No you cannot sketch any kind of metal unless its coated from the molecular level or having it coated individually. However there are some types of coatings (Thermark and Cermark) that you can use to coat the steel so that you will be able to use our laser machine to sketch any metal.

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I know you cant cut it but can you etch stainless steel with the laser?

I'm very sorry to hear that your laser power is not working. Did you check to see if the problem is actually with the laser tube? The laser tube has a finite number of hours of running time and this may be exhausted. We can send another power supply right away once we confirm that the problem is the power supply.

At the bottom of the page, you will see a link "Contact Us". The email link for customer service is there. http://www.buildyourcnc.com/contactus.aspx. Contact us and we will assist you with the power supply and/or send you a new one to replace yours.

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my laser power supply has quit again how can I contact you?

CO2 laser will not cut wood material fast at all. This is just the nature of the laser energy. The wood is a very low absorbent of the laser energy and you will need to run probably around 10 ipm to cut through the wood. CNC is much more efficient for cutting and laser as more efficient at marking or slowly cutting if you need the small kerf. You will also need a relatively high output air source to cut efficiently. The air will blow away the char (carbon) on the wood. The black char will absorb most of the laser energy not allowing the wood to be cut well. We use a compressor for the air source, but you can use a commercial hydroponic air pump instead.

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How fast can I cut 1/4" wood with the 40 watt CO2 laser?

Please keep my order in place. I have found that it is a physical part not a plan. So do not cancel the order. Thank you

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Please keep my order in place. I have found that it is a physical part not a plan. So do not cancel the order. Thank you

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I thought I was ordering a part. I did not want any schematic or plans. Can you cancel my order?

Yes, it is found in laser components section

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DO YOU GUYS SELL THE POTENTIOMETER FOR YOUR LASER SYSTEM BY ITSELF

Temperature probe monitor. Very valuable. This keeps you up to date on your coolant temperature levels.

Voltage meter. This will tell you the exact level of voltage/power you are running telling the laser to run at instead of an arbitrary mark on a drawn wheel around your POT.

Ammeter sensitive to 1mA. This will be sure your not over driving your tube and reducing it's life significantly.

Hour meter. This will tell you exactly how long your system has been 'on' giving you a more accurate bead on the length of your tubes life.

Exhaust fan upgrade. The current fan included is 100CFM. You can buy 120mm fans that push 250CFM and I have included a guide on how to go about doing this here. http://buildyourtools.com/phpBB3/viewto ... 8cdd1802bf

To push the exhaust fan even further, if you have the room/power, I would highly recommend investing in a 600+ CFM "Dust Collector" system. 250CFM is still not suffice to draw all the smoke that can come off of 3mm or 1/8 MDF cutting job.

A cutting surface. I bought myself a aluminum 'egg crate' mesh from my local HVAC company. They are used a cover for fluorescent lights and work great for low impact cutting surface. They come in 4'x8' sheets and are easily cut to fit. The other side is if you can find a steel honeycomb cutting bed to fit. These can be quite costly or fairly affordable depending where you are looking. The benefit of a steel honeycomb is you can use high power magnets to hold material down.

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HOW CAN YOU ENHANCE THE BLACKTOOTH LASER CUTTER?

A standard 40W CO2 laser will cut up to 1/4" thick of material, be it wood, acrylic, card stock, leather, fabric, foam, cork, etc. (Decent speed and final cut are heavily dependent on a strong air assist upgrade)

Metals cannot be cut due to the power level and wavelength of the CO2 laser. But it can be marked with special solutions like Cermark or Thermark.

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WHAT THICKNESS OF MATERIAL CAN THE BLACKTOOTH LASER CUT?

The Greenbull machine can cut a very wide variety of materials ranging from foam to aluminum. We recommend the use of our 2.2kW spindle to allow the greatest flexibility. Aside from that, the most important thing is to use an appropriate end mill for the material you are cutting and to use appropriate speeds and feed rates.



BYCNC Response:
Our 40W laser can cut up to about 1/4" materials ranging from wood and acrylic down through lighter materials such as leather, fabric, foam, etc. Speed and final cut are greatly enhanced by an air assist upgrade. We also offer an 80W laser which has approximately twice the capabilities of the 40W.

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WHAT MATERIALS CAN THE GREENBULL MACHINE CUT? LASER ETCH?

Yes, if you want a laser on the machine, I would highly suggest that the laser be mounted on a separate gantry, similar to the following image:
https://buildyourcnc.com/images/machineConfigurations/greenBullV2_size_04x08_angle_flat_f1_no4thaxis_f2_wilasergantry_f3_nolaser_f4_wilaserready_.png

You would need to develop the gantry structure, but you can use this thread to work out the design with my guidance.

You will need a laser tube, laser power supply, laser controller, mirrors, mirror mounts, lens and nozzle. You will also need some mechanical parts and some motors, drivers and power supplies for the drivers and the controller.

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Yes, if you want a laser on the machine, I would highly suggest that the laser be mounted on a separate gantry, similar to the following image:
https://buildyourcnc.com/images/machineConfigurations/greenBullV2_size_04x08_angle_flat_f1_no4thaxis_f2_wilasergantry_f3_nolaser_f4_wilaserready_.png

You would need to develop the gantry structure, but you can use this thread to work out the design with my guidance.

You will need a laser tube, laser power supply, laser controller, mirrors, mirror mounts, lens and nozzle. You will also need some mechanical parts and some motors, drivers and power supplies for the drivers and the controller.

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I'm interested in getting the CO2 laser & Spindle for my Blackfoot - I currently have just the router mount. Do you sell complete kits or can you advise on what I need? Thank you

Yes, if you want a laser on the machine, I would highly suggest that the laser be mounted on a separate gantry, similar to the following image:
https://buildyourcnc.com/images/machineConfigurations/greenBullV2_size_04x08_angle_flat_f1_no4thaxis_f2_wilasergantry_f3_nolaser_f4_wilaserready_.png

You would need to develop the gantry structure, but you can use this thread to work out the design with my guidance.

You will need a laser tube, laser power supply, laser controller, mirrors, mirror mounts, lens, and nozzle. You will also need some mechanical parts and some motors, drivers, and power supplies for the drivers and the controller.

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I'm interested in getting the CO2 laser & Spindle for my Blackfoot - I currently have just the router mount. Do you sell complete kits or can you advise on what I need? Thank you

All you need is a CNC controller like the following options:

https://www.buildyourcnc.com/item/electronicsAndMotors-electronic-component-breakout-Mach3-USB-Board

This controller is easy to connect using standard wire screw terminals and works with the mach3 control software.

https://www.buildyourcnc.com/item/electronicsAndMotors-electronic-component-breakout-Mach4-mach3-USB-ethernet-Board

This controller is a little bit more difficult to connect, but is a more feature-rich controller and will work with both mach3 and mach4 CNC control software titles.

Specifically, a CNC controller connects to the computer via a USB cable and connects to the motor drivers. These controllers also connect to the limit switches, spindle/router control, air/fluid/mist control, etc.

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Can you sell me a kit to control my motor from the pc? I already have a motor, driver and power supply.

A 400w laser tube will not be a simple swap of our laser tube in our blackTooth or our spindle/laser hybrid. The overall size factor of a 80w - 400w is greatly larger than our 40w laser tube and will be the biggest issue. You will have to completely modify our units to retrofit a larger tube, which might be more costly than expected as well as more time consuming.

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Can I attach a 400w CO2 laser tube to you units (for cutting Stainless Steel at 1/8") ?

Gcode or digital files are not available for our machines.

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I have the build your own CNC kit 3 Axis CNC Machine 2008, were can I get the Gcode or vector files for it ? I wanted to have it laser cut

Upgrade your mirrors to SI coated mirrors, using a HQ ZnSe lens and even pushing up to a beam expander will all boost power. The ideal order of experimenation for lowest cost would be changing out for a higher quality lens labeled HQ ZnSE lens. Next would be SI mirrors, which will absorb less heat and reflect better, the last would be to use a beam expander which expands the beam, reducing the heat signature on the mirrors and makes a tighter focal width.

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CAN BOOST THE POWER OF MY BLACKTOOTH LASER?

The available options for the blackFoot, is only structural components with hardware, and structure components/hardware with electronic components.
However we currently do not have any plans available for public use/distribution.

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I have a 4x8 CNC and would like to cut my own parts for the Blackfoot. What is the price for the plans and the electronics ?

We don't have a laser kit to retrofit another CNC router other than ours, but we can create one. Some things that may help:

- You are located close to use so we can work closely with you to implement to retrofit,
- or you can provide very detailed drawings or measurements so we can use them to create the necessary parts for the kit.

Other things that you need to understand:

- A laser has a number of parts that will bulk up the head of the CNC router causing a bit more inertia which may require lowering the acceleration for smooth ramping up and down of the velocity

- The bulk of the parts required for the laser may restrict the travel of the x and/or y axes.

- The nozzle of the laser will be offset from the end mill of the spindle.

Can you tell me the brand of the CNC router that you would like to stick a laser on? (you can answer by submitting additional information.

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Can I put a laser on my cnc router that I didn't purchase from buildyourcnc?

These tubes are rated for 18mA. The power supply is able to push up to 21mA. This is a very dangerous thing to do. If you are pushing the tube beyond 18mA you will cut it's life by QUITE a bit.

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HOW HARD CAN PUSH MY BLACKTOOTH LASER?

The (blackTooth) laser cutter and engraver comes with the unit shown on the product page seen here: https://buildyourcnc.com/blackToothLaserCutterAndEngraver.aspx

The unit is intended to be set on a table top.

The stand that you may have noticed was only a demonstration on how to use SketchUP in a CNC process scenario. The stand has never been offered with the blackTooth laser.

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I am interested in buying Laser Cutter/Engraver with Integrated Computer, so can you please let me know if your offer still stands?

Hour meter. This will tell you exactly how long your system has been 'on' giving you a more accurate bead on the length of your tubes life.

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WHAT CAN ADD TO MY BLACKTOOTH LASER CUTTER MEASURE THE TIME OF USE?