Giles

Inspired by Monkeysarefun dodgy bricks, I've been making some tests..... First of all, I imported a JPG directly into Cut2DLaser, converted it into vectors, and cut it. This was very successful, and produced a lovely job. The problem is I can't use this in practice, as I need to put doors and windows in, and jiggle the edges - so I really need to be able to import (whatever into Autocad. I then downloaded Inkscape, which converted the image into DXF, allowing me to work it. This took a lot of work to clean it up, but I got there eventually. It was equally a trial to learn how to get the program to 'fill' satisfactory, as everything has to be completely 'clean' and by bordered (otherwise it will infill the brick, rather than the mortar!). Eventually I got it to do what it should, however, all too often, it gets so far in the process, and then stops (with the laser still on) and then it's game over.... I did manage to get it to do two complete small samples, however.... Interestingly, the results are generally better when Cut2DLaser does the conversion from image to vectors itself, than reading the DXF/DWG. It will be very nice if one can get this usable,.......

Your life will never be the same....

Hi Simon, I'm using 2mm MDF, which I worked out is pretty close - and certainly in practice it's proving ideal.....

I've just done another test piece (brick sh*t house) with the bricks done as individual rectangles (a fraction smaller) which I think is an improvement. (The one with the door....) I also managed to poke a 0.6mm diameter hole right through the 2mm MDF to take the door knob. You never know one of these may possibly end up on a layout....

I spent most of the afternoon looking for some windows I bought from York laser, to go into one of the Denton Brook buildings. When, after a couple of hours I found them, I realised I had bought some modern UPVC Windows by mistake!! No use at all.... I therefore drew up something more suitable, to try and cut them in 0.8mm ply (a material I haven't to date tried.....) using the Emblazer laser. I confess I didn't bother doing test pieces, I just went straight for it. Etch cuts were 20mm/sec at 75%, Single pass, And the Cuts were 10mm/sec at 100%, with three passes - but would have been better at four passes, as some of the frames were just clinging on..... The glazing bars are about 0.5mm wide, and have come out beautifully! The quality is stunning. I wouldn't do piles of them a once, as being a silly computer, it does half a job, goes off and does something else and then comes back to it, and of course it will always do a better job if it finishes one thing first....... One could do a work-around by doing pairs of Windows on different layers, so it will do them a pair at a time. I love this machine!

I spent most of the afternoon looking for some windows I bought from York laser, to go into one of the Denton Brook buildings. When, after a couple of hours I found them, I realised I had bought some modern UPVC Windows by mistake!! No use at all.... I therefore drew up something more suitable, to try and cut them in 0.8mm ply (a material I haven't to date tried.....) I confess I didn't bother doing test pieces, I just went straight for it. Etch cuts were 20mm/sec at 75%, Single pass, And the Cuts were 10mm/sec at 100%, with three passes - but would have been better at four passes, as some of the frames were just clinging on..... The glazing bars are about 0.5mm wide, and have come out beautifully! The quality is stunning. I wouldn't do piles of them a once, as being a silly computer, it does half a job, goes off and does something else and then comes back to it, and of course it will always do a better job if it finishes one thing first....... One could do a work-around by doing pairs of Windows on different layers, so it will do them a pair at a time.

Excellent - I don't think you'll regret it!

David, I'm extremely sorry to hear your news - and I certainly have no information that could be of any assistance - but I do wish you well, and very much hope that you find yourself in competent and reassuring hands. All the very best, Giles

Thank you all - I have contacted Support (last night) and had a reply from Domenic, who has suggested installing Ultimate GCode Sender, and tweaking a couple of settings on that, which will slow the carriage a bit between vectors, and smooth out acceleration a little.

I'm having a slightly frustrating time at the moment - trying to get a building done for Denton Brook, but the same thing is happening again, after 30mins cutting, the registration goes, trashing the job ( you can see on the left beside the doorway, and at the bottom) My instinct is that it's software, as opposed to simply 'losing' registration..... This of course happened with the small shed until I did the job in two halves. This was 45 minutes of cutting.

I've managed to find time to produce this tool shed - it took ages, because it takes 30minutes to cut, but about 20 minutes in, it loses it's indexing, and shifts about half a mil, which ruins it..... I had three goes, and it did it each time - trashing it. Finally, I split the job into two parts, first the two ends, then the two walls - as separate drawings and operations (no other differences at all...) that worked absolutely fine. I don't know if it can't cope with running continuously for more than 15-20 minutes without losing its indexing, or whether there is a little software glitch that sends it astray (the drawing appears to be completely clean). I don't mind splitting jobs up if I have to, my only concern would be if I have problems working large intensive pieces...... We'll see! Time to try and produce some bits for Denton Brook!

I've managed to find time to produce this tool shed - it took ages, because it takes 30minutes to cut, but about 20 minutes in, it loses it's indexing, and shifts about half a mil, which ruins it..... I had three goes, and it did it each time - trashing it. Finally, I split the job into two parts, first the two ends, then the two walls - as separate drawings and operations (no other differences at all...) that worked absolutely fine. I don't know if it can't cope with running continuously for more than 15-20 minutes without losing its indexing, or whether there is a little software glitch that sends it astray (the drawing appears to be completely clean). I don't mind splitting jobs up if I have to, my only concern would be if I have problems working large intensive pieces...... We'll see!

No - you can work it to a finished surface if you like.... However, if you leave some standing proud, you'll need to file/sand it off... But you've got plenty of working time before it goes off, which makes it much easier. Damn auto-correct trashing my sentences..... That'll teach me to read it afterwards. Apologies!

If you work the Milliput wetted with a spot of water, you can get it as smooth as you like. I tend to use a scalpel blade to tool it and smooth it - but even a bit of scrap brass will do.

... And I bought a second set for Di... The biggest problem is making sure the cat is nowhere near!

I'm certainly very well aware that MDF contains formaldehyde and also have been aware for many years that steps have been taken to radically reduce its level. You can now easily get E1 grade (in Europe) which has a content of less than 0.1ppm - levels described by HSE as 'insignificant' (there is also E2, with a content between 0.1 and 0.3ppm - all still a significant improvement on the old stuff). (An average house is generally calculated to contain 0.04ppm) Suppliers should state (somewhere) what grade they are selling, and should be able to supply COSHH sheets

For those of you who are mildly interested in brickwork - I've made good progress (though it may not appear so). I've off-set the mortar courses diagonally by 0.1mm to give a little width. But at least I now have a formula that works in all respects. The etching is 15mm/sec @ 100%, 1 pass and the cut is 10mm/sec @ 100%, 4 passes. I also bought some aluminium honeycomb (10mm deep, 6mm cells) from eBay, which I've sprayed black and taped to the bed... Seems to be ok so far....!

To add to that, I agree - it very much depends on how well you've got it focussed. I've had a problem, insofar as I can't see well enough to focus it properly (I can't see the change in the dot size as I get 'flare' from astigmatism). I've been aware that my laser probably wasn't focussed to its optimum (and could smoke when cutting MDF), but yesterday, more by luck than judgement, managed to set the laser soooo much better, and found it cutting very much cleaner, with less smoke and smell (and getting more penetration into the bargain) The only downside to this is now I'm going to have to do double cuts for mortar courses as a single cut is now too narrow! The plus side is that I get no charring when I cut right through the 2mm MDF, and more - My wife Diane, although she is properly fascinated by brickwork and joints etc., seems to have an interest in what it will do with things like leather..... (For glove making, purses, all sorts, before you all get carried away...). The info on Darklylabs website is that it will cut through 1.5mm leather, which we thought was useful enough. However, I find that it will actually (and practically) cut through 3.5mm thick leather - which makes it REALLY USEFUL. The etching on the leather was 15mm per second at 80% (1pass), and to cut was 10mm per second at 100% (8 passes)

.... And he can definitely keep his bl**y spiders - but I like the gothic! The short answer is -yes- you could certainly do a bit at the time. You would need to tape or clamp down a 'fence' to keep your material accurately aligned, and then do a test or too, and make some index marks - but the machine is quite accurate enough to do what you're asking - you just need to make sure you step the material along exactly the right amount. Three foot is what, only two joins, anyway.....

I think if you run them at 100% of their rated capacity, it's something like 2500 hours, however - like all these things, if you under run them, the last much longer. Although I have a 4w diode laser, the board can't actually supply it's full capacity, therefore it's always slightly under-run (even when programmed to run at '100%'). I'm there fore hoping it will last a good long while..... (As if 2500 hours isn't quite a long time...) The laser units are also available as spares.

Lovely job Chris - the buffers want doing to match, if you've not done them already!

Progress - I've managed to etch and cut (in a combined process) a bit of brickwork, which pleases me. The joint is suffering from an excess of glue- but the principle is there. This is 2mm MDF, cutting through on 6 passes, and etching on a single pass. There is some charring on the brick ends with the cutting, which I suppose is not surprising. I suspect I shall never buy any more embossed plasticard brick....! 7mm scale

You've been getting along faster than I have - nonetheless, I've managed to etch and cut (in a combined process) a bit of brickwork, which pleases me. The joint is suffering from an excess of glue- but the principle is there. This is 2mm MDF, cutting through on 6 passes, and etching on a single pass. There is some charring on the brick ends with the cutting, which I suppose is not surprising. I suspect I shall never buy any more embossed plasticard brick....! 7mm scale

I bought another Goods Yard Models Austin not so long ago from Amberly Models (Services?) at the Reading show not so long ago, so I guess their remaining stock was sold on. There may still be a few left, perhaps......