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Darkly Labs emblaser - affordable laser cutter - review


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Now here's something just as worrying, the beaver is on the side of the CP locos, and when they have an engine fire the paint and the logo are burned in the heat. When this happens it's called a BBQ beaver.

 

You might not want to google this...

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Before my life descends completely into fodder for a bad country and western song I'd like to thank everyone here for your support and wishes.

 

I now have a new laptop (Windows 10 - kill me now!) and am going through the painful process of re-installing everything -  Inkscape,Cut 2D laser etc etc.

 

On the positive side, I had all my data files backing up nightly from the laptop to a seperate hard-drive in the front (the higher ground bit!) of the house so now  its just a case of restoring it all. If I'd lost all the Inkscape and .pdf files for the laser stuff,  that would have been really bad, so if I can offer anything from this - please consider how hard it would be for you to recover from some kind of failure or natural disaster - backing stuff up is kind of nerdy and boring but it can be the difference between 2 or 3 hours of annoyance getting it all back, and the loss of months worth of work, and you can easily find  free backup software online ( Catch is, they make it easy to backup up, but a pain in  the a*se to restore from unless you pay for the premium version!..... How do I know that?)

 

Additionally, where do you have the license keys for your software?  Emailed copies I have in a yahoo mail  folder so thats easy to retrieve, the others  I copied  to an encrypted app on my phone, annoying to type in 30 or so characters, but I have them all there ready once I"ve re-installed the software.

 

Please, take a few minutes to consider the risks to your data should something bad happen, and have a backup regime happening!

 

Something to cheer me up.. I finished the jewellery box - but thought it would be awesome to  embed  tiny rare earth magnets into the box and the lid to keep it shut.

 

post-22541-0-15309200-1466685213_thumb.jpg

 

Unfortunately I araldited the one on the right hand side of the box the wrong way around (how was I meant to know which way is the right way!) and so when I put the lid on, the right hand side levitates itself up about 3mm due to the power of stupid magnets. Currently trying to figure out how to fix that!

 

WHAT MORE CAN GO WRONG!!!!?!?!?!

Edited by monkeysarefun
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We're going to try tattooing next week......

 

 

 

 

If I can get anyone to stay still for long enough....

 

 

It would be easier to laser tattoos off I reckon, which is how this Emblaser thing all started, way back when in post #1!

Edited by monkeysarefun
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You could try lasering off tattoos with my CO2 machine.

 

I reckon three or four cuts at full waft, you'd remove the limb on which the design had been tattooed.

 

Might sting a bit.

 

Best

Simon

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You could try lasering off tattoos with my CO2 machine.

 

I reckon three or four cuts at full waft, you'd remove the limb on which the design had been tattooed.

 

Might sting a bit.

 

Best

Simon

Then turn it into a lampshade.... :O

 

Regs

 

Ian

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Before my life descends completely into fodder for a bad country and western song I'd like to thank everyone here for your support and wishes.

 

I now have a new laptop (Windows 10 - kill me now!) and am going through the painful process of re-installing everything -  Inkscape,Cut 2D laser etc etc.

 

On the positive side, I had all my data files backing up nightly from the laptop to a seperate hard-drive in the front (the higher ground bit!) of the house so now  its just a case of restoring it all. If I'd lost all the Inkscape and .pdf files for the laser stuff,  that would have been really bad, so if I can offer anything from this - please consider how hard it would be for you to recover from some kind of failure or natural disaster - backing stuff up is kind of nerdy and boring but it can be the difference between 2 or 3 hours of annoyance getting it all back, and the loss of months worth of work, and you can easily find  free backup software online ( Catch is, they make it easy to backup up, but a pain in  the a*se to restore from unless you pay for the premium version!..... How do I know that?)

 

Additionally, where do you have the license keys for your software?  Emailed copies I have in a yahoo mail  folder so thats easy to retrieve, the others  I copied  to an encrypted app on my phone, annoying to type in 30 or so characters, but I have them all there ready once I"ve re-installed the software.

 

Please, take a few minutes to consider the risks to your data should something bad happen, and have a backup regime happening!

 

Something to cheer me up.. I finished the jewellery box - but thought it would be awesome to  embed  tiny rare earth magnets into the box and the lid to keep it shut.

 

Unfortunately I araldited the one on the right hand side of the box the wrong way around (how was I meant to know which way is the right way!) and so when I put the lid on, the right hand side levitates itself up about 3mm due to the power of stupid magnets. Currently trying to figure out how to fix that!

 

WHAT MORE CAN GO WRONG!!!!?!?!?!

Chris

'Araldite' et al respond 'favourably' to 'Nitromors'.  How do I know that???  I reduced a whitemetal kit to its component parts trying to remove (someone elses) paintjob..

 

I absolutely agree regarding backing up, pws etc.  In addition to using a 'standalone' 2tb I also back up all my commercial files (drawings etc) to a 32gb stick.

 

Regs

 

Ian

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yay

 

I have finally found a alternative supplier of 0.8mm ply which cuts   :imsohappy:  :imsohappy:  :imsohappy:  :imsohappy:

 

which means at last I could get this lot cut

 

 

post-1480-0-75661500-1466701364_thumb.jpg

 

hopefully it should make a certain modeller happy in the SW 

 

a little more progress on the house

 

post-1480-0-83516000-1466701439_thumb.jpg

 

Nick

 

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yay

 

I have finally found a alternative supplier of 0.8mm ply which cuts   :imsohappy:  :imsohappy:  :imsohappy:  :imsohappy:

 

which means at last I could get this lot cut

 

hopefully it should make a certain modeller happy in the SW 

 

a little more progress on the house

 

attachicon.gifDSC_4308a.jpg

 

Nick

Nick - 

Who's your supplier?  I just bought 0.8mm and 0.4mm ply from ''SLEC' - quite happy with it, but it's nice to know of alternates.

 

Regarding the building - is it from a prototype, and is it 2mm?  It LOOKS to be  'Jacobean' period - (c1660) in which case I would have thought the bonding would be 'English' or 'Flemish'?

 

Just sticking my nose in... :no:

 

Regards

 

Ian

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Nick - 

Who's your supplier?  I just bought 0.8mm and 0.4mm ply from ''SLEC' - quite happy with it, but it's nice to know of alternates.

 

Regarding the building - is it from a prototype, and is it 2mm?  It LOOKS to be  'Jacobean' period - (c1660) in which case I would have thought the bonding would be 'English' or 'Flemish'?

 

Just sticking my nose in... :no:

 

Regards

 

Ian

Ian

 

supplier is Kitronik https://www.kitronik.co.uk/materials.html?acrylic_thickness=993  they came up via  a Google search never used them before, was impressed ordered lunchtime arrived next morning, and slightly cheaper than my previous suppliers.

 

Building is a slight mish mash of  local C17th century buildings ( lots of Dutch style in Kent) mainly based on one about 100 yards from where I live, although that is now rendered and looking at others several lots where built from blocks not brick.   not been a bricky and also going cross eyed drawing it the bond is probably incorrect bricks are 0.8mm x 0.5mm and should be more exotic

 

and yes its is 2mm 

 

post-1480-0-85214600-1466844510_thumb.jpg

 

its that giant pound coin again  

 

Nick

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Ian

 

supplier is Kitronik https://www.kitronik.co.uk/materials.html?acrylic_thickness=993  they came up via  a Google search never used them before, was impressed ordered lunchtime arrived next morning, and slightly cheaper than my previous suppliers.

 

Building is a slight mish mash of  local C17th century buildings ( lots of Dutch style in Kent) mainly based on one about 100 yards from where I live, although that is now rendered and looking at others several lots where built from blocks not brick.   not been a bricky and also going cross eyed drawing it the bond is probably incorrect bricks are 0.8mm x 0.5mm and should be more exotic

 

and yes its is 2mm 

 

its that giant pound coin again  

 

Nick

Thanks for that Nick

 

I've heard of Kitronic and nearly went for them rather than SLEC.  that said, their service was pretty good...

 

At least I got the 'period' right - but being an archaeologist with an interest in 'built environment I b...y well should have.!

 

I've got brickwork in 'stretcher' and 'English' bond on file - When my eyesight returns to normal I'll do 'Flemish' as well.  I tend to 'CAD' it at 1:1 then use the 'scale' option to reduce it (had an interesting experience with the printer when I inadvertently printed at 1:1 - the costly mistake viz-a-viz new cartidges and paper taught me to ALWAYS check the printer)!

 

Anyway, I look forward to seeingthe building(s) in location on the layout (of which I've heard good things from Nigel'

 

Regards

 

Ian

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I confess I've been working on the radio control mobile crane and 'Denton Brook' rather than lasering in the last week!

 

Crane is now completely ready for the RC gear, and 'Denton Brook' is ready for grass.....

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  • RMweb Gold

Unfortunately I forgot to scale down to 4mm scale :-/

 

post-14192-0-12924000-1467046335_thumb.jpeg

 

In reality, the water in my house is a mild solution of sulphur hydroxide - imagine getting in a bath of rotten eggs - and I'm building an extension to my wife's office to house a water filtration system. She's in England at the moment, so I'm trying to get it done before she gets back.

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so having consulted the idiots guide to brick laying the following has been produced, destined for my own home layout as a terrace of six units

 

post-1480-0-42880700-1467567497_thumb.jpg

 

according to the  "IGB" its Flemish bond cut from 1mm mdf  was quite impressed how it stayed together to enable the corners to interlock at a 1mm deep by 0.5mm saw tooth   :onthequiet:

 

lots more to do still though

 

 

NIck

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Nick, how long does it take to cut out all that brickwork?

given the bricks scale @ 1.6mm x 0.5mm per brick so the half's are 0.8mm x 0.5mm I started about 1300 today as the F1 started and finished about 1700 with a glass of wine with the first shell assembled 

 

too long to be commercially acceptable but as a private project acceptable 

 

I confess I was surprised and pleased how well it worked

 

Nick

Edited by nick_bastable
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the end wall for my locoshed is a bare fit into an A4 sheet of MDF and takes just an hour to do the brickwork - and a further 10 minutes to do the cutting out.

 

Which is fine, as Nick said, for a happy amateur, unless

 

a) you fail to get the origin the same on both etch and cut

b) you fail to get the origin close enough to the edge to ensure that nothing goes off the sheet

c) you fail to get the sheet at exactly right angles to the main axis of the laser

d) you make a cod's ear of the power settings

e) any mixture of the above

f) all of the above

 

guess how I know...  Happily have avoided (f) so far.

 

best

Simon

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Where getting a sheet or an item roughly located -as opposed to precisely positioned - I tend to tape down a piece of paper, and 'etch' a border layer onto the paper first, so I know where the cut is going to be.....

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Thanks Giles, I want to experiment with an approach quite similar to that technique for another challenge I face, but actually, what I did to sort out the material position was to glue a bit of MDF to the honeycomb frame, and simply laser a square corner into it.

 

Bingo, instant origin position & repeatable position of workpiece.

 

It seems to work fine, and I've managed to avoid issues a, b & c, fairly consistently since doing it!

 

Best

Simon

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  • 2 weeks later...
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some more works in progress

 

the original tree storey house did not sit right in my eye so rejigged to this, still lots more to do

 

post-1480-0-08684700-1468428942_thumb.jpg

 

and for the area groups shunting plank I have started this based on a local terrace

 

post-1480-0-32960500-1468429026_thumb.jpg

 

only noticed the drafting line after it was cut  :blind:  :blind:  :blind:

 

 

Nick

 

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