BrianM
Member
Since I'm rather limited on the amount of available funding for my multitude of hobbies, I decided to combine a few...electronics, programming, and pen making.
I'm working on a DIY laser engraving "lathe".
This will be a small "lathe" (I'm estimating 18"x18" foot print) that the pen mandrel and blank is mounted on with the laser mounted on a carriage above it. The rotation of the pen and the movement of the laser will be computer controlled.
I've been collecting parts for a while and finally this evening I was able to test fire the laser.
Prior to this test I was worried that the laser wouldn't be powerful enough to burn an image in a reasonable time. This test proved that I should instead be worried about the laser being too powerful.
Testing on a Turkish Walnut
I still have a lot of work to do. I have to build the mechanical parts and write the software to control laser lathe.
If anyone is interested I can post a build log during construction and testing.
-Brian
I'm working on a DIY laser engraving "lathe".
This will be a small "lathe" (I'm estimating 18"x18" foot print) that the pen mandrel and blank is mounted on with the laser mounted on a carriage above it. The rotation of the pen and the movement of the laser will be computer controlled.
I've been collecting parts for a while and finally this evening I was able to test fire the laser.
Prior to this test I was worried that the laser wouldn't be powerful enough to burn an image in a reasonable time. This test proved that I should instead be worried about the laser being too powerful.
Testing on a Turkish Walnut
I still have a lot of work to do. I have to build the mechanical parts and write the software to control laser lathe.
If anyone is interested I can post a build log during construction and testing.
-Brian