Making the 100th one is not nearly as much fun as making the 1st one. It almost starts to feel like a job.
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It did get old…lol
Merry Christmas Erik - you’ve certainly spread your share of joy. Now… enjoy the holiday.
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My wife found this tape dispenser on the web so I decided to recreate it: Four Bar Design: Wooden Tape Dispenser
Mine is maple with 6 magnets holding it together. I will finish it with tung oil.
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That is awesome! How long did it take to carve out?
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The tape dispenser was cut in 3 toolpaths.
1/4" Endmill roughing pass - 100 inches per minute
1/4" Ballnose finishing pass - 120 inches per minute
1/4" Endmill to cut out - 100 inches per minute
All three passes were under 30 minutes total.
After I put the magnets in I cut the slot for the serrated edge using a 1mm endmill.
I see a lot for folks using “tapered” ball nose , what’s the difference/advantage over the ballnose bits that inventables sells ?
Tapered ballnose bits generally have a longer cutting length and are much stronger than a straight ballnose bit and allow for a longer/deeper cut.
Ahh ok that makes sense! Thanks for clarifying
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make sure that you are using a software that allows you to program in the taper angle of the ball nose bit for the best results
For those of you with V-Carve, here is a nice little project I found on Youtube that does 2 sided cutting.
I cut my blades from 1/4" Corian and used African Padauk for the handles. I need to glue it up and sand.
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Well, here is the latest upgrade I am working on.
I bought the 3.8 watt laser from J-Tech Photonics ( https://jtechphotonics.com/ ).
I printed the mount posted by @JasonWest on this thread: Jtech laser mount - #8 by JasonWest
Everything is on the mount and it comes off of the system with 2 screws attached to the left side of the Router mount. Very easy to put on and remove. I still need to clean up the wires (mostly shorten as they are way too long).
I added a bit of complexity to the connection of the laser by using a much more powerful power supply to run my system. I have a 48v 12.5 Amp power supply running everything, so I have to pull out the old Inventables powersupply and use that one in conjunction with my Gecko G540 supply. I will wire up the power supply, and configure Mach 3 this weekend.
One thing to note about J-Tech Photonics…Jay Johnson at J-Tech has been a huge help in getting me to understand how things get connected. Every question I sent was responded to very quickly. Great service @JTechPhotonics!
More to follow…
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Everything is wired up and I did a couple of tests. I will go through the focusing process and try the cuts again.
These are done at 75 IPM at 2" from the workpiece.
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Two more test pieces…
Focused the laser one inch from the material, much cleaner lines, nice and crisp. The etching should be a bit darker, but I am pleased with the results. I think once I oil the board the image will really stand out.
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That is awesome! I need to get my 3.8 back out and do some more testing. I got mine around Thanksgiving last year and set it up and did some initial tests. All went decent…but I’m partially color blind so focusing the laser is harder than I thought. I tried staying as close to the 3" focus as I could with ok results. Maybe I need to move it down a little more. I gotta find some more time to test!
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I did some test at 3" and I just wasn’t happy with the results. Once I put the laser at 1" above the workplace the focus was much crisper and I could get a thinner line.
If I was doing a large piece, I would probably move to the 3" mark, but for really fine lines the 1" seems to work best for me.
Bear in mind, I’ve had the laser up and running only for a few days so I have more testing to do…
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Thanks for the info! At 3" I was getting a thick line in one axis or diagonal…and a thin in the other. I got it more to try and cut through 1/8" ply for the jewelry I make for my wife’s business…but haven’t been able to test enough getting that deep. Hopefully soon!
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Here’s a good instructable article on working with lasers.
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