 passes, 1mm depth and 100% power (you also said in the video something about a "fixed Power" check box), I couldn't figure out where to start. What Method did you select? If I chose "Filled", I could select Horizontal, but couldn't set a number of passes or depth. If I selected "On the Path", I couldn't select any direction (horizontal or vertical)-- and I couldn't find anywhere to set "Density". Also another stupid question-- are you using the 1.6W or 10W laser-- 100% power would be quite different. Thanks!
Home Depot and Lowes both sell the plastic sheets with the brown paper on it. I think they will cut it to size and drill holes into it upon request. I was so worried you'd be the brave one and not wear your protective goggles. Have you considered getting their enclosure which appears to have protective colored transparent panels on it? Or their rotary attachment for milling, engraving/etching, possibly 3D printing onto cylindrical or rectangular objects? The enclosure should make the machine not only a lot quieter but offer better control of fumes when lasering leathers or other smelly materials, CNC engraving, and so forth. You might also want to see if the Photo V Carve software from Vectric will let you import & design CNC 3D cut files that can be exported to standard gcode for your 3-in-1. If it does then you can pass along another tutorial to us on your experiences for getting the best results.
Great work! I'd very much like to hear how the cutting goes for you. I've so far been struggling to find examples of people *cutting* acrylic with the Snapmaker (whether with CNC or laser), which is one of the things I really want to know if I can do before buying.
I used the CNC to cut the acrylic but I haven’t figured out how to cut it with laser. I made one half hearted attempt but it didn’t work. Not saying you can’t but I haven’t seriously tried either. CNC worked great though. I really like my Snapmaker. IMO it probably isn’t meant for high volume commercial use but good for serious hobbyists for sure. Luban software is fairly easy but frustrating too. Very short on instructions IMO. But some of the other such software is overwhelming for me because it has thousands of functions. I’ve had my Snapmaker 6 months now. I’m glad I bought it, have made some cool stuff and no serious complaints.
Rick, can you post a link to the black contact paper you used? Thanks for this video! I tried the dry erase marker as well, tried using cardboard underneath as well and paper on top, grew frustrated and gave up. This video is a masterclass! Kudos to you for your fortitude and perseverance to push forward and find a way. Right now I’m CNC etching and cutting but after watching this video. I think I’m going to switch to laser etching with CNC cut out. Thanks!
could you share link where you got the clock stand? mightyou know if there is way to have like other info there ? like stock ticker scrolling or weather??
Yes. Be aware that this base comes ONLY as 24 hour military time. It will not do 12 hour am/pm. Some, but not all, of their smaller clocks claim to be am/pm but they are 24 hour clocks that display am or pm such as 14:00 pm. Just be careful when ordering. www.xstron.com/long-led-base-clock-7-rgb-lights-ir-remote . The only other place I have found these bases is on AliExpress. If you find a better source please let me know too. Thanks.
Thank you very much for sharing this Sir, hard work indeed and I bet costly as well. Did it take 22 hours to laser engrave it, plus the CNC cutting? Time wise how long does it take to make the final product, following all the steps you mentioned. Thank you very much!
You need to be careful cutting the EVA contact paper with the laser. Check with manufacturer to see if the formulation used contains chlorine. If so, poisonous gas may be produced. My understanding is that laser cutter and engravers are not to be used with PVC materials for this reason.
This is exactly what I needed to know, but I have one other question. What settings did you use to convert/process your original image? B/W, vector, greyscale, ect. I find the burn pattern varies greatly and would certainly affect the final image quality. Thanks again! You've helped over 1700 of us so far!
Thanks Geoff. I am really glad this has been helpful to so many people and to you. I made an excel spreadsheet of the settings I used. For this I used B&W with default (I think) 168. On process page I used horizontal, density 10, work speed 100, 2 passes, 1mm depth, 100% power (make sure it is on 100 because it seems to default to 50. Good luck! and Thanks!
For safety sake please be sure you are not laser cutting vinyl or PVC based contact paper (a lot of them are), the fumes are some of the worst releasing corrosive hydrogen gas, ethylene, vinyl chloride and dioxin. The hydrogen gas will eventually foul up the laser lens and the rest is really REALLY bad for your health if inhaled. Learned this lesson trying to cut stickers made from vinyl. Stay safe out there and thanks for the video! I'm going to give that spray chalk a try.
Thank you for going through all the trial and error so we don’t need to. But man you went through a lot of acrylic to get to the answer. Would it not have been better to use small test sizes, maybe 3”x3”? Also, on your phone there should be setting so the video isn’t reversed when using the selfie camera (if that’s what you meant). It’s a shame the power supply is so noisy on the Snapmaker.
Sir you are a saint!! Who cares about another u tube video when yours shows all of the process and hick ups. Thank you soo much for fighting the battle.
I love the clean look of the laser compared to cnc and it's less messy until the final cut out.
Would love to see what you do for an enclosure next!
Happy snapping
Thanks Bruce! You really made my day!
I just bought a A350T and you just saved me hours and hours of trial and error. Thank you!
Great! That is why I shared my errors along with the success. Thanks.
Thank you for saving me a boat load of time. Just received my Snapmaker and you are correct that the learning curve is pretty steep. Coming from a CNC plasma table this is totally different. Will be looking for that contact paper tomorrow.
Hey thanks for the comment Kemarie!
You talk about "a real TH-camr ", you deserve more credits! I like the tone and speed of your explanation. Not everything must be on 200% speed, flashy and with too much animations ;-). Thanks!
Hey Wilfred! Thanks for the nice comment and I am glad you liked the video. I am working on a new one with the new high powered laser that I hope to have done soon. Appreciate you and everyone else taking the time to comment and subscribe.
I have a snapmaker to. I'm new to this stuff and trying to learn. You are added!!!
Just echoing everyone else's comments really, but this was really useful - thank you for sharing the process and the journey to the best result!
Thanks Steve! I am glad it’s proving to be helpful to you others. I sold all the clocks I made and just made more like the one in the video.
Nice video, Rick. Very clear and at a good pace. I felt like I was watching Edison invent the light bulb. Testing a 1000 filaments before finding the right recipe. My advice, keep it real. Don’t become an overproduced TH-cam ’pro’. I can’t wait to try this.
That is one of the greatest compliments I’ve ever received. Thanks and will take your advice to keep it real.
Thank you for showing the mistakes also. Clear and Concise! Thank YOU.
Like Edison and his light bulb I learned a lot from the mistakes. Thanks for your comment.
Very Helpful Sir. You rock it.
Thanks! I am working on another one to come soon.
Thanks for posting this Rick. I plan on getting the Snapmaker 2.0 A350 here in a week or so and want do do acrylic laser etching with it. Seems you found a good way of doing it!
You will love it. Like all new software the Luban takes some learning but for this it isn't too bad. I got the new high power laser and I am struggling with it because it is so powerful. I am doing more acrylic etchings as I write this but had to turn the power way down on the 10W laser to be equal to the 1.6W laser. I plan to make a video on this once I figure it out for myself. The A350 has a nice size bed and with CNC and 3D printing it is capable of a lot more than I am. LOL!
@@ricklyon2635 I've been looking at the laser upgrade today. I look forward to your future video on it!
@@ricklyon2635 Hey Rick. Are you still messing around with engraving clear acrylic with a diode? If so, I found a method I like a lot. You take a sheet of metal and coat it with gray spray paint primer. Once it's fully dry, focus your laser to the sheet metal then place the acrylic on top. The results are great and there's very little post processing to be done. And when it's time to do another sheet of acrylic, just sand down the sheet of metal and reapply the primer. Don't try engraving without putting a fresh coat down. I tried so you don't have to. The results are not good.
@@EndoBaggins I have been pretty busy with project: JesusMetaverse.org but otherwise struggling to tame my new high powered laser head for Snapmaker. I hope to get back to it soon. I appreciate your advice and will certainly give it a try. Thanks.
Thank you sir for taking the time to make this video & pass on your advice and experience on this particular procedure. It will be truly helpful. All i seem to have achieved on my brandnew machine is drive a brandnew CNC cutter hard into the work-surface whereupon it snapped off, whizzed past my head like a bullet & ricocheted off the wall behind me. Ridiculous yes, (but you certainly do learn from your mistakes). I now hunt down black contact paper & cast acrylic, so thanks again.
True trooper man thank you so much for your video!!
Thanks! Glad you like it.
good information. I just got my Snapmaker A350. thanks
Nice, you did a great job.
Thank you so much for this video! I was really struggling engraving acrylic and this was super helpful!
Glad you found it helpful. The video is the result of my struggling too!
Glad it helped. Thanks for the comment.
Thanks for posting this is very helpful. Can you provide the settings you used in Luban? Did you use dot or line fill? Fill interval? Jog speed? Dwell time? Laser power? Thank you.
Great video. Thanks for the tips and tricks.
Hate to think how many hours and money you spent doing your testing.
Thanks again
Great video!
A compound square would help getting square with the bed of the machine. A deburring tool would remove the rough edges on the acrylic. A rotary cutter will trim the excess contact paper. And using your ink roller would ensure a smooth application of the contact paper. These are a few suggestions that may help.
Muy interesante y que chevere tenerlo
Hello, if possible could you please post the link to the clock that you purchased. I am looking for the same one. Thanks for a great video. I really appreciate you explaining everything that you have tried and showing the results. Great stuff.
I would also like to know where you got the base . And thank you so much for the very helpful video !
Suggestion for you: If you have a bubble that you just can't press out, try sticking it with a needle as near the center as possible. Then press around the point of penetration in circles that get smaller as you go. When you get to the center, viola! You're all done! This method worked for me when I was a sign fabricator for a local municipality here in the Dallas area.
Thanks! Will remember that trick.
Hey Luke. Glad it helped. Thanks for letting me know.
Thank you sir, May god bless you, it really helpful
Great video - what brand of contact did you use please? It looks like a matte black
Thanks this is a big help
Thanks Mark! Glad to hear this. I plan to make a new video soon, perhaps when I get the new high powered laser head.
Gracias a Dios 😂😂😂 I finally found sumn that goes through everything. Thanks do much!!!
Thanks Kyle! Appreciate that. Glad you found it helpful.
@@ricklyon2635 absolutely. I'll be getting some soon. Being 16 with a smapmaker 2.0 I think is an achievement 😂. You should do a series on different material problems with 3D printing (like ABS TPU TEP) and laser. It would be awesome
Great video!! What is the brand of the contact paper you used? Thank you!!
hello! have you tried this with the snapmarker 10w laser? what configuration would you recommend me to do tests with it in acrylic? thanks
I have been working with 10W but struggling. I got it to work pretty well by using 16% power wich is equivalent to 1.6W and 200 speed. Even though supposedly same as old laser it seems significantly faster but I am still learning with 10w too. It is powerful and fast. I will do a video when I can creat consistent results. Thanks for asking.
Wow, Great!!!
Rick- Great video- I appreciate you including what worked and didn't. I have tried a number of things with dismal results. I looked at the settings you mentioned in the comments below and still had questions-- not sure if it is due to differences in versions of Luban or between the 1.6 and 10W laser. When you mentioned horizontal, density 10, work speed 100, 2 passes, 1mm depth and 100% power (you also said in the video something about a "fixed Power" check box), I couldn't figure out where to start. What Method did you select? If I chose "Filled", I could select Horizontal, but couldn't set a number of passes or depth. If I selected "On the Path", I couldn't select any direction (horizontal or vertical)-- and I couldn't find anywhere to set "Density". Also another stupid question-- are you using the 1.6W or 10W laser-- 100% power would be quite different. Thanks!
Home Depot and Lowes both sell the plastic sheets with the brown paper on it. I think they will cut it to size and drill holes into it upon request. I was so worried you'd be the brave one and not wear your protective goggles. Have you considered getting their enclosure which appears to have protective colored transparent panels on it? Or their rotary attachment for milling, engraving/etching, possibly 3D printing onto cylindrical or rectangular objects? The enclosure should make the machine not only a lot quieter but offer better control of fumes when lasering leathers or other smelly materials, CNC engraving, and so forth.
You might also want to see if the Photo V Carve software from Vectric will let you import & design CNC 3D cut files that can be exported to standard gcode for your 3-in-1. If it does then you can pass along another tutorial to us on your experiences for getting the best results.
Great work! I'd very much like to hear how the cutting goes for you. I've so far been struggling to find examples of people *cutting* acrylic with the Snapmaker (whether with CNC or laser), which is one of the things I really want to know if I can do before buying.
I used the CNC to cut the acrylic but I haven’t figured out how to cut it with laser. I made one half hearted attempt but it didn’t work. Not saying you can’t but I haven’t seriously tried either. CNC worked great though. I really like my Snapmaker. IMO it probably isn’t meant for high volume commercial use but good for serious hobbyists for sure. Luban software is fairly easy but frustrating too. Very short on instructions IMO. But some of the other such software is overwhelming for me because it has thousands of functions. I’ve had my Snapmaker 6 months now. I’m glad I bought it, have made some cool stuff and no serious complaints.
Rick, can you post a link to the black contact paper you used? Thanks for this video! I tried the dry erase marker as well, tried using cardboard underneath as well and paper on top, grew frustrated and gave up. This video is a masterclass! Kudos to you for your fortitude and perseverance to push forward and find a way. Right now I’m CNC etching and cutting but after watching this video. I think I’m going to switch to laser etching with CNC cut out. Thanks!
Here ya go. I got it at Staples, black contact paper.
www.staples.com/kittrich-con-tact-adhesive-roll-18-x-60-black-kit60fc9a93601/product_24393425
could you share link where you got the clock stand?
mightyou know if there is way to have like other info there ? like stock ticker scrolling or weather??
Yes. Be aware that this base comes ONLY as 24 hour military time. It will not do 12 hour am/pm. Some, but not all, of their smaller clocks claim to be am/pm but they are 24 hour clocks that display am or pm such as 14:00 pm. Just be careful when ordering. www.xstron.com/long-led-base-clock-7-rgb-lights-ir-remote . The only other place I have found these bases is on AliExpress. If you find a better source please let me know too. Thanks.
Amazing thank you!
Thank you very much for sharing this Sir, hard work indeed and I bet costly as well. Did it take 22 hours to laser engrave it, plus the CNC cutting? Time wise how long does it take to make the final product, following all the steps you mentioned. Thank you very much!
Have you noticed that the new update, the preview doesn't show. On the snapmaker display before engraving?
No. I had not noticed but I will certainly check into this. Thanks.
Sir, can you also let me know the settings of Jog Speed, Work Speed, Power, Depth and Pass. I am using 1600mW Laser. Thanks in Advance
You need to be careful cutting the EVA contact paper with the laser. Check with manufacturer to see if the formulation used contains chlorine. If so, poisonous gas may be produced. My understanding is that laser cutter and engravers are not to be used with PVC materials for this reason.
This is exactly what I needed to know, but I have one other question. What settings did you use to convert/process your original image? B/W, vector, greyscale, ect. I find the burn pattern varies greatly and would certainly affect the final image quality. Thanks again! You've helped over 1700 of us so far!
Thanks Geoff. I am really glad this has been helpful to so many people and to you. I made an excel spreadsheet of the settings I used. For this I used B&W with default (I think) 168. On process page I used horizontal, density 10, work speed 100, 2 passes, 1mm depth, 100% power (make sure it is on 100 because it seems to default to 50. Good luck! and Thanks!
For safety sake please be sure you are not laser cutting vinyl or PVC based contact paper (a lot of them are), the fumes are some of the worst releasing corrosive hydrogen gas, ethylene, vinyl chloride and dioxin. The hydrogen gas will eventually foul up the laser lens and the rest is really REALLY bad for your health if inhaled. Learned this lesson trying to cut stickers made from vinyl. Stay safe out there and thanks for the video! I'm going to give that spray chalk a try.
Do you know if the one he has shown has PVC or how you determine which ones do?
Thank you for going through all the trial and error so we don’t need to. But man you went through a lot of acrylic to get to the answer. Would it not have been better to use small test sizes, maybe 3”x3”? Also, on your phone there should be setting so the video isn’t reversed when using the selfie camera (if that’s what you meant).
It’s a shame the power supply is so noisy on the Snapmaker.
Nice work, a proper youtuber might drop the vacuum volume, but a proper viewer would let you off
Nice idea but video is too long