wooden reprap parts
October 02, 2007 04:52AM
Im putting a few pics online of our reprap construction, currently in progress. One notable development (or deviation) is that we are trying RP parts which are lasercut rather than printed. [www.flickr.com]
VDX
Re: wooden reprap parts
October 02, 2007 05:24AM
Hi nik,

... sounds very good for testing with the design - what's the price for all needed parts?

On the other side, if it should be a straightforward reprap, then it should be able to do this work too!

Maybe with a LOM-(Laminated-Object-Modelling)-building approach, where i stack sheets of self-adhesive (or glued together) paper or other material, and with a 'high-power'-cutting-laserdiode from an outweared DVD-writer (or simple a cutting pin-knife) it could be done in the reprap on his own?

Viktor
Re: wooden reprap parts
October 02, 2007 11:28AM
WOW! That is really awesome guys. Please keep us updated with your progress. I love the ingenuity in creating those lasercut parts. I seriously can't wait for the day when we release RepRap Laser Cutter Head v1.0. That will be sick!
VDX
Re: wooden reprap parts
October 02, 2007 03:30PM
Hi Zach,

today i've got a 1,1W-pigtail-diode-laser (see image) with a 50 micron-focus-tube for testing and playing around and i made first tests with gold- and glass-pastes (solved with dexpanthenol) and some burning/cutting ...

First infos: the gold-paste (as mayby every other metall too) would dry very fast, but didn't sinter or melt to a solid because of heat-dissipating in the mass ...

The glass-paste dries fast too, then it glows orange-yellow and melts to solid glass (normal melting-temp for this glass-powder in the oven is 430
Attachments:
open | download - Lasediode1_kl.jpg (225.2 KB)
Re: wooden reprap parts
October 02, 2007 03:52PM
Hi Viktor,
Very interesting stuff, I have a few questions:

Does "pigtailed" refer to the optical fiber attached or to the wires?

What is the frequency of the laser?

What eye protection do you use while doing these experiments?

Chris


[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]
VDX
Re: wooden reprap parts
October 02, 2007 04:55PM
Hi nophead,

... pigtailed means, that a fiber comes out of the laser-housing.

A laser-diode is mostly a bar of active material (sometimes many aligned bars) with a very poor optical output-quality - the laser-diode emits a conical 'plane' of light, instead of a sharp laser-beam, as in a gas- or solid-lasers with the much longer and better resonators.

With a special cylindrical lens there is a good part of the light-output focussed into the fiber.

At the fiber-output the light is 'intermixed', so it's not real way-coherent any more, but the shape of the focus is a circle, instead of a distorted ellipse or pillow, as with focussing through lenses only ...

The Laser-diode is in the invisible IR-range - i think at 960 nm or so ...

For experiments (and working too!) with high-power-diode-lasers i need the right goggle - here i use an IR-resistant 'laser-goggle' with maximum absorption at 750-1100 nm wavelength.

It's essential, to protect your eyes and skin!

With the here used powers a short blink in your eye can blind you for ever and a focussed beam cut in microseconds through the skin !!!

If someone would use hp-lasers in the reprap, then he have to apply a protective housing and perimeter-switches, to stop the laser, if the housing is opened.

Viktor
Re: wooden reprap parts
October 03, 2007 02:05PM
The parts were cut from 3.6 mm ply on an Epilog lasercutter in the MAGICbox lab (UEL), the parts fitted on to 2 & 1/2 sheets of A2 and took about 4.5 hours to cut (a not the most efficient file). My guess is that they would set you back about 400 quid at a commercial place. I'll post the DXF CAD files once I've successfully tested one. We may do a few sheets for free/barter in kind for seriously interested folks.

Toby Borland
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