Yes, other CO2 laser tubes will work fine with our laser controller (including the Reci tube). Our laser controller is a digital based controller that controls the laser tube power supply, the motor drivers and other peripherals by outputting digital signals to these devices.

Laser controller URL:
https://www.buildyourcnc.com/item/Laser-Component-Laser-Control-System

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Can other types of laser tubes work with the controller you are selling, for example, the 80W Reci tube?

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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BUT DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING ABOUT COOLING THE LASER OFF - IS YOUR SETUP LIKE MOST OTHERS NEED BUCKET OF DISTILLED WATER TO PUMP THROUGH MACHINE?

We have one in the works. It is a 4'x8' machine that will house the 80w laser tube on the gantry. The machine is bout 2 months out as of 1/7/2014.

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Do you have a larger kit for the Blacktooth Laser? I need a laser with at least 80watts of power.

Using Anti-Freeze in the cooling system with either our spindle or our laser tubes will not have any problems and we recommend using a small amount in locations where temperature is freezing or below.
Although we do not recommend using an entire gallon of anti-freeze rather just a small quantity with tap water will be sufficient.

Additional Information:


Additional Information:
All last winter, the temperature was below freezing and sometimes below zero. I used 100% antifreeze for the spindle coolant. Worked great !! All the spindle needs is any type of coolant flowing through it to take the heat away. I use three gallons of antifreeze in a tub with a fish-tank pump to push the antifreeze through. 100% antifreeze works great in cold or hot winter.

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Excellent tip. Thank you for this correction. So it is OK to use antifreeze solely as a cooling method.

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Can anti-freeze be used as a coolant for your 40W laser tube? I live where winter temperatures are below freezing and my CNC machine is in my unheated garage.

A standard water pump like this one will work: https://www.buildyourcnc.com/item/pneumatic-hydraulic-water-pump-370-Gallons-Per-Hour-220v-110v

You will also need silicone tubing at 1/4" ID and 3/8" OD to connect from the pump to the spindle: https://www.buildyourcnc.com/Item/pneumatic-hydraulic-silicone-tubing

And a bucket to hold the water.

You may also consider CPU cooling systems which can actually be fastened to the back of the gantry. We do this for the Fabricator Pro machine. The CPU cooling I would recommend is a small pump and cylinder with a heat sink, or a small radiator.

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Is there a recommended cooling system for purchase that can be used with your 2.2 kW water cooled spindles?

Good question. I will need to add up the cost. However, the complete kit with the wood components will cost in the range of $300 to $500 using freight.

Additional Information:
I will add a price option on the Vertical Laser XL page that shows the assembly price without the wood structural parts. Are you wanting the rails included in the price?

Additional Information:
Hi, I was expecting an email answer, I did not know that you answered. Also I am in Fiji, not Canada. There is a flaw with your question form, It would not accept Fiji because we have no postal codes, so I put in my old Canadian code so that it would accept my question.

Yes we would need the rails and any mechanical and electrical components. Our plan is to build it against a wall in a shipping container.

If you do not have a suitable freight forwarder I can ask at this end because people frequently receive shipping containers.

Thank you,

George

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how much would your vertical laser kit cost without the wood components and door plastic shipped to Canada

Yes, it is found in laser components section

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

The greenLean can potentially be adapted to hold laser equipment, but the laser tube would need to be in-line with the gantry and use mirrors for the laser energy to find its way to the nozzle.

It would be challenging to make room for the power supply on the gantry, but not impossible.

due to the weight of the z-axis, raster engraving would be pretty slow. If the machine was for cutting and vector graphics, the z-axis weight and inertia would not be an issue.

To experience the full features of laser engraving and cutting, it's best to stick to a sole laser machine like the vertical laser XL or the blackTooth. If you want both CNC cutting and laser to possibly mark the cuts made from the CNC machine, then the hybrid is a good solution.

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Derek, got your email, can the greenlean large format perhaps handle the laser head?

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 COMPLEX IS YOUR KIT TO ASSEMBLE, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY - HARD IT SETUP CONTROL THE LASER WITH MACH3?

These are the recommended initial motor tuning settings for the blackToe:

X-axis
“CW230 (3.0A) Driver”
Set to 1/16 Microstep, 2.7A
Dipswitches: 11001100
Mach3 Motor Tuning: 1422.22 steps/in

Y-axis
“CW230 (3.0A) Driver”
Set to 1/16 Microstep, 2.7A
Dipswitches: 11001100
Mach3 Motor Tuning: 1422.22 steps/in

Z-axis
“CW230 (3.0A) Driver”
Set to 1/4 Microstep, 2.7A
Dipswitches: 10101100
Mach3 Motor Tuning: 1600 steps/in

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Do you have any recomended motor tuning speeds for the black toe

The laser mount for the greenBull is designed and suited for a 40W tube only. The 80W tube is too large to mount on the gantry.

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The laser adapter for the greenBull can host laser tubes more powerful than 80W?

Absolutely, between the ribs that make up the structure, there is room to add other peripherals like an 4th axis.

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Can your 4' x 8' vertical laser/engraver be built with a 4th axis for engraving cylinders (baseball bats)?

That is a good question. We have not tried to weld thermoplastics using our CO2 Lasers. It is possible since the laser outputs a heat source and at the right intensity and speed, the thermoplastic can be heated and melted rather than instantaneously vaporized and off gassed. I have done research to see if CO2 laser can weld thermoplastics with positive results.

Our CO2 lasers are typical of other laser cutters on the market, so if their literature, or examples you have found, successfully weld thermoplastics, then ours will probably be able to as well.

In some cutting test with different speeds and intensities, the kerf has welded back together; however, this was caused by an unintentional process rather than an intentional one.

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Would any of your CNC laser machines be appropriate for welding of thermoplastic materials?

That is a good question. We have not tried to weld thermoplastics using our CO2 Lasers. It is possible since the laser outputs a heat source and at the right intensity and speed, the thermoplastic can be heated and melted rather than instantaneously vaporized and off gassed. I have done research to see if CO2 laser can weld thermoplastics with positive results.

Our CO2 lasers are typical of other laser cutters on the market, so if their literature, or examples you have found, successfully weld thermoplastics, then ours will probably be able to as well.

In some cutting test with different speeds and intensities, the kerf has welded back together; however, this was caused by an unintentional process rather than an intentional one.

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Would any of your CNC laser machines be appropriate for welding of thermoplastic materials?

We have not received any feedback on the Hybrid Laser/CNC indicating any issues with tube failure.

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Have you had any vibration induced tube failure with your hybrid cnc mill / co2 laser setup?

Which wiring diagram are you specifically requesting? Due to your current model blackTooth? We currently have two wiring diagrams, Parallel Interface board (https://www.buildyourcnc.com/images/LaserWiringParallel.jpg) and the USB interface board (https://www.buildyourcnc.com/images/LaserWiringUSB.jpg). Also if you have the new model blackTooth with the control unit, we still do not currently have that wiring diagram in a document format!

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Hi, whats the actual (with the fixed errata) laser electronic wiring diagram for the blacktooth? thank you

For a custom quote on an assembled blacktooth, please contact sales@buildyourcnc.com

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What is the price for your laser kit, to be shipped assembled

The blackTooth's 40 watt laser tube can be cooled with simple tap water. A bit of anti-freeze keeps the tap water clean and free of algae. The cooler the water, the better output you will get from the laser. A great source of information can be found here: http://www.buildyourtools.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=3452

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What kind of cooling system should we set up for the Blacktooth laser cutter laser tube? Can tap water be used? Is water temperature critical?

We do not currently offer a laser kit specifically for the blackToe, however we do offer a combination spindle/laser tube mount for our greenBull machine here: https://buildyourcnc.com/item/cnc-machine-laser-spindle-combo-head. You could probably modify that mount to suit your needs, or you can contact us directly to discuss a custom mount. We also offer all the additional equipment needed to begin lasing -- tube, power supply, mirrors, etc.

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Do you have a laser system that works with the 4.1 blacktoe system?