Logo for a Ukulele

[Digitalwoodshop]

A Navy friend is also a Luthier http://jwbosworthguitars.com/

He asked me to place his logo in a piece of Blood wood that will be glued to the headstock of a Tenor Ukulele. I first thought of using the CW.... Then my Rotary Engraver... Then after talking to him about the edge quality I decided to dust off the Laser Engraver. This time I Lasered it... But this is not the end of this project using the CW.... I am determined to make this with the CW in the future....

Want to look into cutting Mother of Pearl but I see the dust is a hazard.

This Laser only has 20 Watts so I used 100% power and 25% speed and ran the raster burn 4 times to make it deeper. My 30 watt runs on Windows 95.... Need to fire that up some day....

I think the 1/16 inch end mill bit would work great for this project it I could make the lines Vector.

Needless to say I had FUN today.... Making smoke not chips... I think he is going to gold leaf the logo and the name will be black. Made some extra pieces to test with.

AL

[eromran]

Al, Seeing your laser got me thinking how would it be or what kind of project could you come up with that incorporates both laser and CW say for instance you carved a eagle with the CW then Loaded it in the laser to do some high lights or a little extra detail or where you wanted the wood burned a little or just a sign where the laser did the parts where it excels at an the parts that the CW excels at. Might be fun. Also would you mind sharing what laser you used or suggest one to start with. THANKS

[hogiewan]

LG has carved some shell with his CW. I think he used a thin piece of shell glued to a wood backing

[HighTechOkie]

The problem with trying to laser a 3D carving is the laser needs a fixed focal length to concentrate the beam properly. Only a really high end laser would have continuous auto focus, if it even exists in the laser industry.

The power of the laser really depends on what you want to do and how fast you want to do it. Personally, I would say 30W is about the minimum. You can burn/engrave almost anything and cut thinner materials at reduced speeds. They also make marking spray for metals that I think will work with a 30W laser. To mark untreated metal, you need a 60W laser minimum.

Rob

[RayTrek]

Hi AL

I enjoy seeing your projects very much. You are an inspiration to all. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and expertise.
Cheers to you
Ray

[liquidguitars]

Al, nice work!

LG

[Digitalwoodshop]

My 2 lasers are very old Epilog CO2 Lasers. To mark metal they make a very expensive YAG Laser. CO2 does not have the ability to mark metal directly but they make a product called CerMark (www.laserbits.com (http://www.laserbits.com)) that is a ground glass in a paste like womens makeup. You apply it thinly by spray or foam brush and laser over it. The Laser heat 30 watts or better, fuses the glass to metal like Chrome, Stainless, and some hard aluminum. Copper and Brass and soft Aluminum all act like a heat sink and draw away the heat preventing the fusing process.

Now for wood..... I traded 3 Very Very Very old Lasers to my Laser Buddy for the 2 I have now. He has a buddy that has 20 of the very old lasers running windows 95 and was happy with them....

I got a GOOD DEAL.... The left one is a Epilog Summit with the very oldest firmware and can only run on Windows 95 with it's 30 watts. A Board to let it talk to XP is about $1K. I have my laser friends looking for a scrapped Summit with that card.... That will give me more power on the CHEAP.... The one on the right is a Profile that has a 20 watt tube and runs on XP.

I was not home one day when my Laser Buddy had a 60 watt Epilog that he was sending from NJ to Golden Colorado to Epilog as a trade in..... By the time he paid shipping he was in the HOLE.... I could have gotten a 60 WATT for CHEAP..... Missed it by THAT MUCH......

A 60 watt would be GOOD.... For cutting wood.... I would rather have a 60 or 75 watt laser than a Shop Bot..... The CW is just FINE.....

Got a call from one of our members, Jeff looking for Fire Tag Info.... THANKS !!!! I will be in touch. Late day today, out of the shop all day.

I would love to venture into Mother of Pearl Inlay work.....

To touch on 3 D Laser Engraving there are some that have had good luck with it, making art that has the elements in different colors on the screen and the software drivers adjust the power to the colors burning some areas deeper. Over on Sawmill Creek a guy posted a Gun Stock Art done in 3 D. He made a few cut files with different elements of the art burning some deeper. All this with a basic laser.... When it was done and all the files combined... Well it was Outstanding.....



AL

[Digitalwoodshop]

The problem with trying to laser a 3D carving is the laser needs a fixed focal length to concentrate the beam properly. Only a really high end laser would have continuous auto focus, if it even exists in the laser industry.

The power of the laser really depends on what you want to do and how fast you want to do it. Personally, I would say 30W is about the minimum. You can burn/engrave almost anything and cut thinner materials at reduced speeds. They also make marking spray for metals that I think will work with a 30W laser. To mark untreated metal, you need a 60W laser minimum.

Rob

More in the fixed focal length..... Looking at the mirrors and lens from what I have been told the laser energy from the laser is about 1/4 inch or about the size of a pea in diameter. At the lens it focuses the beam. Picture 2 triangles pointed tip to pointed tip. The top triangle is the laser energy exiting the lens going from 1/4 inch to .0005 inch. Focus is the function of getting the 2 triangles to touch point to point. If the wood is curved then it is like overlapping the tips of the triangle. The beam gets wider or out of focus.... This is where it looses power.... As a beam is most powerful at it sharp focus. This is where doing something like a curved neck gets interesting. It would be the same for the CW on a curved area with a fixed depth. The center of the neck would have deep text and the edges fade off with less text.

Both my lasers have the standard 2 inch lens but a 4 inch lens is available and with a 4 inch lens the cone of focus is thicker so the board or neck can change height slightly and it will still give you a crisp image.

Older laser users do 2 cuts, one focused deeper into the curve to make the text or art work on the faded areas. The out of focus on the high areas don't burn much.

Sort of like Depth of Field in Photography.

Thanks for the Interest.

I will look into doing CW and Laser Combo projects to use the Laser to make detail in a carved piece like feathers in a eagle.

AL

[eromran]

Al,
Ive not really been able to read through these post regularly the last day or so but i just got done catching up on all the post and i would really like to thank you for you insight and opinion (and time it took to respond) it save me a lot of time and research. I for one, as I'm sure others really value your opinion and I'm sure you value others as well, that is what makes this such a great forum. Thanks everyone not just on this post but as a whole.

[Digitalwoodshop]

Thanks Ed,

I enjoy adding my comments on the forum.

I am sad I was never corrected by LHR when I was wrong on 2 things.... the first was thinking the X drive was a 115 volt AC version but the transistor or SCR switch on the X Termination Board was for the Cut Motor.... Not the X Drive motor that the board also feeds...
The X drive is the same as the Y and Z... Found that out talking to a LHR Engineer one day.....

The second was the Y Gear Box.... I thought it had a babbit sleeve bearing. I am holding it in my hand now and wobbling the big gear shaft... Had I wiped the dust I would have seen the bearing under the dust... On this gear box the bearings froze up and the shaft of the big gear was worn... I found it when cleaning to get to my laser the other day.

I would have thought someone at LHR would have told me.... AL... Your wrong.... Take a closer look.... SO I guess it is back to AL who :mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:

I will find something else to be wrong about.... On the Sawmill Creek CNC forum I helped talk a guy into getting more CW's to up his production abilities with a project that works on the CW. He was thinking of getting a Table machine..... He might get 8 CW's..... LHR.... I accept PayPAL and Direct Deposit....:roll:

Guy from New Wave Woodworks helped his decision too, he has that 10 Axis CNC machine up the road from me.

AL

[Digitalwoodshop]

Not a Ukulele but the Laser comes in for a nice finished look again...

The local Summer Camp sent the kids back to Mom and Pop and now begins a series of mini camps... Football Camp, Cheer Leader Camp, ect....... This week is the Ronald McDonald house Camp. Kids very sick given a week in the camp to enjoy the many heart warming events.

I was tasked to make 2 plaques, one for the camp and one for the office in Philly to be presented tomorrow. Chris was busy so I did this job, he did the last one.

To make the smile, I found a clip art and brought it in as a pattern. Made it big and using the oval tool made the eyes over the pattern. Using the line drawing and curve outlined the smile. Deleted the pattern and assigned the 1/8 inch cutting bit to the lines and oval and set the depth to .1 deep.

Scaled it down and it worked great. Could have removed the center of the smile but left them in.

The Laser made for a nice business card on back. I need to cut 2 slots in the side of my laser to allow for a pass through of longer wood... The 22 inch sign fit nice in the 24 inch table.

I still need to replace a mirror as a burn spot makes the beam loose power 6 inches down the page. It is OK the high 5 inches...

Got a $800.00 Fire Tag order yesterday.... Things are looking UP...:rolleyes:

AL

http://www.ronaldmcdonaldcamp.com/directions.html

The Dream...


In the early 1970's, Dr. Audrey Evans, the Clinical Director of the Oncology Division for the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, had a vision for the children she treated for cancer on a daily basis. Having seen these children withstand harsh and painful treatments, she sought to create a place where they had the opportunity to laugh, have fun and enjoy being kids. With this, her dream to create a summer camp experience for children with cancer was born. During the early years of her pursuit, small groups of children enjoyed camping experiences at camps in New Hampshire, Cape Cod and Pennsylvania. Then, in 1987, Dr. Evans' dream was fully realized when the Ronald McDonald Camp was established as a special project of the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House. Dedicated staff and volunteers worked to shape a "normal" summer camp program that was also special enough to meet the needs of our campers. Over the last twenty years, Ronald McDonald Camp has "grown up" and expanded into an extraordinary summer camp for children with cancer, ages 7-19, and their siblings.
Who Can Go?

Ronald McDonald Camp is for children ages 7-19 who are currently undergoing or who have been treated for cancer, and their siblings. Teen camp is for 13-17 year olds and gives them the opportunity to choose their own activities within a well-supervised and structured environment. Junior camp provides an age-appropriate camp experience filled with games, fun and challenges for children ages 7-12, and is the setting for our CIT program as well.

[Digitalwoodshop]

Could hear the Music from the camp 5 miles away last night.... Drum Beating.... Must have been a GREAT Closing Ceremony at the Camp.

Found the pictures on the Camp Website. That is Mr. Marvin Black the Co Owner of the Camp.

The Kids look HAPPY and that is the GOAL...

Many won't make it back next year.

AL