I modified the design. The Lightburn software is so easy to learn and use
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I have the 2.8W J-Tech laser and although you donāt see a lot of smoke it does create a good amount of burnt wood odor. I use a vac system to pull the fumes out of the room where I am etching and it stays 95% odor-free. But the system doesnāt vent outside rather it dumps the air into my shopās interior dust collection system. My shop is fairly large at 24ā X 80ā and it makes the whole thing smell like smoke. I will say it dissipates quickly and the next day I canāt usually smell it in there but the day of the cut it is fairly strong. Venting outside is the best solution.
But there is no way I could use unvented inside my house and stay married! 
Thanks Phil. Thatās encouraging to hear. Now to save enough money to get one.
ā¦Peter
Thank Ray. I have a dust collector that I use when carving, maybe I could adapt the dust boot to somehow work with the laser as well. Although, as you mention, if I could find a way to exhaust the smoke outside, that would be better. But is encouraging to hear that whatever smoke or door is produced is not excessive.
ā¦Peter
There is no chance that I would ever vent a laser into my dust collector.
As the old saying goes, where thereās smoke there is fire.
All it takes is one tiny fleck of wood still glowing sucked into your dust collector and you would have a dust explosion and fire.
Vent it to the outside.
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Trueā¦ 
Thanks.
So I should have a separate venting system for etching than I do for carving? Iām curious - are there any X-Carve users with lasers that do that?
I have never seen a single fleck of anything - hot or cold - come off my laser. Again, I have the small 2.8 watt unit that I use to engrave. I guess if I was trying to CUT items like paper I might be a little concerned but Iām not even sure about that. I do use poster-board to proof engravings. I do it a lot. But still, I have not seen anything hot coming off during the process.
Yes, something could go wrong and the laser could start a fire that could be sucked into the dust system but the same can happen with the router. But an explosion? Everything I have read makes it fairly clear that the concentration of sawdust in the normal home workshop environment is never high enough to explode. It is my understanding it would have to be dense enough you canāt see across the room. And when running the laser there is no new dust introduced.
Just my 2 centsā¦
My laser is mounted to the right using one of J-Techās mounts (see J-Techās photo below) which allows the typical shoe vac hose to remain in place. With my homemade shoe, I simply remove the bottom brush plate and insert a blank plate (no bristles) that holds the hose in the same position. It handles the smoke/odor just fine.
I do not own a laser yet, but will very soon.
I want to get the new 7 watt system that Phil has.
And the smoke will be vented directly to the outside and not through my duct collector.
When the dust collector is running there is a definite cloud of dust swirling around in there.
And yes, sawdust is very explosive.
In your own words"Yes, something could go wrong and the laser could start a fire that could be sucked into the dust system"
There is zero chance that I would do it.
I do however plan to use the same hose coming off of the dust boot.
The difference being is that I would simply disconnect it from the dust collector and move it to the separate outside blower that will be mounted to the wall. (simple enough right?)
I use my laser daily and can tell you there are sparks from time to time that you see coming from the wood. Sucking it up into your dust collector is not a good idea.
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Yes, you can switch from laser engraving to Easel without any additional setup. I am loving this new laser on the XCarve.
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Im glad you are enjoying it. It is on my list of things to get one day. I am enjoying watching you set it up and use it.
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Hello Phill, im curious on how you managed to add those colors. Im stuck on a project mainly because it needs color but i have trouble with bleeding or run off the edges. Thanks!
Lightburn software for laser is easy to learn. Today I learned the text on a path. This is a great feature
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I use the Oramask813. It works great.
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Testing the laser on a dowel rod. With this test I know I can engrave pen blanks and personalize Christmas gifts. WOW! What a tool! J Tech Photonics Laser and Lightburn Software on the XCarve is a great combination
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Great vid Phillip!! You have me contemplating another upgrade!
Broken bit and ashes on a painted surface. Surprise surprise! I did not expect this
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Had the same problem with the same bit Phil and broke 2 of them. I thought maybe there was a problem in making them.
You may be right. I never expected a break like this.
I quite using that bit after 2 of them broke. They were both broke up in the collet just like yours.