We use purified water, but adding some coolant can be a benefit. The addition of coolant can keep the water in a state that maintains no growth of foreign organism like algae and the such. Additionally, If you are in a colder climate, antifreeze will work well.

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Do you recomend distilled water or coolant for your 80W laser tube with the CW-3000?

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?

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?

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?

Yes, we have the optional table for the blackToe, but we need to fabricate it, which only takes one day. We generally reserve one week for the total fabrication and packing of all parts.

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DO YOU HAVE BLACKTOES WITH TABLES?

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?

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?

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?

Yes, all of the answers I have that you cannot see are considered secrets!

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DO YOU HAVE SECRETS?

Yes, it is found in laser components section

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

We can supply all of the laser components, but you will need to determine how to mount the components.

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Alternatively, you can purchase our greenBull machine that has the laser/spindle combo head. You can see the laser/spindle head here: https://www.buildyourcnc.com/item/cnc-machine-laser-spindle-combo-head

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Can you supply a "KIT" to convert my 4060Z CNC to a Laser Cutter? What is the difference capabilities between the 40Watt and 80Watt?

We can supply all of the laser components, but you will need to determine how to mount the components.

Additional Information:
Alternatively, you can purchase our greenBull machine that has the laser/spindle combo head. You can see the laser/spindle head here: https://www.buildyourcnc.com/item/cnc-machine-laser-spindle-combo-head

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Can you supply a "KIT" to convert my 4060Z CNC to a Laser Cutter? What is the difference capabilities between the 40Watt and 80Watt?

We don't have cad models of the HIWIN blocks, but you can find the models on McMaster.com. They have can drawings and models for most of these types of parts.

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DO YOU HAVE CAD AVAILABLE FOR THE HIWIN GUIDE BLOCKS SELL AND RAIL?

We don't have cad models of the HIWIN blocks, but you can find the models on McMaster.com. They have can drawings and models for most of these types of parts.

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DO YOU HAVE CAD AVAILABLE FOR THE HIWIN GUIDE BLOCKS SELL AND RAIL?

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?

We just don't make enough on our machines to justify any discounts. We try to offer everyone the same low price.

If I can help in another way, please let me know.

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DO YOU HAVE SPECIAL DEALS FOR HACKERSPACES OR NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS?

Yes, the vertical laser XL (VLXL) can use a laser tube with a higher wattage than 80 watts. The maximum wattage depends on the length of the laser tube. As the wattage of the laser tube increases, the length of the laser tube also increases. The inside clearance of the Vertical Laser XL will allow a 130-watt CO2 laser tube to be used.

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[510] Can this machine use a bigger laser tube than 80W?

check your in-going power and make sure that you have a good neutral connection. Frequently the issue is not the power supply but the power coming into the power supply that causes the problem. There is a chance that the power is good coming in but there is a loose neutral connection and that causes it. This is the neutral connection that runs all the way back to the panel in your home.

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WHY DO MY 40W LASER POWER SUPPLIES KEEP FAILING?

The eyebolts are used in the squaring of the machine. I would use a standard carpenters square and first run the end mill along the edge of the square to first make it parallel with the long axis. Then run the end mill along the other edge with the short axis and adjust the eye bolts and chain according to the angle that the machine is out of square.

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DO NEED TO SQUARE UP THE MACHINE AND IF SO YOU HAVE INSTRUCTIONS OR VIDEO FOR THIS?