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?

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?

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") ?

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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Do you have a laser kit that can be fitted onto another brand CNC router?

The laser tube is a consumable item in all CO2 lasers, unless the laser tube can be recharged. My laser tubes will most likely work as long as the mouts are the same size. Let me know the mount diameter and the length of space for the tube in the Epilog Laser Cutter and Engraver and I will let you know.

Additional Information:
My Epilog Summit (3.3) only works from Windows Millenium and 98. Notconsistently from WXP, but sporadic raster and vector combined does happen. I can't get it to work right w XP through Harvard Draw, Corel,Image Folio, Stika, DrawMagic or anything else I have. But Millenium isOK except for the advanced mapping to colors function is very difficult.When it does rarely accept a graphic from my XP system from CorelDrawEssentials or 8.0, it will allow complete control for photo etching -speed, power and shade mapping. It is the same driver for both mysystems but the control panel page looks different in the 2 computers. The laser takes 45 seconds to initialize after power on. You can use a USB to Parallel adapter cable for your laptop or modern computer connection. The laser needs the old style printer connection. Test your laser by holding all 3 power/focus/speed buttons until homed. Close the lid. "Online" for lase, any other button for laser off. Should be an audible beep every few seconds while your laser is functioning. This is not a motion test -only laser firing.

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I have a 25 watt Epilog Summit Model 2000/25 laser engraver. I believe my tube is going bad due to limited vector cutting and no raster. Do you think there is a way to retrofit with your products to make it work well. Mirrors are new and mechanical is good. Thanks.

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?

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

It's best to design a machine specifically for a lathe rather than adapting an existing machine kit to an existing lathe. If you are interested in us designing a machine like this, let us know.

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Can any of your CNC kits be adapted to work with a manual wood lathe?

The only plans we sell for any machine, are the ones that relate to the book we create found here, http://www.buildyourcnc.com/Book.aspx

Here is the link to those plans that we sell, http://www.buildyourcnc.com/cnckitintro.aspx

We do not sell any other plans, only full kits, with or without electronics.

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I am wondering if you also supply plans for the bigger machines, also the vertical CNC that you have in your product range?

A cell phone emits electromagnetic radiation of various frequencies at very low intensity and would not affect the development of a fetus whose mother placed the cell phone on her abdomen during her pregnancy. The mother's reproductive and developmental risk for her growing embryo would not be altered by these exposures. If you are healthy, young, and have no reproductive problems or family history of reproductive or developmental problems, your risk for birth defects is 3% and for miscarriage, 15%. These are background risks with which every woman begins her pregnancy. Neither you nor I can change these risks. Good luck with your pregnancy.

Robert Brent, MD, PhD

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DOES CELL PHONE VIBRATION ON YOUR STOMACH DURING PREGNANCY AFFECT THE BABY?

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.

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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.

The blacktooth page shows instructions for both USB and parallel interfaces. If you need further assistance with anything please contact customerservice@buildyourcnc.com

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Do you have a set of instructions specifically for the blacktooth/parallel setup?

How did you test the laser tube? One of the two mirrors or the laser tube end may be damaged.

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[550] What could be wrong when the CO2 laser tube fires a beam inside but it doesn't go out of the 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?

If you need a new laser controller for CO2, we can definitely supply one.

This is the laser controller that we sell: https://www.buildyourcnc.com/item/Laser-Component-Laser-Control-System

The laser controller works with a program called LaserCAD and is compatible with most typical file types.

The laser controller will work with any laser tube and laser tube power supply that requires 5V digital signals and PWM.

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can you supply a new board and a better software program for a CO2 laser cutter and engraver

No, the greenBull CNC will function with the same performance in 110 or 220 volts. When the voltage changes, the current compensates for the different voltage. Make sure to select the appropriate products for the voltage. If the product does in list the voltage, make sure to give us a cal to inform us so we can supply the correct components in the package for shipping.

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If I use your greenBull CNC with 110 instead of 220, am I taking a reduction in functionality?

The PlanetCNC USB software, like most machine control software, can be used to control a laser engraver/cutter. The typical modification is to use the Z axis down signal to fire the laser, analogous to an endmill cutting into the workpiece from an initial position above it.

For the second question, it is important to note that BYCNC machines are not based on PlanetCNC software, or any other particular machine control system. The machines themselves will accept standard signals from a wide variety of machine control systems, not just PlanetCNC or Mach3. This allows maximum flexibility for the customer to choose their own preferred software for this part of the toolchain.

That said, our machines will accept a laser head either in lieu of or in addition to a spindle. Here is an example of a combination spindle/laser mount for our greenBull machine: https://buildyourcnc.com/item/cnc-machine-laser-spindle-combo-head. We have all the parts you would need to add laser functionality to your machine here: https://buildyourcnc.com/LaserComponents.aspx, if you feel comfortable assembling your own package. Also, feel free to contact our sales department for a quote if you need a custom assembly.

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Can the Planet CNC USB controller be used with a laser engraver/cutter? Can the build your own CNC based on the Planet CNC USB controller accept a Laser head instead of a router?

The motor that is attached to the 4th axis is wired as follows:

The motor should have red, green yellow and blue wires coming form the motor. The red and green are paired as one coil and the yellow and blue is paired as the other coil. You can wire the motor to a 3.0 amp driver with red to A+, green to A-, Yellow to B+ and Blue to B-

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HOW DO I WIRE THE 4TH AXIS THAT YOU SELL. I HAVE MACH3 SOFTWARE. NO INSTRUCTIONS ON YOUR SITE