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?

Same issue here -- TTL output from the AWC708C never seems to be pulled low. Still troubleshooting.

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MY LASER MACHINE VERTICAL DOES NOT ACTIVATE THE LASER TUBE, VERIFY THE POWER SUPPLIES AND THEY ARE WORKING WHICH THE PROBLEM CAN BE

If you read the description the first uses a parallel interface for computer hookup. The second uses USB interface for computer hookup. The third utilizes an integrated computer which is built into the package thus you do not need an external computer.

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What is the difference between the 3 Blacktooth laser packages offered? Specifically, one with/without a computer? Why do I need one? Also, is the $2100 assembled vs the $1700 which is not? What am I paying $400 more for?

If the laser tube is the same dimensions then yes, that tube can be implemented and take into account the required laser power supply and safety protocols on that high powered laser tube.

Our blackTooth is a fixed machine and is only made for the 40 watt laser tube that we sell.

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Can we use a more powerful laser tube in the blackTooth? Say, 100w from ColeTech? Are they just physically too large/long?

If your country requires 220 volt peripherals (water pump or air pump) for the blackTooth laser system, then we will either send the 220/240 volt equivalents, or we will have them drop shipped from another location in your country, or a country with compatible power requirements.

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What's the cure for 110 volt pumps (air and water) and a 110volt laser power supply, in a Blacktooth Kit sent to Australia, where 240 volts is pleasingly normal. The fan and other power supply are 220 volts.

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?

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?

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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WHAT ARE SOME USEFUL MODIFICATIONS CAN APPLY TO THE BLACKTOOTH LASER CUTTER?

You can find the wiring diagrams for the blackTooth on step 105 and 106 on the list of instructions on the blackTooth page. Step 105 pertains to the parallel breakout board and step 106 pertains to the USB interface board.

Additional Information:
wire size

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WHERE ARE THE WIRING DIAGRAMS FOR BLACKTOOTH LASER CUTTER IN INSTRUCTIONS?

Yes, if you need a replacement part on your machine please call us at 281-815-7701.

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I have a blacktooth laser engraver. The Y Axis stepper motor needs to be replaced. Can you please provide me with the information I would need to replace this motor.

Depth of Field. This is how far the focal point goes before re-expanding again. With a 2" lens, you have approximately 2-3mm of DOF. This means that you'll have 2-3mm of perfectly focused laser before it starts to re-expand again. If you have a 4" lens, you will have up to 7mm of DOF.

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WHAT IS D.O.F OR DEPTH OF FIELD FOR THE BLACKTOOTH LASER AND LENS?

You can use our shopping cart to determine the shipping. Add the machine and the parts you want to purchase, enter your shipping address and click on the Calculate Shipping Button to get a price for shipping. The shipping charges are determined directly from the carriers at the time of pressing that button.

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Additional Information:

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Hi, I live in Australia and am looking at purchasing the Blacktooth laser cutter and engraver. I am wondering what the cost to ship to Australia would be?

If you take the standard parallel cable BoB (Break Out Board), then you will need control software (Mach 3 or EMC2) and CAM software to make your G-Code (such as CamBam). Personally I use CamBam and Mach 3, they work beautifully but don't expect to turn them on and know how they work out of the box. Give yourself a few weeks to get familiar with the basics. CamBam is VERY powerful software for it's price. I'm surprised how much I keep learning on what I can do with it...I highly recommend it if you want as much control as possible.

Mach 3 + CamBam as a bundle costs $310. EMC2 will give you a free replacement for Mach 3 and is exclusively for Linux.

If you use the USB BoB, it will cost an extra $75 + $75 for the software. This is an all-in-one package so no need for Mach 3 or CamBam.

For etching rasters (jpeg, bmp, tiff, non-vectors, photos), I highly recommend PicEngrave. It has been a labor of love for the past 9 years and John has done a wonderful job with it. It easily compares in quality compared to software that is in the $200-$300 range. John's software runs $40 and can be found here: http://picengrave.com/ (don't let the modest website fool you, this stuff can do amazing things). DotG and the Mach3 engrave plugin are two other options and instructions can be found on Dustans page in the gallery on buildyourcnc.com website.

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WHAT SOFTWARE CAN BE USED WITH THE BLACKTOOTH LASER CUTTER?

The blackTooth Laser cutter and Engraver can be built in a weekend. Take a look at the build instructions and try to determine if you feel you have sufficient capability to put together the laser system.

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HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO BUILD THE BLACKTOOTH LASER CUTTER?

Yes, it is feasible to create a machine with a cutting area of 13'x15'. Your mechanical and structural systems will need to be able to span a bit more than the 13' if that will be the axis travel along the gantry.

We have not cut carpet with our lasers, but I don't see why not. With that said, be extremely careful with the materials in the rug. Read the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) for the rug you intend to cut as some materials will emit corrosive and harmful gases and chemicals when lased.

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Hi I want to build a cnc laser table 13'x15' cuttting area. Is this feasible. Also would the 80watt laser be enough power to cut through carpet

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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WHAT CAN USE BELOW MY WORKPIECE AS SUBSTRATE IN BLACKTOOTH LASER CUTTER?

Is there a test button on the laser tube power supply? You can test the laser output by using the test button. This will help you determine if the laser tube is bad, or if you have wiring issues. Sometimes, wiring to he TL may not work as some controllers are set to active low, so you may need to wire the controller to TH instead.

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Additionally, the mA on the high tension line does not have any relationship to the digital trigger signal from the controller to the power supply.

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Using the AWC708, my laser will not fire. The wiring seems correct

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?

Cooling is not as tricky as you might think. There is 3 ways to approach this, only 2 really matter for a low scale 40w setup. First one is the cheapest and easiest. The higher the temp of water the worse your performance will be, from what I understand anything in the 30C range is about the most tolerable it gets. Lower is better. But not frozen...from what I've been told a very experienced cutter, he found 8C was the highest power he achieved.

1. Use a 5 Gallon resovoir system which gives you a fairly large space of water to heat up before you need to tend to it. Add about a cup of anti-freeze to the mix of DISTILLED water. You don't want ANY minerals in the water that might build up in your system. The anti-freeze works to keep algae and other ickies from growing in your water.

2. Use a smaller resovoir system (or even closed loop) and install 1 or more radiators found in CPU cooling systems with 120mm fans attached. This will continously cool your water system to ambient room temperatures, but with a tiny resovoir it will be difficult to add things like ice-packs to drop the temps if the ambient is quite hot.

3. Using an industrial coolant system. Overkill and unless your cutting A LOT, this is a very expensive option to take. You can also explore the idea of Peltier cooling but it is extremely expensive electricity/BTU wise compared to an industrial cooler.

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HOW TO COOL THE BLACKTOOTH 40W LASER TUBE