CNC engraver/etcher for Granite, Marbel, glass, or any hard surface.

tommylight wrote:

machinedude wrote: on a serious note what kind of cam software would you use on a machine of this nature?

Scorchworks has a nice piece of free software named dmap2gcode that does a wonderful job for this, i just had to modify it a bit so it outputs M67 values instead of Z values.

seems like Linux has all kinds of hidden gems i feel like i want about 10 different attachments for this 4 x 8 foot table i'm working on now :lol:

Clive s wrote:
And there was I trying to keep that a secret :evil:

Oh cr@p, did i say that out loud ???

machinedude wrote: seems like Linux has all kinds of hidden gems i feel like i want about 10 different attachments for this 4 x 8 foot table i'm working on now :lol:

Welcome to the Matrix, Neo.........hhhhmmm to Linux, to Linux !!!

tommylight wrote:

machinedude wrote: seems like Linux has all kinds of hidden gems i feel like i want about 10 different attachments for this 4 x 8 foot table i'm working on now :lol:

Welcome to the Matrix, Neo.........hhhhmmm to Linux, to Linux !!!

i'm surprised you have not built a laser yet :lol: seems like you have had your hands in just about everything. a lower power co2 laser seems like it could be done reasonably priced. i just don't care for the up keep on keeping the optics clean and bend mirrors aligned all the time. fiber optic is easier in that respect but way to expensive compared to co2 tech.

I did mange to make a black spot on everything i looked at with my left eye, so now i avoid lasers and they are neatly packed in a box waiting to get a pair of real laser protection glasses !
Also i already did a small one with a laser from a DVD burner, but that proved useless as it would need the surface to be pitch black and even then it would be slow, really slow for anything useful.

yeah you need proper protection with them. they can do some damage if you have things get sideways on you. the older one we have at work is an open gantry type while the new one has a automatic door that comes up before it will run. anything reflective is a potential accident waiting to happen. even aluminium can get you if your not careful. they had shields that you should use but they never used them. i never had an issue but that was more luck than anything most likely.

the ones i have ran are pretty powerful it takes a pretty strong laser to cut 1/2 inch steel. i would say you need at least a 100 W laser before you get into something useful but even that is small and limited at best. anything over that probably gets out of the hobby price range most likely.

I am DIY guy and had in past tested laser to engrave on granite unsuccessfully. I think this is much better to engrave with spindle by pressure . Impact engraving has its limitations and needs surface to be flat .By the way what are those 2 German companies you were referring who does similar machines ?

Irfan

Here you go,
www.cnc-step.com/picture-engraving-machine-photo-engraver/
The other one i do not know and found it by accident once, never could find it again.
This one started selling them about two years after i posted pictures of one such machine on cnczone forums, the other one i have no clue when or how or anything.
There are some older ones that use an electromagnet for pressure, but the result is pitiful compared to these ones.