A little bit closer shot and a few pics of the "RC Skunkworks" build area.

BEAM LASER


BUILD area


MDF Carden 300 Fuse Jig cut with laser


CARDEN 300 on the bench

I have 2 Universal lasers, both 50 watts.. run all day ever day.. just replace bearing and belts about 200.00 worth depending on the use

Very cool. I looked at universal lasers but the cutting area isn't big enough for me. I will have to look into beam dynamics.

Originally Posted by rcpilot82

Very cool. I looked at universal lasers but the cutting area isn't big enough for me. I will have to look into beam dynamics.

Get ready for "sticker shock"....this one ran over 200K

ummm, NO beam dynamics for me then, LOL

High pressure water jet cutters can cut wood......might be cheaper than a laser......I've seen em cut through steel plate.

Is this info any help to you ?

In my case some of the materials I want to cut or engrave do not react well to water. Very good option indeed, just won't work for my situation. I'd be interested to see some links to smaller waterjets if you got em though.

Whelp...that pretty much leaves a CNC router or a CNC plasma arc!....hehe

Speaking of CNC routers...we have a small one here that is made by Roland and it works good for prototyping parts....it cuts in the flat (2D) for parts such as servo mounts and ribs and can cut in "3D" if one wanted something like an engine valve cover out of balsa for a scale plane...

I love my router, mine don't cut metal but anything else is good. the vaccum table is an awsome accessory to have when cutting foam.

Here's the latest piece I cut today. It's a trophy for one of our local competitions. Getting the hang of engraving now.

Chris B.

I do not know much about laser cutters or routers but I do know a little about vertical machining centers (milling machines). If you want the most bang for your buck buy yourself a good used CNC milling machine which usually have 30 inches of X travel and 12 inches of Y travel. You can buy just the laser head from many reliable manufacturers at whatever output you need. The last I heard was 40 watts for about $1,500.00. Now you make yourself a simple little bracket from 6061 aluminum with you newly purchased machine tool to mount the laser head to the milling machine spindle. This gives you a laser that will register and repeat to .0005 day in and day out.

You can also buy a 30,000 RPM air spindle for about $850.00 and mount it with the same bracket giving you a high speed router with 3 dimensional capabilities.

None of this is cheap by hobby standards but if you are going to invest $30,000 or so you might as well get all the versatility you can. The reason you start with the vertical machining center is that it will perform all the functions of the single application laser or router but they will not machine metal nor do they generally have the same accuracy or reliability. These machines are designed to run 2 and 3 shifts a day, year after year.

Vern

Originally Posted by chrisbchips

Here's the latest piece I cut today. It's a trophy for one of our local competitions. Getting the hang of engraving now.

Chris B.

Speaking of trophys...here is one we are working on for the "Best Ranger" competition up in Ft Benning...all the images are "burned" with the Beam laser onto Walnut. We can custom design and build just about anything you guys can dream up...(this is a new area we are venturing into)

Looks cool! I just got my final quote on my laser. looks like I am gonna pull the trigger tomorrow on it.

What make and size are you getting.

TopFlight, I am getting a Rabbit RL-120-1290 from Ray Scott at scottware.net. it's 120 watts 47x35 cutting area here are the specs..

• Laser-type : Sealed CO2 laser tube
• Laser power: 80 Watts (optional 120 Watts or 150 watts)
• Machine Enclosure dimensions: 1160Tall x 1360Deep x 1730Wide mm
• Machine Enclosure dimensions: 45.5Tall x 53.5Deep x 68Wide inch
• Crated weight with accessories: 1130 pounds
• Engraving area: 1200 x 900 mm (47.2 x 35.4 inches)
• Motorized Worktable with about 10 inches of usable height
• Engraving speed: 0-60,000 mm/min
• Max cutting speed: 0-36,000 mm/min
• Laser output control: 1-100% software setting
• Location precision: less than 0.01 mm
• Highest scanning precision: 50-1000 DPI
• Operating temperature: 0-45 Celcius (32-113 Farenheit)
• Operating humidity: 5- 95% non-condensing
• Minimum shaping character: English 1.0 x 1.0 mm
• Graphic format supported: BMP, PLT, DST, DXF, and AI
• Driving system: bipolar stepper motors and drives
• Cooling mode: CW-5000 Freon based, Coolant Chiller system
• Auxiliary equipments : Exhaust-fans, air-exhaust pipe
• Controlling software : DSP control system via USB connection.
• Compatible Software : TAJIMA , CorelDraw, AutoCAD, Photoshop
• Slope Engraving: Yes, Can be easily designed within the "Grade Engrave" function.
• Multi-Layer Color separation: yes