Ready to push the button and buy a laser....

[Davek0974]

Well, that was fun :)

The one thing i did not check was the run of the cooling pipes :)

I fitted the water chiller and filled it up, waited for leaks, waited a bit more, looked round the tube-ok, wen't to get a coffee - come back and the alarm is screaming and water is now over the workshop floor and streaming out the bottom of the cabinet :)

After mopping up, it turns out there are no ty-wraps or clamps on any pipes and it had blown off of the flow switch inside.

I've fitted ties everywhere now and refilled, the bottom of the cabinet is surprising water-tight and also full of very sharp corners :(

Since then it has burnt its first hole in card and i'm now running up some test shapes in RD.

The mirrors are filthy and the first check i did at mirror 3 shows the beam not to be very well aligned but i'll leave for a while and do some playing about.

I have also fixed the table up/down buttons.

[AndrewMawson]

It begs the question how they checked it at the factory - lucky that water didn't kill any electronics !

[Davek0974]

Yeah i'm using a Cw3000 circulator/cooler and its got a pretty good little pump on it.

Stupid not to put clips or ties on though, would have been far worse if it was a tube pipe as that sits above the electronics and the cabinet has plenty of holes there, close call i think.

Its been on all day and no more leaks though so i think i caught it.

Made a few cuts, turned the lens over the right way, will be fitting current meter tomorrow so i can check max safe power level to use - limit is 20mA for my tube.

Its fascinating to watch, great fun.

[AndrewMawson]

I think that yours also came with the big snail extractor fan didn't it? Even with that extracting directly outside, the corrosive fumes given off by some of the plastics have rusted the table lift screws on mine - well worth getting some lubricant on them before it happens to yours.

[Davek0974]

Yeah thats the one, i have gone over it all with the lube ;)

just got to get used to it now, considering i have not adjusted anything yet it seems reasonably well aligned.

[Davek0974]

Ok i have one specific issue i am battling with no luck...

As it came, the machine cuts the work reversed in the X axis so words read backwards but it reads correctly on the machine display.

I have tried switching axis direction in the settings file and that worked BUT it then homed in the wrong direction and crashed, there is no homing direction setting.

I tried using the "mirror X axis" in the RDWorks software and that cuts correctly BUT now it reads backwards on the machine display.

Surely there is a way to get the machine display to actually show what is going to be cut??

Any ideas here??

[Davek0974]

Sorted - Russ Sadler from RDWorks video fame got it covered,

Control panel -> Screen Origin -> Top Right

:)

[AndrewMawson]

Glad you are sorted.

(Russ is back from his travels, and just emailed me that he's awaiting more Dohickeys from the anodiser)

[Davek0974]

Yeah, got that message too :)

Messing about with acrylic now, good so far but i think it needs tuning properly as not cutting as thick material as i hoped so probably losing what power it has somewhere, mirrors need cleaning too - is Iso Propyl Alcohol ok on them?

[AndrewMawson]

Yes IPA on a cotton bud

I bet that your mirrors need tweaking after shipment