[Rodney Gold]

if you use the laserpro driver , you will find PPI
PPI kinda works by drilling holes (treppaning) next to each other , the higher the PPI , the closer the holes will be to each other. Only active when vector cutting…

For wood , you need to reduce the ppi , so that the holes DONT overlap too much (putting heat into the substrate and charring it more) and you will get a much better edge finish …
You need a TON of air assist when cutting wood , the nozzle should be emitting an "angry Hiss"
A laser is not the tool for wood stuff , a small CNC router is better.. when you got a hammer in your hands , not everything is a nail 🙂

[Rodney Gold]

Depends on thickness , 40w should cut 6mm just fine.
The secret when doing wood is to set the PPI low , like 100 or so.
All lasered wood has char , unless you using a real high power laser
Settings should be something like ppi 100 , 100% power , 2-4 speed?
We actually use LDF (low density fibreboard) when doing this , its about 2x easier to cut than Mdf

[Rodney Gold]

Shane , the machines coming out of China are 1st class , you can buy a 2.4m x 1.2m machine with a 3hp spindle for under 3000 quid. Smaller ones are cheaper. You CAN DIY one , but its cheaper and better in the long run to buy

I deal with a co called Shenui , in liaocheng city in china. Been to their factory – professional setup .. bought some lasers from them and saw their CnC machines in operation.
Best way to contact is skype – Blanca Yan is the best to speak to , her name is blanca610616.
http://shenhuilaser.en.alibaba.com/prod … chine.html

[Rodney Gold]

Laser cutting would work as well.

[Rodney Gold]

The best way to do these is to print on a very good vinyl , overlaminate with a thick hardy lam and then cut , polycarbonate is not all that "indestructible"..I have produced many decals for push button type applications this way and they seem to last very well , stuff for hospital nurse call pendants and scientific and consumer products.

[Rodney Gold]

Not sure what you mean by an applicator.. you mean like a syringe?
Polishing result is not good with buffs and mops and tripoli’s , use an O2/H flame polisher..lots available ex China that work quite well..

Here is a picture of my resin doming machine , something like that can also dispense 2 part glues etc.but its overkill.. cost me around GBP8000

[Rodney Gold]

The materials used to construct the models are extremely limited , to be really useful as a "general" replicator , it would have to replicate in mixed media with different mnfgring processes. IT *is* a great toy to play with tho , got a few pals that have em and seen some great stuff, no real commercial value as of yet tho.
Perhaps a few years in the future?
I’m sure you getting into the cutting edge right now will pay dividends …

[Rodney Gold]

I recon the big application will be to make masters for casting.. the notion that these will be household appliances to "make" things is pretty far fetched.

[Rodney Gold]

[/quote]John – I don’t use lasers but I’m intersted in them all the same. I’ve only been reading up on these smallish ones and never actualy seen one in the flesh. Are these things large enough to get a sheet this size inside, or is there a pass-through feature that allows sliding something this size through? Just curious.[/quote]

If you interested , read this thread , it will tell you all you want to know about affordable laser cutters/engravers. Read all the subthreads for a complete overview.
You might have to register to see pics.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread. … cks-thread

[Rodney Gold]

Most acrylic suppliers will have a panel saw with the correct blade and can do this easily , take it there instead of trying to DIY with the wrong equipment.

[Rodney Gold]

It’s a good machine if you can get one 2nd hand for cheap , good to test the waters with , works off Corel draw etc. Not the most robust of machines compared to , lets say , a newing hall… But perfectly adequate.
I bought one 2nd hand for round 700 quid about 6 years ago, we use it about 2 hours a day in a VERY heavy production environment/workshop and have had no issues at all.
It does some stuff much quicker and easier than my big overhead routers or lasers.
Roland has a great support site , http://www.rolanddga.com
Go to support and look under legacy equipment and download manuals , tips , drivers etc for it.

[Rodney Gold]

Check the config file or other options that the X and Y axes are set to go the right direction… Could be in a option called machine config or somewhere else in the drivers. You haven’t said what software it uses,
Also check all wires going to the motherboard , someone on another forum had a similar problem and it was poorly seated wires into the motherboard.
One of the biggest problems with a lot of the chinese machines is poor grounding , leads to all sorts of random and seemingly unrelated issues , we had problems with our 2 machines (Shenui’s) till we drove a copper grounding pipe into the earth and then tied all grounds of the machine to it..

[Rodney Gold]

Perhaps the local firm saw you as direct competition who took the job away from them..and thus decided to "punish" you?

A lot depends on the local economic climate , some areas/trades you have collaboration with the attitude "there is enough to go round" and in others when competition is fierce , their policy might be might be active "obstruction" and try to cut your throat at every opportunity.

[/i]

[Rodney Gold]

Depends whether you want to get into laser engraving. In South Africa , Trotec is the most expensive of all lasers, very nice machine BUT these days you can import a VERY GOOD chinese machine with more power and a bigger work area at about 1/5th of the price.
Some other "mainstream" makes are as good as trotec at a lot cheaper too. Epilog , ULS, GCC etc..
But go to the roadshow , see what lasers can do for your business if you don’t have one , the best thing we ever did was get into lasering , I now have 8 lasers running 7-8 hrs a day….
Look at my website to get some indication of what you can do – have a look at the acrylic awards etc.
http://www.tokerbros.co.za

[Rodney Gold]

You will be able to a huge amount more with a laser engraver than a rotary.
I would never buy a rotary as a 1st engraver , I would buy a laser first and then a rotary to compliment it…..

[Rodney Gold]

The driver will determine whether you can export out of Corel , in general the Chinese machines do NOT engrave a what you see is what you get drawing from Corel..find out the make.

[Rodney Gold]

Go here for a TON of info.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/forumdispla … vers-Forum

[Rodney Gold]

25W is perfect , the key to using these products is the coating , the best is to thin it down with alcohol and use a paasche or similar spray gun and put down a thin and even layer.
Experiment with your settings , but a rule of thumb is 100% power and speed at the wattage of your laser (25%)
Do NOT overpower the stuff , the speed/power settings are critical for a good bond.
There are alternatives to cermark , some folk use plain plaster of paris and other "formulations" for metal marking
sawmillcreek.org has a great laser section , lots of info there.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/forumdispla … vers-Forum

[Rodney Gold]

Be careful with laser insurance , lasers catch alight real quick , mostly if left cutting unattended
Make sure you are covered for all eventualities with the machine (especially fire) or fire extinguisher damage.
Im not in England , but we had to specify our lasers and put them on all risk which was a lot more expensive than just putting em in the general machinery on premises content cover.

[Rodney Gold]

You need a less viscous (thicker) doming media and you need to apply less , apply to the centre of the decal and let it spread out by itself and after 5-10 mins or so (depending on your gel time), use a pin to draw it to the edge if there is no coverage. The picture you show is not an easy thing to dome , especially for a novice.

[Rodney Gold]

It was at shenhui lasers ,
http://shenhuilaser.en.alibaba.com/aboutus.html
If they can’t help with a specific machine , then they might have the name of a reputable co that can.

Yep , I agree , the chinese machines are often not "plug it in and press a button and it works" , however your tech knowledge and "handyman" ability to merely RUN a CnC overhead router would most likely enable you to keep on top of things.
You need to do "due diligence" with chinese co’s , google earth their address , ask for photos of their facilities , overseas references, ask to see all their certificates , google em for bad comments , check their alibaba status , see all the co info etc etc. Best is to fly out for this type purchase , they will demo for you and or train you when you there.

[Rodney Gold]

I also run a Tekcel – tthey machines built like tanks , there’s no way "flex" can be even mentioned in the same breath. 🙂

I saw some stunning CnC routers for amazing prices in China , I bought 2 HUGE lasers from the one company I saw stuff at , at 1/5th of the price of "western" stuff , the transaction was painless , the machines did what they said on the tin, the software and tech support is damn good , the only bugbear is the chinglish manual. The machines have been running non stop for 3 months and compare and exceed what my other 6 lasers do.
I saw a 3x2m Overhead router with japanese servos , italian spindle (5kw) ,8 piece tool changer and everything for round $15k and saw it working , was very tempted but space is an issue
In the interim , I have ordered a 1200 x 1800 machine with a 3kw spindle (no tool changer and steppers not servos ) and it will land here at not more than $6k including freight etc.
The chinese stuff is no longer "cheap junk" , I would have a look at importing something yourself if you are not totally technically challenged.
Might even be worth it to catch a plane and go to Jinan where most of the laser/cnc machine mnfgrs are. A 3 week trip in China in May , with spending money etc cost me $4k , another 1 week trip in aug cost me $2.5k , cheap!!!
I imported 5 tons of acrylic sheets at a WORST saving of 1/2 of local and it’s better stuff
I imported 1 ton of mirror acrylic , 1.5mm thick , 8 funky colours
I imported 2 large format lasers at 1/5th of the local cost
I imported 1400 sheets of laserable/engraving laminates at 1/6th of local prices and finally , I imported10 tons (full 41′ container) of trophies , crystal , medals , plaques and holders at at WORST 1/3rd of the cost of Euro or local stuff , its REALLY worth while going over!!

[Rodney Gold]

It isn’t a difficult machine to use , the Roland USA site has some great tutorials and documentation

Go to http://www.rolanddga.com
Click support and go to the Techincal support wizard, on that page , down at the bottom under legacy products , go to product family – select engraving machines , then pick product and select Egx-300

You will find quick start guides , manuals and a whole host more info , including training videos…
No need to pay anyone …. 🙂

[Rodney Gold]

You actually have to test the focus , do NOT rely on the fact that its a 1/2" less than a 2". The range of where it is in focus is VERY small with a 1.5 lens , maybe 2-3mm , so getting it spot on is vital.
Use the 1/2" difference as a starting point and vary the focus around it , wherever its sharpest is the correct distance

[Rodney Gold]

Extruded actually flame polishes and laser cuts better than cast , you can get a smoother finish , critical is to use the O2/hydrogen type polisher and moderate heat controlled by your movements.
Diamond is great for square panels , but you cant polish curves.

Before polishing an edge , the best thing to do is scrape it free of saw marks or lasering striations etc. A flat metal straight edge used vertical to the edge does this well. The better the edge , the less heat you need for polishing and the better and sharper the effect will be.

[Rodney Gold]

Flame polishing stresses acrylic BIG time , much worse with extruded than cast,
If you use some solvent based cleaners or glue around flame polished acrylic you are almost guaranteed to get stress cracks , worst of all , the stuff can stress crack months down the line. Be careful where you polish and what you polish , especially if it isnt something as simple as a flat piece.

[Rodney Gold]

Your best bet for this is something like an old Taylor hobson pantograph , the computerised machines are far too expensive for limited run stuff like this , and now with most people going over to computerised engraving , these or machines similar to that are actually pretty cheap to pick up , I have seen models going for under 500 quid in South Africa.
Your only issue with a manual machine is the font set , if you cant find a machine with a set like you need it might be an issue , but anyone can easily make you a set that conforms to your typestyle with a computerised machine and you can use cheap materials to do so , perspex/acrylic or the like – ideally they should be brass…

[Rodney Gold]

I think the spirit is the faster of the machines , it is a lot faster than my old mercurys. the DPI is irrelevant , you will be working at 500/600 almost all of the time , the pass thru doors are also useful but not essential , in 12 years of lasering , and having 8 lasers right now , we have only used pass thru ONCE!!
The Rotary attachment is nice , but all its useful for is engraving glasses and bottles , it’s not an essential.
A warrantee on the tube is vital , a tube will cost you 3000 quid to replace , the claimed hours are 10 000 + , but in general if you work the laser hard , you will see 3-5 years use out of it in a worst case scenario. some tubes give problems early , some go for 10 years.
In most cases , your agent would have a back up tube which is dead easy to install and yours would be sent away or they would swap , worst case scenario is thast you might be without a tube for 3 weeks to a month if they dont have a back up or swap.
The metal compound dries quick , you really need to spray it on thinly , an airbrush is best for this. I suggest you join and read posts on this forum , it is a huge laser forum
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/forumdispla … vers-Forum

[Rodney Gold]

Those are Laserpro/GCC lasers, thios type lasers will not engrave metal at all , you need to coat the metal with a liquid , let it dry and then laser it and you get a black mark , it is not at all engraved , it sits on top of the metal. The mark is pretty permanent tho , it doesnt rub off etc and you will struggle to remove it on most stuff , even if you try sandpaper it off.

You need a rotary type engraver , ie an engraver with a motor that uses a cutting bit to engrave metal with any depth
However a LASER will be a much better tool than a pure rotary engraver , it will do MUCH MUCH more like cut and engrave acrylic , wood , plastics and so on. It will expand your business horizons much more. The Spirit is the best of em all – get at least 40 watts.

[Rodney Gold]

Hiya , here’s instructions how to get into diagnostic mode on your machine , you need to be in that mode to manually fire the laser to do alignment

Power up the machine while pressing the START/STOP key and the PAUSE key. It should display "Start hardware check Use function key".

I have a maintenance manual for you that describes how to align the machine.
I have uploaded it at
http://www.4shared.com/file/OfnwnGl5/Me … anual.html
you can download it from there

[Rodney Gold]

Beam alignment isn’t easy if you have to do it the first time. If you have a GCC agent , it might be worth paying them to come round and do it for you and watching and seeing what they do , let em "teach" you.
Im not sure what machine you have , but the users manual should have alignment instructions
I have the manuals if you need them , there is also a procedure to get into the diagnostic mode for the lasers so you can get the laser to fire to check alignment. (you also have to bypass the safety switches and its recommended to wear laser resistant glasses , if the beam hits your eye , its a gonner)
What is the exact model you have?

[Rodney Gold]

Engraving quality will not really drop if the tube is going, the output will just get weaker.
You can do simple tests to see if the tube is losing power , just see if it cuts thru 3mm acrylic at the same power and speed it was doing before.
The drop in quality points more , imo , to an optical issue , like a bad lens or a mirror that is scattering the beam or dirty optics.
You say you have checked the focus , but have you checked the beam alignment?

[Rodney Gold]

I am importing direct from China these days at prices from 1/2 to a 1/4 of local prices and quality that is as good or exceeds local. The service I get from the Chinese co’s is way better than local and even their tech support (I recently bought 2 big lasers) is superb.
I have basically stopped supporting local suppliers. I actually went to china for 3 weeks to visit suppliers and factorys..it was an eye opener. As to resourcefulness , well the old SA motto "’n boer maak ‘n plan" holds good (translation is – a farmer makes a plan)

[Rodney Gold]

Well, I have investigated the machine, 20 sq ft an hour at reasonable resolution is the speed , metallic ink is 3x the price of any other colour
It is still pretty pricey at 5k, you can buy a really nice 100w Laser for that money , bed size of 4ft x 4 ft. If I were a sign shop with a cutter only , I would rather get the laser than this desktop print/cut machine.

[Rodney Gold]

Well it will run off Corel etc, there is a plugin that ports in AI format to its own software , RDcam , a VERY good driver for the laser. There are a few issues and workarounds from corel , but nothing too complicated.

Spare parts are real cheap , order them with the laser. For eg , an 80w 8000 hr tube is about 400quid , the power supply for it , 100quid , motherboard 200quid , stepper motor 50quid , lenses 15quid , mirrors 15 quid , lcd panel 100quid etc.
spare parts are easy to get if you dont have in stock , DHL and TNT courrier them , but freight charges are high , normally takes 3- 5 days from China to South Africa

Tech support is very good too , the tech guy is on skype , responds within minutes.

[Rodney Gold]

Those should be no issue depending on the composites. I would suggest a reci tubed 100-130w machine, most likely cost you 5000 quid all in for a 1200 x 800 machime. Wood cuts with a bit of edge char , you would have to test the composite to see what edge cut quality is. Perspex and acrylic cut real well.

[Rodney Gold]

If you looking for a decent 80w chinese laser , buy from the co I bought from , Shenhui lasers , contact Blanca yan.
15mm acrylic is "possible" , but not practical and not saleable , The lasers will not directly engrave metal either , you need to coat it with a product called cerdec and it makes a black mark.

[Rodney Gold]

Forget the $4000 laser or any C02 laser under the 500w-1kw range cutting steel or any metal at all , they will not. You will be paying $50 000 for something capable of doing that and then it would still be limited.

[Rodney Gold]

I have 6 mainstream lasers and have purchased 2 chinese ones- Chinese is the way to go unless you need extensive hand holding and have trouble working a pop up toaster 🙂

You can read about my experiences and get a ton of info here

Read this thread first

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread. … from-China

and then this thread

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread. … re-here-!!!

If you want ANY info , just ask , I have huge experience in the laser cutting/engraving field.

[Rodney Gold]

The edge and other thermal printers died because the cost of printing is about 5-10x inkjet.
This machine is not really a general signmakers tool , it is expensive for what it is , its main attraction is the metallic ink.

I would buy one in addition to my 540 as it means I can offer more products for my badge and doming line. To whit , metallics in ANY colour and more importantly , the ability to offer metallic/pearlescent and metallic texturised printing on dark substrates. I wouldnt worry about the width issue as my suppliers and most others will slit to size.(for a price)
Its also not an issue to make a simple slitting machine.

The other plus for me is the ability to print on 1mm thick media , even if I cant cut some of that thickness on the machine , I can do so on my lasers.

This machine IS no where near a production machine , I have
seen one in operation and its slowwwww…. especially when doing metallics!!!!

I doubt anyone will undercut pricing any more than folk are doing now , the inks are all the same price , the media will proabably be more and its only the capital amount that differs from the big machines. Best it can do is an A2 anyway….and will take a looong time to do so in anything other than draft mode

[Rodney Gold]

I echo Robert’s sentiments , apart from anything else , the cost to print on these machines is horrendous – almost 10x the price of an inkjet and the print quality what with dropouts and banding can often be substantially worse — colours like metallics have a terrible outdoor life as well. We just actually dumped a working pc60/600 and a pc 50 – not even worth keeping any of em as cutters (they slow)

[Rodney Gold]

We also have one , works well with both signlab and engravelab and also Coreldraw , Roland have a print driver that allows it to work directly off Corel. The Roland software is ok if you want to do real simple stuff. I find corel better than engrave or signlab for the front end design work and engravelabfar better for controlling the machine , so we just import into engravelab etc.
Its a nice little machine , a bit wimpy and has a rather weak spindle , but we use ours mostly for diamond drag engraving.

[Rodney Gold]

As an aside to the topic , re pricing of lasers. you can get a decent 1300 x 900 mm 150 W (reci tube , 10 000 hour tube life) for around $6000. These days the chinese mnachines are pretty good , Im actually off to China in May to see the mnfgrs of the one’s I have with a view to purchasing a 50yag or a fibre laser and some more Co2’s
A 500w YAG linked to a 500x 500 XY table , which will engrave and cut up to 6mm steel and 3mm stainless is around $40k

[Rodney Gold]

Price depends on power and size and make , decent machines , in the 30-50w range , 600mm x 400mm are about 10 grand or so. You can get much cheaper chinese machines , but they arent really all that relaible and have glass tubes with limited lifespans. However one of these might be worthwhile if you are a hobbyist…
I contribute a lot to a very good laser engravers forum
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/forumdispla … 409934&f=8
Go there and you will find a ton of info , its a USA board , but the info is very relevant – read up a bit re starting a laser engraving business and what machines are good and what to look for in a machine , you are welcome to ask me any other questions – I go under the name of Rodne Gold there

[Rodney Gold]

An engraver cannot rout – a router can engrave….

[Rodney Gold]

If the thing is working and in tip top condition , its fine , however head are a major issue with this machine as they get damaged or "blow" quite often and are expensive to replace. However the biggest issue is the cost to print , the price per sq m of full colour is horrendously expensive. The best way to use this machine is to make small decals or in our case we made badges and medal inserts and domed em .
like this

and this

[Rodney Gold]

Dump it – the 540 is like 10x cheaper to run and doesnt give hassles.. I have 2 PC600’s and a PC50 in our store room – I should dump mine too but havent the heart…havent used em since I got my Roland 540 about 5 yrs ago

[Rodney Gold]

Methyl chloride for us.

[Rodney Gold]

We use a 2 part polyurethane mix that has a very short pot life but also a very short hardening period – can be handled in 30 mins and packed in an hour. I use pneumatic dispensers , they hold 2 x 2litre pots , the 2 parts go thru a distribution block and only get mixed right at the dispensing nozzle so theres no air etc entrapped.

We actually apply the doming resin by hand in that I have
ladies that hand hold the dispenser needles and let the resin drop etc – They are dab hands at it small decals like 5 secs or less. I have 2 of em

I then have bookshelves with light bulbs screwed under the shelves for heating and use a piece of builders plastic sheeting as "curtains" for the bookshelves/drying racks

I have a small fan on the bottom shelf that makes it a positive pressure enclosure to minimise dust – the racks also shortens times to as low as 15 mins to handle. All decals are weeded and then applied to glass sheets with a bit of Pritt (kids scrapbooking glue stick) prior to being domed
I use a fairly softish flexible resin so my decals can go round tubes etc – also always looks shiny , never dulls or yellows or cracks or delaminates and inks dont run into it.

Works out at about 12 quid a litre mixed , covers 1000 sq inches – a 2 x 1" badge costs like 3 pence to dome and you can easily double the price with doming.
Decals too – you can command 10x the price domd as compared to undomed – 350 quid per sq meter is still "cheap" – try get that with just print and cut…!!

[Rodney Gold]

You can actually put stuff in the dome, like pigments , glitter etc. You can also dome clothing labels on heat press material to be applied to stuff.

[Rodney Gold]

Im not sure you will get it right with a4 sized stuff re the cutter and registration , so I suggest a3 …

I used an Epson 1290 with its inks , but currently for fotos use a canon , colours supposed to last 20 yrs..

Make sure you can actually source inkjet vinyl for A3 , be aware most of the inkjet vinyls are actually polyester with no stretch at all and there is no real guarantee on their adhesiveness.

Check out http://www.papilio.com/ for some papers etc

Make sure your ink is compatible with the resins , cos some do tend to run into the resins

Thats why we went to vinyl cos you can get what you need in all departments.

All our doming is done with a roland print and cut machine with eco inks , we dont have a problem with fading etc – but then we dont guarantee our domed stuff for extended periods. The guys that do the car stuff , the actual car emblems for the factory use fancy resins and inks etc.

There are big markets for domed decals , trophy and medal inserts , product label enhancement , promotional items , branding , rosette inners , certificate seals and so on. You can dome anything – practice on coins first – but anything flat can be domed. You will be limited to about 5" x 5" as the domes sink in the middle too badly on bigger decal unless you use a high viscosity resin

At any rate , like anything else , your marketing efforts will determine your success in this field.

The question you have to ask yourself is "why would ppl use me rather than someone else" and base your marketing plan on that.

[Rodney Gold]

I cant see you getting away with anything less than a sp300 , I would not suggest a thermal printer (we used em before inkjet) as they are very expensive to use re consumables.
Do not buy a Roland thermal if you do go that route as heads costa plenty – a gerber edge is prolly a better bet.
At one stage I used an dektop type printer and a laser cutter , but the laser cutter is VERY expensive.
I cannot see you getting away with 1500 quid start up unless you use a desktop inkjet printer and inkjet vinyl and cut it by hand , not a major issue if you use simple shapes and have very limited production.

[Rodney Gold]

A small print and cut Roland like a 2nd hand sp300 is the best.
However your profitiability on doming will not be dependant on the printer – its the doming method and the cost of material (doming resin) that will count. You will need a dry environment to dome , use a dehumidifier , drying racks (shelves with a plastic builders sheet curtian and light bulbs screwed into the tops) and a decent mixer/dispenser (look at cammda or camda for a small setup)
The orrect doming resin is a 2 part polyurethane and you will need to get it at about 10 quid a litre to be competitive.
In general , pricing of about 350 quid per sq meter on decent runs is a rough guideline of what to charge , 1ml of resin will cover one square inch or 6cm2. 1 sqm of print will cost at max 10quid including inks and premium vinyl , and you will use about 2 litres of doming stuff , ie about 20 quid – 1 m2 should NOT cost you more than 40-50 quid including the labour of doming.
You should be able to dome around 2-4000 items a day depending on size and complexity.
Sharp corners are a no no when doming , the doming will struggle to get into them so round off sharp stuff when cutting.
You can use sheets of glass and use Pritt or a low tack glue to stick the vinyl sheets once cut and weeded to the glass.
Your biggest enemy when doming is moisture – being hot does not mean there is no humidity – buy a cheap dehumidifier!!!
I recon total cost to set up a decent doming operation is round 10k for the printer and around 10k for the rest.

[Rodney Gold]

I have expanded this a little more on a laser forum
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=22369

[Rodney Gold]

You need almost minimal power to engrave fleece , a 10w laser would do , you also need very little precision to do so as fleece cannot hold any manner of high detail.
I wouldn’t bother going with an expensive co2 seled tube machine for this , one of the larger format 40-80w glass tubed chinese machines will do fine as a start up. Your biggest problem will be to fit the item in , focus on it and hold it flat.
I would also look at 2nd hand "mainstream" lasers in the 25w class as these can be had quite cheap.
A glass tube will last approx 800 hours of use and shouldnt cost more than 80 quid to replace , a 25w synrad sealed tube should last 3-5 years , but none of my sealed tubes have ever survived that long , but will cost up to 2000 quid to replace.
I use 6 laserpro machines , 3 x explorers , 3x spirits , all approx 30w machines.
Apart from the laser , you will need clean dry compressed air for air assist unless you want your machine to go up in flames when cutting stuff as well as a cutting table and you will need a blower to suck fumes out the laser.
You can use the laser for a lot of other things in the garment trade , like cutting materials , lace , twills , applique , marking denim , engraving velvet , engraving leather and felts and so forth. Cuts synthetics very nicely as it seals the edges.

Heres something I posted back in 05 , still worth a read for laser applications etc

Ok , here goes , this listing/article I have written is NOT finished completely (will expand more sections) , but it should help!!!

1) Cut rubber foams or engrave them for box inserts , mount to wood for decorator type wall and fabric stamps (paint applied with a roller to cut shapes)

A lot of co’s produce instruments or tools and pack them in a case , the foams are cut to shape around the instrument which secures them in place – apart from which , cutting rubber foam with a die distorts it , a laser doesnt. Examples would be thin foam inserts for shoes , gaskets for an air cleaner and so forth. There is a huge demand for decorating type stamps , the images are generally hand cut , stuff like animals , letters etc. The laser will not only cut the foam but will deep engrave it with exceptional detail , the foams are adhered to flat wood blocks which act as a handle and then paint is applied with a roller , stamped on fabrics , walls and so forth. You use 10mm foams (available from most rubber supply houses) and can engrave them easily 5mm deep. Try various foams in respect of density – DO NOT use the harder rubbers sheets , very difficult to cut.

2) Engrave High temperature silicon foiling material for hot foiling dies

This is a high temp rubber bonded to an aluminium plate , engraved the same way you do stamps. The rubber can take a huge amount of heat , this is put on a machine that heats the die and passes a ribbon of heat sensitive foil under the die , the hot die "melts" the foil into the object where the letters stand out , used for printing metallics or colours onto various items like clothes hangers , pens , card and papers etc. Much like a stamp except you use foils for the ink. This is a VERY cheap way of printing large quantities of items. The Silicon is used for items that dont have dead flat surfaces as it does have some "squish". Its a form of hot stamping die. The downside is the price of the material (I think laserbits has it) and the fact that the dies are far shorter lived than magnesium , brass or stell dies (you can do metal dies using the etching method desribed later)

3) Apply mylar vinyl (the shiny gold or silver – no need to use expensive "laser" vinyl) to metal , laser away the vinyl and then dunk the plate in a pyrex dish containing warm Ferric chloride which etches and chemically engraves the plate (use something like handy andy on a toothbrush to remove any glue residue before etching)

This is an EXTREMELY potent application , I have posted quite a bit on etching and exactly how to do it. This allows the laser to chemically engrave just about ANY metal and get precison you cant even hope to achieve with a rotary type engraver.
Look here : https://www.uksignboards.com/viewtopic.p … hing#19658
Here are examples of etched plates
http://www.tokerbros.co.za/final%20wae% … 205967.jpg

4) Cut rubber masks for the monumental engraving industry (they use em as sand blast resists)

The self adhesive rubber is available from sign suppliers , it stops the sand used when blasting from impacting the stone and thus only the areas you peel away are blasted , the rubber is difficult to cut as its thick , but a laser can do far better than a knife or vinyl cutter in this regard, Gives a far deeper engraving than just lasering the mable or granite and its much smoother , applys to the glass thing below. Yopu need NOT use rubber unless you are doing major depth blasting , you can use vinyls as well (laser friendly ones)

5) Use the mylar mask thing on glass as a blast resist and get into "sand carving"

Sand "carving" is selectively removing different parts of a mask and blasting , for example this was done in 2 stages , we removed the deeper bits first (the veins of the leaf) and blasted away and then removed the shallower bits and continued sand blasting the glass , the deeper bits got deeper and we ended up with a 3 D type image. it’s not a great pic – but here it is
http://www.tokerbros.co.za/sandcarv1.jpg
This was only a 2 stage mask , you can use many stages to get almost true 3d – you have to work out the cuts you make , IE what to strip and when.

6)Use 1mm UHI acrylic (ultra high impact) for stuff that must be springy but not break , bookmarks , money clips , memo clips etc

UHI is a great foer very thin acrylic that can be bent and springs back into shape without cracking as normal acrylic would , its cheap and its real tough and its laser friendly
http://www.tokerbros.co.za/final%20wae% … k-6142.jpg
The part that bendds on that bookmark would have snapped the first time it was used if it was either cast or extruded aluminium. Very good stuff to make helmet visors out of or to use in place of polycarbonate which is difficult to laser cut , it can take almost the same impact as polycarbonate would and the thicker stuff works well for vehicle security screens and so forth. Its a stack cheaper than polycarbonate too – avialable at most perspex sheeting supply houses.

7) Tap the fabric industry , seal cut synthetics (sealed edges) , cut backs and appliques for the embroidery trade , engrave logos onto denim jeans , track suit tops etc

Denim lasers fantastically , a lot of fabrics do and there is a huge market our there for custom graphics on jeans and jackets etc
http://www.tokerbros.co.za/new_page_23.htm , apart from which the laser works very well to both cut and WELD synthetic type materials. If you defocus the beam and vector engrave a line over 2 pieces that are stacked , with a bit of experimantation , you actually get a WELD. what you do is tack 2 pieces and focus properly and vector cut them , then DEFOCUS and run the same vector line , you get a really nice clean frayless edge and the pieces can be properly welded on the 2nd pass – you can make fabric pockets and so on. Laser welding works with a LOT of other thin plastic films and so forth.
there are a lot of industrial uses too , like cutting synthetic carpet material to shape , lasering logos in it etc.

8)Die cut sheets of labels (like wine labels) for prototyping or offer a business card cutting service where you laser cut what a die cutter cant.

Often labels etc need to be cut to shape , a die to do so for short runs or prototyping is real expensive , you can do the same with a laser , IE cut out the shapes. Dies consist of thin blades bent to shape , often you cant bend the cutting rule used in dies at very sharp angles etc , a laser does not have this constraint.The problem is registration on the printed sheets , but most printers DO print registration marks you can index to and do supply the die lines (cutting patterns) with respect to those registration marks. The downside is cutting thicker paper and boards produce a discoloured edge – one can avoid that by using nitrogen in the air assist line or using a short focal point lens which concentrates the spot size , along with that , reduce your PPI to a low figure so the boards almost "perforate"

9) Matboard and the photographic trade , cut unusual shapes in mat board and engrave it for photographers.

The matt board is the stuff that surrounds photos in frames , often photographers and framers want it cut in unusual or complex shapes which they cant do , for example they might want a custom oval cut in a square piece to frame a particular photo. Most framing places also often want labels on their frames , like a description of a photo etc , spectrum light and thin flexibrass are ideal for this , you can pick up extra business from framers

10) Lighting – the laser is ideal to do many finishing or fabricating processes for the custom lighting industry , vellum , parchement , paper and other types of shade , transluscent acrylic etc etc

This is a huge market , light design is big and you can do all manner of lighting accesories with a laser , go to the local lighting showroom for ideas here, have a look at stuff and think "how could I do THAT" with a laser". Perspex is very popular as when engraved and illuminated the engraving "glows". A small line bender and some glueing practice will enable you to build VERY complex lighting fixtures. Shades are also a good line , photo engraving into stuff like parchments or even the felxibrass with the gold underlayer work well , the light passes thru the gold substrate where the top cap is lasered (white too) and when the lamp is switched on , the engraving lights up , works with card too. There are specific acrylics available from Degusa , coloured stuff that is specific for LED and other illumination where it diffuses the light evenly , great stuff to work with. Interior designers are a good source to tap for this type of stuff.

11) Make your own coated metals

Polish brass , spray with clear laquer and then a colour , experiment with paint effects like marbeling etc.
You can not only do this with metals , you can do this with acrylics and many other substrates , the laser basically vaporises the paints and exposes whats under – it’s real cheap to try this , only requires a can of spray paint. We had a huge amount of labels to do , multiple 1000’s in various colours , we just took automotive matt spray paint and sprayed sheets of ABS , the laser cut and engraved this real well at a HUGE savings over stuff like Rowmark etc. Turned out it was even more scratch and solvent resistant than the commercial stuff and we had total control over colours. Many sites on the internet re paint effects and finishes that can be put to good effect on whatever you want to laser.

12) Make a STUNNING business card for yourself , like out of flexibrass etc – make it demonstrate instantly what you can do.
Thjis is the first impression people have of you , yes it’s expensive , but the potential; rewards are huge. No one EVER throws these away and the WOW factor has to be seen to be believed. You will get work form others with this , we often suggest to a client to have 100-500 of these done with their 1000’s of cheapies and hand them out to select clients.
Heres a pic of ours.http://www.tokerbros.co.za/new%20pics/promo%203.jpg
and some of others we have done
http://www.tokerbros.co.za/business_cards.htm

13) Invest in a small perspex bender , they are a snap to use and than you can make all sorts of objects , like cellphone cradles , memo holders , pen holders , etc etc. Being able to bend and glue acrylics can open HUGE avenues and it really is NOT rocket science!!!.
This is a VAST field that you can get into , a line bender is cheap – you can even make your own!!
Look hee for examples
http://www.tokerbros.co.za/promo%20stuff.htm
and especially here
http://www.tokerbros.co.za/acrylic_fabrication.htm

14) Make embossing dies for your spectrum stickers , you need a male and female , easy to do if you are already engraving the sticker , put sticker in between the 2 dies and press , voila , a 3d sticker (great for certificate seals etc)
This is the same as making notary seals and is well documented on various laser websites.

15) Perspex makes an AMAZING master for spun cast metal products (lowish melting point metals spun in cavities in high temp rubber) , the perpsex gets distorted in the vulcanizing process but the moulds are perfect. All our medals are done this way , but there are tons of other promo products you can spin – find a decent spin casting operation and go to it.

Essentiall spin casting is a low melting point metal poured into high temp rubber moulds , the moulds are made by pouring liquid rubber around a master (original) and then subjecting it to heat (vulcanising) to make it hard , then splitting it , removing the original and then pouring in the molten metal into the mould. Its a cheap way to make metal items and the biggest problem the spin caster have is to make the originals , which you can do easily. The bigger problem is that the moulds are big (like big pancakes) and they can multiples of one item in the same mould so they spin lets say , 20 items at a time (the moulds spin like a record and the metal is poured inton the centre and spins out to the edges to fill the cavities – hence spin)
So what a lot of casters do is make one original , make a single cavity mould and then cast a lot of those to use as originals for the BIG moulds. The hassle is that the new oiginals have now lost definition and shrunk and the spin off them will lose more definition and shrink more. A pex master on a laser can be repeated 10x easily , so now the big mould contians all CRISP originals – leading to a far better product when in production.

16) Buy clock movements and make your own hands and faces etc , use your imagination and come up with something different.
17) Reverse spray clear acrylic and reverse engrave it , you can then make your own background colours , fill the engraving and have a totally protected sign real cheap
1 NEVER clean lasered acrylic , especially extruded , with ANY solvent , guaranteed to develop stress cracks. soapy water is best.
19) If you can set your lasers PPI to low values , you can perforate stuff.
20) Use a cheap deskjet and deskjet vinyl to print shaped decals , send the cut to your laser and register and kiss cut , you have then got an amazing print and die cut operation. You can overlay clear or matt vinyl on the sheet and die cut thru both , giving you an overlaminated decal
21) Use the paper based vinyl application tape on glass , it acts as a blast resist – same when doing paint filling in wood or other stuff where you want to protect a surface.
22) Neoprene (wetsuit material) cuts and engraves excellently , make branded sweatbands , mouse pads etc , lanyard loops etc. use bright flourescent colours
23) Combine materials !!!!!!!!!! Be creative , for example when making a upmarket sign , use a 5mm black acrylic backing , use a piece of silver/gold flexi cut slightly smaller atop that and engrave some stuff , use 3mm clear reverse engraved for other stuff , cut 4 small holes in each sheet and bolt together all 3 layers.
24) formicas engrave and cut beautifully , they are cheap materials and are EXCEPTIONALLY durable (used on kitchen counters) , they can be wax filled etc and come in a zillion finishes and colours
25) Use gilding wax to fill engraved acrylic with the most beautiful golds , silvers and metallic colours , rub over the acrylic , use a toothbrush to work into grooves etc and then use a block with some cloth moistend in turpentine wrapped around it to remove excess. Even suitable for outdoor stuff (that rubb n buff wax works ok)
One can never make money with a laser by doing a gift or 2 etc , you need to manufacture your own stuff or get high volume branding – think laterally. DON’T make cheap stuff or brand cheap products , the laser is an expensive machine. A local guy here was doing tons of laser cut thin wood stuff for craft shops etc , he sort of made a living but messed up his laser with resins and smoke and all the other nasties wood emits.

[Rodney Gold]

Get a bookshelf with level shelves , screw in som 60w bulbs under each shelf , make a curtain for each shelf from clear builders plastic – you got an excellent drying rack.
Humidity kills doming..get a small dehumidifier.
We use sheets of glass as trays , use pritt glue stick to hold the sheets flat on the glass.

[Rodney Gold]

The only way to eliminate static is to use an ionising air gun , we work with perspex all the time and static is a problem , the gun works extermely well and albeit it wasnt cheap , has paid its way many times over
http://www.meech.com/ProductGroup.aspx?id=39
or
http://products3.3m.com/catalog/us/en00 … utput_html

[Rodney Gold]

Corel x3 has fillet/chamfer tools for that. You will start having problems with other shapes if you use offset for general radiusing of corners..it wont work properly.

[Rodney Gold]

Cleaning with meths is a NONO………….
Pex gets stressed when cut or subjected to any heat process like laser cutting or flame polishing. MOST solvents will result in some stress cracking if used near or on the stressed pex.
Problem is , often the stress cracks do not appear instantly but some time down the line.
Clean pex with warm soapy water , NOT with any solvents.
We polish the edges of 25mm pex slabs by scraping and then using a very fine water paper on a disc sander and either buffing with a HARD mop on the buff (not those flappy floppy buff wheels , but a HARD one) using very fine tripoli or just use brasso.

[Rodney Gold]

Co2 laser and Cerdec (molybdenum tri sulphide) will create a permanent black mark on Stainl;ess , with no depth.
This is sometimes desireable , like on medical equipment , where you do not want an incised letter (engraving harbours germs)
Anyway , it works quite well and the lettering is resistant to just about anything. as it bonds the marking paste to the subsurface of the Stainless.
Yag will engrave with depth if it has enough power , albeit most low powered YAG’s will also "mark" the metal without perceptible depth.
We do tons of SS with Cerdec….

[Rodney Gold]

There are some problems when lasering glass
The way the laser does it is to thermally shock the glass when it fires and impurities in the glass expand at differing rates leading to shattering. the problem is to control the amount of shatter to get a smooth effect.
The way to do this is either lay wet newspaper on the glass and laser thru that , or put liquid diswasher on the glass and wait for it to almost dry and laser it.
These methods act as heat sinks and limita the area where the glass is thermally shocked and thus controls it.
Photograv is very good for a rough and ready method fo getting an image on the glass.
Here however is another method I have developed without using photograv
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showpost.php?p=510491&postcount=12

[Rodney Gold]

Use Xnview , a freeware utility , resize uses the Lanczos algorithm , it has many other algorithms/options too.
Aso a great Coreldraw and other graphics viewer

http://www.xnview.com

[Rodney Gold]

We print in reverse and back with white vinyl.
On shaped stickers , we make the white background countoured outward from the clear.

So If you have a print overlam and then cut machine like a Roland that reads crop marks , then to contour cut accurately , weed the clear stickers first (do a print and cut on em) and leave the printed crop marks alone , dont weed em.

Then either hand apply or use a laminator to apply the white vinyl, weed away some white as where the crop marks are so the machine can read em.

Load it in your machine and get it to read the crop marks and then die cut.
You will end up with a contoured cut white backed window graphic.
If you could get an opaque enopugh white vinyl , when you load it up to do the final cut , you could actually print onto the white , the side that faces inward from the window and have a double sided window graphic …..
BUT we havent found a vinyl opaque enough , in white , invariable light or sunlight shines thru.

[Rodney Gold]

When the tech guy replaced the head , surely he had a means of resetting the counter or timer – or is it built in a chip in the head?
At any rate , there must be some way of using the old head by resetting something……….
I think it’s a dreadful rip off to be forced to replace a perfectly serviceable part.

[Rodney Gold]

In general , folk are LOATHE to pay for design or design/prep time , they see no "value" in it cos there is nothing tangible they get for their money………
We all know good design makes the sign etc – but customers never see it that way.
I normally use clothing to negate this notion they have , IE ppl pay $100 for a bikini but the materials cost penny’s – why? Cos the bikini looks good on em and makes em feel better – so if it applys to them , surely the same applies to the design of what is most likely the FIRST impression a person has about their business.
At any rate , the idea is to make money , so if the kid comes with a design , just do it and charge accordingly…including any work you put in. Everyone is happy , you get paid , the kids parent is beaming with pride etc. Yeh , perhaps a while down the road the customer realises that the sign etc is not the best and might come back to you to do it again , so you make MORE money.
I must tell you , we have had customers with designs that ARE better than ours …we often dont think out the box enough..opting to do thigs the "safe" way.

[Rodney Gold]

I have 6 laser engravers, they work on just about anything barring PVC and some other plastics.
If you want any specific info , just ask.
I think I have posted a whole long essay on things you can do with a laser on this site
https://www.uksignboards.com/viewtopic.p … 0a18ab6191

Otherwise go to sawmillcreek.org to their laser section or to
http://www.engravingetc.org/archive/

[Rodney Gold]

It has options to drive the AXYZ machines in 4 modes/devices
Automation Router
Machine driver HPGL 2d
Automation CNC g code
Machine driver HPGL 3d

It and signlab drives my Isels, Tekcel, Roland soljet , Roland pnc2300 engraver, Laserpro lasers

[Rodney Gold]

Yeh , its a sort of subset of signlab or engravelab. Works very well.

[Rodney Gold]

Anything we can get into Corel will export to Profilelab, its got all the features you want, the only thing im not sure of is twin head support.
One of the big plusses is that it runs our Tekcel, our 5 Isels , our small Rolands , and if we want , our lasers (we drive the lasers directly off Corel)
I dont run the tekcel myself , but evidently Profilelab imports all sorts of other formats too?

[Rodney Gold]

We go directly from COREL to Profilelab or engravelab with our Tekcel, we have artcam and mastercam , but profilelab does what we want.

[Rodney Gold]

The heads have a service life of like 1 billion dots , there are counters for each head AFAIK, we have had to replace a head or 2 in 5 yrs , we always get a reate if the service life is not exceeded.
Black has always had a far higher dot count than any other.

[Rodney Gold]

https://www.uksignboards.com/viewtopic.p … hing#19658

The type of lasers that work deep into metal are normally galvo NdYags and can only do small areas as well as not being able to get good penetration or controlled depth , it’s unlikely to be lasered.
If you want more info on etching , like what mordants to use on various metals or info on resists , ask here.

[Rodney Gold]

it’s basically doing what we did prior to our soljet.
You can print on inkjet vinyl , using any old cheap printer.
You create an outline or die line which isnt printed. You send the die line to a laser cutter , register the printed paper and use the laser to kiss cut.
A few hassles
1) you will destroy your laser if you use pvc as the fumes form HCL and it eats up the laser , so no vinyls , only polyester based papers. (or any other laser friendly material)
2) its a mission to register the paper so you get accurate die cuts
3) A decent laser costs 15 000 quid or more

BUT it does work damn well if yu get it right and if you have a laser , all you need is a desktop printer.
Obviously the print is unprotected. We used to dome it , we mainly used it for badges.
Basically its a nice application for a laser , amongst the billion other applications

We actually use this type of thing a lot , cept we use the laser to die cut thick substrates and then use our roland to print and cut vinyl and apply the die cut sticker to the die cut backing.

A laser is a wonderful machine and im astonished that more sign guys dont rush out and buy one , for signage it’s a huge boon. We run 6 of em.

The other unit , under PRINT, I wouldnt touch with a bargepole, we bought one of these type machines and it was a very expensive mistake. When it worked , it worked well , it was a busjet , but thats WHEN it worked which wasnt most of the time.
Maybe things have improved? We had incredible problems with blocked heads and a whole host of other things , wasnt worth the bother at the end of it. I lost a bundle getting rid of it.

Problem is , using a direct printer unless it does white means you cant print on dark . ones that print white are prolly really pricey. Worse is the fact that lasers do NOT cut everything perfectly without edge damage or discolouration , for example you cant cut thick card without charring , or wood. The lasers they tout dont cut metal at all………
It’s not quite as easy as it’s made out to be , nor as cost effective. I would imagine the whole setup would cost like 25000 quid or more when all is said and done

[Rodney Gold]

The actual problem is that the barriers to entry into the signage industry have dropped so low , anyone can do it , once the masses "give it a go" then the whole standard of the industry gets "tarnished" by fly by nights and ppl undercutting each other.

The problems some members have is that they paid high prices and high school fees to get into this business and are now being undercut and their business is being dilutedby "amateurs" , believe me there is only one pie ,cutting it into a zillion pieces is not good.
The thing is , ppl on this forum are good hearted and alturistic and perhaps giving info so freely is actually cutting their own throats.

However there is another side to this , the real potential is no longer in vinyl cutting , customers expect more like full colour digital printing and thus the days of being able to print money with a simple vinyl cutter are long gone. Its cut throat out there and making a living with a cheap chinese cutter and a few quid of stock , a sheet of abs and some chromodek is actually quite difficult. so once again , the barriers to entry have been raised in that one has mto have a print and cut machine these days to make a little boodle. If you REALLY want to get into signage big time , you need a LOT more than just that , you need a lot of other machinery , premises , infrastructure and staff so barriers to entry are still there.

Same thing is happening in the laser engraving and cutting industry , cheap chinese lasers flooding the market…$2k for something that nomally costs $12k…..
At the moment these machines are really unreliable and nort good for heavy production and those that bought em can really only use em as hobbby machines.

I dont think that anyone who asks for info here should have an expectation that it should be given freely, this site is not about "lets help the newbie to become our competition".
No other businesses do that, they try protect their markets and margins. The place the newbies should go to get start up info and to solve problems with their equipment is the suppliers sites.
But as I said , those that answer and are established are an altruistic bunch, probably too altruistic for their own good…..

[Rodney Gold]

You will be looking for trouble with home brewed machines.
If you can give me what the scope of the job entails , I can perhaps recommend a class of machine to buy and what to look for in it.

[Rodney Gold]

Well , if you aren’t going to use a proper metering , mixing and dispensing machine , I wouldn’t use a urethane , you would probably be better off with an Epoxy and a much longer pot life.
The working time you will have with urethanes will be 5 or less minutes and the chances of it bubbling , foaming or never setting due to imprecise mixing is high.
The sheets you are doming MUST be 100% flat , pritt and glass works , but the drying rack shelving must be level.
Telpro sell doming kits and doming supplies in cartridges and they have small 50ml hand applicators and go to quite a nice 600ml cart system with a semi automated dispenser (10k or so).
Your best bet is to go that route , ie pay a bit more for the urethanes , but you will be more successful more of the time.

[Rodney Gold]

National urethane in JHB , R130 odd a kg.
Use the soft version.
To use it effectively , you need a good mixer/dispenser , mixing and dispensing with sucker sticks and a cup is fraught with difficulties. The most important thing is to let it cure in a moisture free environment. CFW in CT make low cost dehumidifiers ideal for this.

[Rodney Gold]

There are 2 types of acrylic , cell cast and extruded. The cell cast is a long polymer chain and the Extruded is short. Both of them get stressed with any heat operation on them , Flame polishing and lasering are the worst culprits. This is not a problem generally unless there is a solvent applied or indeed , even nearbye , solvent fumes can cause the stress cracking (not all solvents) The solvents break the polymer chains bonds apart and the shorter the chain , the worse it gets.
Cast acrylic is far better in this regard , however it is more expensive and less dimensionally precise than extruded.
One can stop stress cracking by annealing the pex , that is , heating it to about 80 degrees c for one hour per mm thickness and letting it air cool.
The worst part about all this is that you can ship a perfect part , and it can still stress crack months later.
A lot of problems are caused by wrong manudfacturing methods , for example , flame polishing should be done with a specialised torch using hydrogen and oxygen , not something like methane. Most stress problems can be minimised if the temperatures used are correct and the operator limits any heat affected zones.
In terms of cleaning pex , well that is a whole saga.
There are 2 problems , 1) removing stuck on dirt (a commercial plastic cleaner like novus 1/2 is good)
2) Static – as soon as you rub clean pex , you are going to charge it and it will attract a ton of dust and swarf which will make applying anything to it difficult. Ideally an ionising air gun is the best solution , but using an anti static polish like novus 1 will help here too.
Warm soapy water is the next best thing.

[Rodney Gold]

Take a rubbish bookshelf with level shelves , bolt a few 60w incandescent bulbs under the shelves , make a curtain for the shelves out of clear builders plastic and you have a nice hot dust free drying rack , cheap as chips!!

[Rodney Gold]

We use semi flexible urethanes that allow handling after 1/2 an hour and packing withing 2-3 hrs of doming.
Most important thing when doming is the area must be moisture free.
I don’t degas prints for any length of time , we start doming a few hours after printing and cutting.

[Rodney Gold]

You can use application tape on top of the domed letters , you just have to take the liner off prior to applying and obviously have to be careful about it.

[Rodney Gold]

There are some cheap but not too bad machines coming from china these days , like a 80w 1200 x 800mm machine for under $5k
In a year or 2 , these machines will be up there with the best of the mainstream makers.

[Rodney Gold]

I would get a laser , its way more versatile than any rotary engraver , albeit it does not do mettals that well , but the vast range of other stuff you can cut and engrave with it will more than pay.

[Rodney Gold]

Dots are gonna be real big and the screen wont be clear , you need dot pitches of .26 or less to have nice crisp output on your monitor. Even if the screen will approach a monitors resolution , that resolution is spread over a bigger area and thus to get more or less the same effect as a monitor , your viewing distance will have to be a lot greater. You will have colour and gamma adjustment issues and so forth, If it were so simple , no one would be paying the big bucks for large monitors
Use it as a TV:)
Your graphics card supports dual monitors , rather do that , you have no idea how convenient it is to have 2 monitors , you can drag stuff to one and work on the other , of like photoshop , have one mon as your full screen and the other contains your tools and so forth, your mouse works between both and you can drag and drop form one app on one monitor to the other.
Look at the back of the card , you will see 2 outputs , both are live simultaneously. I use an Apple cinema display as my primary monitor and some other make as a secondary , both arent the same size and i can set resolutions independantly on both. I set one mon to be less than the other and if something is too small on my cinema display , I drag it to the other mon with lesser resolution and it becomes "bigger"

[Rodney Gold]

Im not trying to rehash the debate at all , I just am curious as to whether those using either inksets have had hassles with prints a few years on from when we started. If both sides havent had print failures or machine failures cos of the inkset , then the whole debate was moot as either inkset would have done as well. Did we waste our time agonising over which machine and inks.

[Rodney Gold]

Well wraps are another story , most likely the most harsh environment digitally printed vinyl can be in , and as you say , overlams sort of negate ecosol/solvent issues.
We do almost no vehicle graphics , mainly signage , decals etc and in that respect , our ecosol/maxx/whatever hasnt had an issue. I have a ot of repeat customers , no way to measure whether some of my one off customers just didnt come back , but we do issue a guarantee with our prints and have had no claims. (3 yrs laminated , 2 yrs unlammed *terms and conditions apply to both*)
However my point was that there were huge debates about both inksets and it appears that a lot of the fears about using either have been unfounded.

[Rodney Gold]

They seem to work for some , there is feedback on both http://www.worldofengraving.com and http://www.sawmillcreek.org (laser section)
I do very intricate engraving and from what I have read , this seems a little problematic as does the software.

I would say this , that in all probability cutting materials is no problem and for this alone , the machines would be worthwhile.
I would imagine they would be suitable for engraving barring extremely fine detailed stuff?

The overall consensus is that if you are technically inclined and are prepared to fiddle and deal with chinese support , the machines are ok.
What would bother me is the stability of the tubes power , I have read that the tubes continually decrease in power over their lifetime and this would make consistent cutting a little problematic. In terms of the motion system , well nothing major can go wrong , but if I were importing I would get a stock of motors , belts , pulleys and bearings.

[Rodney Gold]

Air assist at the proper pressure and directed at the cut will help , lowering the PPI (pulses per inch – maybe you call it frequency) will also.
Naptha works well to remove residues.
Finally,you can put paper based sign vinyl application tape over the sheet before cutting to mask it.
Cutting on a honeycomb table where the exhaust system of the laser sucks down thru the honeycomb will also be better.
Go here and post the question if you want the Epilog experts to give you more precise settings for this material
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/forumdispla … 409934&f=8
and
http://www.worldofengraving.com/

[Rodney Gold]

I would do this some other way , like sandblasting. Diamond engraving of glassware , especially crystal is fraught with difficulty. Diamond tools are used to score and cut glass , that’s essentially what you are doing!!!

We have used diamond burr tools to engrave glass and have used water as a "lubricant" , but haven’t done so this way for ages and ages. We either laser engrave directly on the glass or use a mask and blast.

[Rodney Gold]

Can’t you go to a small claims court in regard to this matter?

[Rodney Gold]

You cannot repossess unless you have a court order/judgement, even if the property is "yours" in terms of the contact. In effect that clause in your contract is innefective.
The landlord is responsible for payment as he is unfairly enriched by using your sign. You CAN sue him.
I would either see a lawyer or just leave it alone , it might not be worth your while. Write it off as a bad debt and get the tax breaks.
Perhaps parking your van in front of the premises with a BIG poster "THE SIGN IS MINE AND HASNT BEEN PAID FOR" at peak times might get some response.

[Rodney Gold]

No m vinyl adhesive are fine , its stuff like meths , screenprinting inks ,acetone , thinners, chloroform , methyl chloride , solvent based glues etc that will give problems. Will happen with any process that puts heat into Acrylic.

[Rodney Gold]

If you flame polish and use ANY solvent or glues on the acrylic or even if its near solvents , you are almost guaranteed to get stress cracks , be aware of this.

[Rodney Gold]

Hiya
Co2 and YAGS have different wavelengths and thus proccess different material
To put it in a nutshell , a YAG will work on some substrates a CO@ will and will do metal , either shallowly engraving it or discolouring it , CO2 will work on just about ANYTHING barring metals, A yag will cost you a LOT more and will not be a large field laser (in general) it’s meant to be a galvo steered ultra fast engraver for production or branding metal objects.
CO2’s commonly come with a XY type plotter platform that does raster and vector type engraving , YAGS are generally steered by mirrors changing position and would have a marking field of like 100mm x 100mm , my CO2’s are 1m x 500mm
In terms of a general laser , the CO2 is your best bet , you can do a zillion things with it.
In terms of laser suppliers , all the CO2’s on the market at the same power level all do the same thing , you buy one based on warrantee and support – end of story!!! I use 6 GCC lasers , 3x Explorers and 3x Spirtis , all 30w
What power you will need is based on your applications.
I could write a 100 page essay on this , but can do better:
Here are 2 laser resources I post a hang of a lot to
http://www.engravingetc.org (members section)
and http://www.sawmillcreek.org (laser section)
Do yourself a favour and pore over these forums , you will pick up all you need to know 😉 You will have to register for them but its free

[Rodney Gold]

I wouldn’t try engrave it , i would sandblast it. You will have all sorts of issues like the stone splitting , highly abraisive swarf and so on.
I would use soapy water as a lubricant and a tungsten carbide bit as a cutter if you were to attempt it.
As to feed and speed , your main objective is to put as little heat into the cutter as possible , I would use a highish feed rate and a slow rotational speed and combine this with a slow dwell. Impossible to give exact numbers.

[Rodney Gold]

Dye sub would be a disaster , it would not last outdoors for the many years you need.
Screened anodised ally is the most common way of doing these plates and is pretty durable and cheap to do.
Etched and colour filled Stainless is the most durable of all , but will be pricey
What would REALLY set his product apart is a wood panel that is laser engraved.

[Rodney Gold]

Biemans Sport in holland is most likely your best bet if you intend to carry a range of awards etc.
We make a lot of our own
Have a look at my site for some ideas
http;//www.tokerbros,co.za
We used to import from some English suppliers some years ago but the exchange rate was very unfavourable.

[Rodney Gold]

A bookshelf with incandescent lights screwed under the shelves and a thick piece of builders plastic sheeting stapled to the front makes a good drying rack as well as an area to do the doming in , use it in a place with little airflow.
A cardboard box with a few light fittings, turned upside down works ok too

[Rodney Gold]

Firstly , one can dome any size , the problem with big items is the dome sinking in the middle. We dome items that are over 100 cm2 with no problems.
The way the dome builds is based on the viscosity of the resins to a large extent.
The problem is the more viscous resins don’t release bubbles well, however the doming kits wit the helix type front dispenser will not introduce air into the mix so this should not be a problem.

The problem bubbles are not really air bubbles introduced during mixing , they are the product of humidity and moisture in the air , so doming in a dry warm place will stop this. Your kitchen table on a hot day is not dry , you need dedicated de-humidifiers to get to levels where this is no longer an issue.

As to the resins , well one can use the epoxy based ones which are easier to use and less sensitive to moisture , but by far the best are Urethane based resins with anti UV properties. We have found epoxies yellow easily and can delaminate off domed surfaces , we use a semi flexible urethane resin rather than a glass hard (item can go on curved or uneven surfaces , doesn’t get milky and doesn’t scratch or shatter)
The kits are hugely expensive in terms of price per ml , 1 Milliliter of mixed resin covers 1 sq inch. Resin in bulk is around 10 quid a liter or 1 pence per ml , IE your cost to cover 1 sq inch is 1 pence
Some of the kits can be 10 x 20x that amount and that will make you extremely un competitive.

You CAN mix bulk in a paper cup and use a sucker stick to apply , a bit more wastage and this method will introduce air bubbles in the mix , however if you use a resin with a lower viscosity and longer pot life , the bubbles rise and burst by themselves. I would suggest epoxies for this rather than urethanes which really need a dedicated mixing and dispensing system – You can get water clear 2 part epoxies at most resin supply houses
We have dedicated dispensing and metering machines and a dedicated temp/humidity controlled environment. To start doming on a commercial basis will cost around 6k (quid) for a basic setup but the profits made on doming are huge!!!! (in the order of 1000% +)
Kits are fine for occasional doming apps , they are a waste of time if you want to get into it seriously.
the value doming adds to an ordinary item is immense. A good item to practice on are coins.

[Rodney Gold]

Programs like Profilelab will enable you do to inlays much easier as it will work out both male and female toopath strategies with the bit diameter in mind and will do the offsets etcautomatically.

Coreldraw X3 has a fillet function as well and can take a complex closed shape and fillet all angles to whatever radius you want. For example you can take a star and fillet the points to 1/8" as well as doing the same to the sharp angles between the "legs" of the star.

Profilelab will cost a lot , corel is cheap yet is will have much less functionality for your cnc router.
If you want to fillet angles one by one , Autocad will do so as well , an old copy of 12or 14will work rather than the latest versions.