Just another tech blag
DeepNest is a software package to optimize part placement in laser cutting designs. It works out very well for maximizing your usage of material and avoiding unnecessary waste. I’ve started using it combined with Boxes.py in order to part out wooden boxes and position them onto sheets to try and maximize the number of boxes fitting.
Continue reading “Using DeepNest and LightBurn to Optimize Laser Cutting”While trying to cut some fabric with the Ortur Laser Master 2, we ran into a strange curiosity in light burn. We found that different SVG types generated different GCode for the same shape. After this we managed to put together a table of cutting settings for various fabric colors.
Continue reading “Cutting Fabric with the Ortur Laser Master 2 & SVG Types”I’ve been using the ortur laser master 2 for a while now, and while I had seen plenty of chatter about the G8 lens, I didn’t think it would be that major of an upgrade for me, but I was Very wrong. I recently picked up the G8 to try it out and once it was focused, the beam was tighter than it ever could be with the stock lens. This gave me high hopes for the test cuts.
I ran one cut job on some brown AstroBright paper that I was using a few days ago. With the stock ortur lens, I found that 900 mm/min at 100% power for 2 passes would give a clean cut through and require minimal to no hand work to split the papers apart. For my test with the G8, I started with one pass, and that’s all I needed, everything was perfectly cut apart, no tabs between the pieces, nothing. I did run into one snag with that first test run, some of my cuts were inaccurate, lines not lining up and some corners shifted. I noticed while focusing the lens that it was really loose in the mount. I pulled it out, put 2 wraps of teflon tape around the threads, and put it back in the laser. Second test cut went 100% perfectly, all pieces fell apart, no shifting of lines/corners.
The G8 lens is absolutely worth getting and installing on the ortur laser master 2. The tighter focus will help with both cutting and engraving and let you run the machine faster.
The Ortur laser is completely open air, providing no assistance or infrastructure to vent the fumes away. I decided to work on a vacuum table for the laser as the second component to fume management alongside the enclosure. The vacuum table also has some other added benefits when working with thinner materials like paper that may warp up while being cut.
While the Ortur Laser Master 2 that I picked up is advertised as a laser engraver and not a laser cutter, it can do lightweight cutting and I was intent and optimizing that capability. After performing some research, I found that air assist would be a great modification to aid in this endeavor.
The air assist system was built with 1 main goal in mind, to make cutting with the laser more efficient. This will also reduce sooting and scorching by putting out fires while cutting.
Continue reading “Ortur Laser Master 2 Air Assist”
The Ortur laser is completely open air, providing no assistance or infrastructure to vent the fumes away. I decided to work on an enclosure for these reasons. The enclosure has 2 main goals, to contain excess laser light from the room and to contain fumes from the laser so they can be exhausted. The exhaust could be a fan in the back of the box or using a vacuum table underneath the laser. In my case, I’ll be building a vacuum table to hold materials and exhaust fumes.
adminOne thing needed with every CNC driven machine is good software to control it and generate the gcode. There are two main options for the Ortur Laser Master 2. These are LaserGRBL and LightBurn. The Ortur uses LaserGRBL as the main control software out of the box while LightBurn is a commercial offering that costs $40. This article will be going through the LightBurn setup while I went through LaserGRBL in the past.
Continue reading “Ortur Laser Master 2 Software – LightBurn”One thing needed with every CNC driven machine is good software to control it and generate the gcode. There are two main options for the Ortur Laser Master 2. These are LaserGRBL and LightBurn. The Ortur uses LaserGRBL as the main control software out of the box while LightBurn is a commercial offering that costs $40. This article will be going through the LaserGRBL setup while I’ll be doing one in the future going through the LightBurn setup.
Continue reading “Ortur Laser Master 2 Software – LaserGRBL”Focusing the laser is just as important if not more important than leveling the bed of a 3d printer. A well focused laser will have tighter cuts, will engrave and cut faster and will have higher quality engravings. Getting the laser to a good focus point however can be difficult, and there are a few tricks to getting things to work smoothly.
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I recently picked up an Ortur Laser Master 2 engraver and cutter. With the new hardware to join my 3d printer in making things, comes new safety gear to use things with minimal risk (and prevent myself from going blind). I ended up going on an adventure to get the right safety equipment. My wife and I both wanted to work with the laser, so we both needed safety glasses.
Continue reading “Laser Safety Glasses”