Title says it all…
– David
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Thank you. This info is gold.
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Ouch! That was indeed a patience tester! He had a nice summary in the end though. Wow, I must admit that this was a little discouraging. I was just about to hook it up and give a few test rounds, but this certainly gave me many MORE things to worry about 
well, I think I’ll still give it a try. What I’ve learned from this vid is that the air is supposed to go THROUGH the kerf when cutting (in one go) and ALONG the surface when engraving. I think I’ll use hand air when engraving, at least as a beginning.
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I suspect a little personal fan off to the side and blowing across the work would sweep the smoke/soot away when engraving. You just don’t want assist that blows it all back down on the surface like this…
foreground smudged while air-assist was running… cleared up when I turned it off.
It makes a lot of sense that one pass is better than multiple passes… hadn’t thought of that before. Could be that little personal fan is a good thing when forced to make several passes to cut through as well?
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That is interesting. I’ve always used a small personal fan blowing across the surface, but that was more to push the fumes towards the door so they can exit the building.
I’ve used the air assist nozzle for both cuts and engravings. I do adjust the amount of pressure going through the nozzle differently for the different cut types. I run 2-4 psi for engraving and closer to 15 psi for through cuts.
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One thing is certain - with you guys, I’ll never stop learning new stuff! I have to admit that I did a few skips in the video, but I think I got his main point: that the laser will burn/react with any little debris, particle or water molecule in the way! It’s obvious, but he shows in a convincing and insightful way. Keeping this in mind and using air accordingly seems like a good rule of thumb.
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I love contributions like this. So I am very aware of not putting it down, but it was definitely very in depth on some subjects and then huge gaps to key information. I would give the benefit of the doubt that the problem may be with me. I may know enough about some subjects and not enough about others so it was hit or miss.
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I sat through the whole thing and was very happy to learn it all.
I just received my NeJe 40764 and am looking forward to playing with the laser.
One side note: I’ve been looking through all the “thingi” sites for a mount that will fit on the Primo. If you have one that works on the standard Z axis, that’s what I’m looking for. I see a bunch for other versions of the machine, or ones that work with other router/spindles (I have a DW660), but none that I figure will work for me. Please point in the correct direction if you know.
MikeB
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Attached is a ZIP file containing two mounting brackets and a plate. The mounting brackets are modified version the STEP files provided by Ryan, so they should fit on all three versions of the Primo. The plate has features that you may not need/want like mounting points for a fan, and slots for mounting an air assist solution, but it will work fine if you ignore these features. I’ve included a DXF file with the basic layout of the plate, so, if you have any CAD tools/abilities, you can create a different plate and know the correct hole placement for mounting on the brackets. The two holes in the bottom center of the plate were designed for the mounting bracket that comes with the NEJE A40640 and NEJE A40630 laser modules. I could not find the NEJE 40764 laser module on the NEJE website. The nut traps on the brackets were designed for 8-32 nuts.
BasicLaserMount.zip (227.5 KB)
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Thanks Robert!
I see other posts on other sites that have recommended masking to prevent the damage from smoke contamination.
My investigation into this problem, amongst other advice, I found that there is a film that gets painted on and comes off easily - Laser Engraving. Expensive though @ $63 odd.
Also, a masking tape developed for laser use. - Transferite 582U
I was using my 5.5w to cut LP records for my Wife to make clocks with and using a computer fan sitting on the cutting surface to blow the fumes away from the laser, and was having the same problem where the rest of the record was being damaged from the smoke and not able to clean it off.
Still waiting patiently for my new laser to arrive from Neje. Has been ZAJNB / Despatched to overseas since 2021-12-03 02:25 so guessing its lost in the South African postal system.
After watching this guy, I decided to keep my air assist as simple as possible. This laser is really only for engraving since it’s only 500mw at 405nm. Converted from a Burley. Uses the MKS-DLC board with grbl. Cost of laser and board was about $55.
The following links show the over view and then engraving with the air assist off and then on.
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