Today I found out there are several types of Plexiglas. Proberbly I have 2 types… with and without tension.
This example show you with tension in the plexiglass. See attachment.
Also tried to engrave. But … 100w laser is not good to engrave.
For the picture in the post I only used 25% of the power from the laser as max engraving … just too much.
I am ignorant to machining/cutting/engraving with lasers. This is very interesting.
@Tom Cole, I hope you find all information you need. I would be happy to answer any questions you have.
Hi!
Really nice work!
Do you have a link for the laser head parts and mirrors and also for the psu?
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I ordered all the goods from this Ebay store
This parts:
You also can find the 100w laser tube there.
and some additional lenses but didn’t had time to test them. Will post that soon!
For now, I created some nice plexiglass stuff. Ordered several colored plexiglass.
wow, this is AWESOME, I have been waiting for someone to do this.
Do you know how to rotate your photos? If you did that, it would make your post a lot better.
Did you design any additional prints? Did you post the laser lens holder to thingiverse? Did you print mounts for the laser tube in its case? If so which ones. This is an AWESOME project and I think it deserves a more complete and organized writeup.
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No I don’t know. The original pictures are hosted from my website. Maybe they are to large. It is something with this site.
I made a new printheadholder for the laser head. It is not really done that’s why I still won’t share it.
Made some new progress too. Tried some laserbeddings small and large gaps but they are coated metal and you can see the reflection back into your lasered objects. Ordered a new one maybe some new results soon.
Maybe it’s a good idea to delete this topic and start a new one from scratch with a good buildup, pictures and explanation.
What do you guys think?
I definitely think that would be a huge benefit. If you get this as a proper writeup outlining things like
what it is and what it can do with proper youtube videos(for folks that haven’t used co2 lasers and don’t know how amazing they are)
Cost
Bill of materials(with links)
build steps
I’m curious how safe it is since it doesn’t have an enclosure. Blindness scares me. An enclosure wouldn’t be hard to build, though.
You could probably put all of that in a 10 minute youtube video that is well filmed with a thoughtout voice over, and accomplish the same goal.
As soon as you properly document this, other people will start doing it. A lot of people. This is a seriously awesome thing and a LOT of people want one of these. I’m probably going to go buy parts and do one, though I might just put together a 40 watt by taking apart one of the cheap chinese laser cutters.
Is this compatible with the MPCNC firmware for the ramps? Did you have to mod it or install a laser firmware?
sounds like you are making a fixed z axis gantry. For your mobile gantry, how did you align the laser beam with the moving z? Do you have a fixed mirror on the z axis gantry that reflects the light down into it?
+1 for learning more… I am wanting to learn if there is an affordable laser solution for engraving and cutting acrylic.
So what about using one of these https://www.ebay.com/itm/222417857422 i only need it to cut gasket paper and engrave stuff
if you’re just looking at cutting gasket paper and engraving, you could get by with the leo69’s tutorial with the 2.5w diode laser tutorial for 100 bucks… his project is heavily documented here… the 100w co2 laser is a completely different animal and can be used to cut a lot thicker materials…
haha, just a little more then paper 
Koen,
Got asked to help out with cutting glass, would this be over kill for cutting non tempered glass? Looks like you have the laser part for about 1k if I did the guessing correct.
I somehow completely missed this project. Very awesome project.
You guys sound pretty demanding. Dude built A LASER and was kind enough to share with us what he’s done.
Sheesh.
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If there are any questions I’m happy to answer them.
It has been a while but i’m busy to discover the functions off the re-arm bord. It is an 32-bits. Got the motors working and they are going FAST! this is something i need for engraving. For now the arduino mega with the ramps 1.4 is not fast enough.
The re-armp is a smoothieware.
Does anyone has the know-how about this board? Someone wanna help with it?
I put this in your other post, but I feel I need to keep the relevant information clear.
Most nema 17’s are limited to 60rpms before there power drops off dramatically, to go fast you need larger pulleys at the expense of power. I have the Ramps Firmware Limited at 190mm/s. I can not imagine needing to go faster than that but if you do you can change the firmware or the pulleys or both.
Any updates? How is the machine holding up? Also, any thoughts on how it would compare to a Blacktooth?