[ML-General] Big Laser

[smeeon at gmail.com]

Next time I’m there I’ll put a sign warning people to not let cuts flame up. But yea... Fire is bad. But I guess that’s signs like these are important. 

- Dianna Valdez

> On Dec 19, 2019, at 2:25 PM, Ryan Coons <ryancoonsyhg at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> 1) Fire.
> 
> Actually, that's true off all shop equipment,  excluding the forge...
> 
>> On Thu, Dec 19, 2019, 2:23 PM Nick Kopp <nkopp2 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Can someone tape a checklist to the machine of the things we should be watching for and stop use if seen?
>> 
>> Nick
>> 
>>> On Thu, Dec 19, 2019 at 1:54 PM <smeeon at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Thank you for the correction Ryan, I typed out the wrong thing. Diluting it should be safer too from what I’ve read on the forums. 
>>> 
>>> - Dianna Valdez
>>> 
>>>>> On Dec 19, 2019, at 1:18 PM, Ryan Coons <ryancoonsyhg at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>> 
>>> 
>>>> Methanol is the go-to for cleaning optics. We should keep some on hand. 
>>>> 
>>>> Placing a crosshairs T alignment point will expedite the process, since an aligned beam will make a cloverleaf pattern, and a wonked up beam will signal which direction is needed.  
>>>> 
>>>> Tube lifetime seems good because the discharge is still purple, but tube replacement will become a thing someday, and we should start saving up.
>>>> 
>>>>> On Thu, Dec 19, 2019, 1:04 PM <smeeon at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> FYI I met with Norm the other night and we installed the new mirrors and adjusted alignment some. 
>>>>> 
>>>>> It cuts okay-ish in the bottom right corner. However this big cut from Norm has proven that most of the bed alignment is bad right now. 
>>>>> 
>>>>> What this means: the alignment is off, really off, when I got into the mirrors I noticed that they had all been previously adjusted and the locking nuts not screwed in tightly, so pretty much everything was loose. This is bad. It means the alignment had likely drifted pretty far and we’re just getting it “sorta right” in that one corner. 
>>>>> 
>>>>> It’s going to require a full 2-3 hours of alignment to really dial her back in to cutting well. This isn’t an easy job, I’ve done it a few times even with other laser techs and it’s tedious at best. I’ll try to find some time this weekend to tinker with it and get it closer. If anyone wants to drop $500 on a laser alignment sensor system that works too *nudge wink nudge*
>>>>> 
>>>>> The new mirrors are not *as good* as the ones that came with the laser. That means they won’t last as long as the ones we tore through in about a year? The old mirrors had been cleaned with isopropyl alcohol and the protective coating had been mostly worn off. This diminishes the cutting capabilities quite a bit. We really need a bottle of pure ethanol alcohol to mix with some distilled water to dilute down enough to not be harsh on the mirrors and focusing lens. For clarification, all parts of laser optic chain (tube, mirrors, focusing lens, power supply) all wear out at an almost uniform rate. Even the flyback transformers in the power supply wear out even if you “dial the power back” some. This is just normal for 100+watt Co2 laser systems with such heavy use. 
>>>>> 
>>>>> Heat is a problem for all of the the optics. Running the laser without the air assist or with a damaged air assist caused quite a bit of damage, the aluminum nozzle heated up, that heat transfers to the focusing lens and the lens actually cracked from the heat. This is really not okay, please if you see fire from your project, there is a problem, stop it and get help to address the issue. the flame ups have damaged several proximity sensors and now destroyed the factory tube for the air assist. 
>>>>> 
>>>>> The aluminum nozzle is already providing heat sink for the lens itself as it naturally heats up from the focused infrared light passing through it. It simply can’t handle all of that additional heat. 
>>>>> 
>>>>> So in closing, please take care with this very valuable shop asset and help everyone to keep it functioning well after we patch her back together. If these problems persist through these extensive repairs We need to investigate a system for approving members to use the machine or a lockout/user log system. 
>>>>> 
>>>>> - Dianna Valdez
>>>>> 
>>>>>>> On Dec 19, 2019, at 9:09 AM, Joseph Absher <joseph.ryan.absher at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Will do. Thanks.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> On Thu, Dec 19, 2019, 09:07 Norm Marshall <normcooks at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>> Go ahead and move it 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Norm Marshall
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> On Thu, Dec 19, 2019, 9:05 AM Joseph Absher <joseph.ryan.absher at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>> When I got to the shop this morning there was what looked to be a completed job on the laser. However, it looked like some of the pieces didn't cut all the way through, so I didn't move it in case the owner wanted to cut it again.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Does anyone know when that job will be finished?
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Thanks,
>>>>>>>> Ryan Absher
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>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>> This is the general mailing list.
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>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> This is the general mailing list.
>>>>>> This list is for public discussion about Makers Local and related activities.
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>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> This is the general mailing list.
>>>>> This list is for public discussion about Makers Local and related activities.
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>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>> _______________________________________________
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>> -- 
>> Nicholas Kopp
>> 630-536-6231
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> _______________________________________________
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