Laser Cutting - What I Use

I purchased a Falcon2 22W Laser Engraver last year and it's been a blast. I have done a dozen or so project types over the past year, trying to figure out what I can and can't do. 

This is the exact model of laser I have from Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. 

It's 22W, which seems good for any home project I care to do. It comes with goggles/glasses, a card reader, an SD card with data files, small tools for assembly and maintenance, and a gauge for setting the laser height. It came with some starter materials for doing your first project. It says it comes with an air assist module, but this is integrated into the laser itself. I would not count this as a separate device. 

I also ordered a tent, a metal backplate, and a grill. 

You can read about my setup here. 

I did not provide an Amazon link for the enclosure tent. It seems like they upscaled this part, and I don't see my for sale. What I do see is much better than what I have.  

I hate my tent enclosure - I have three cats that think it's a bed. They have broken it 10 times already. Don't let your cats sleep on the laser enclosure. This is the dumbest safety advice I have ever given. 

However, I would strongly suggest you purchase one. Mine has a fan and duct system to blow smoke outside. 

While the box is reasonably accurate that this laser is ready to go out of the box, realistically, you'll need a couple of things: 

1. A way to vent the smoke and gases
2. A table
3. More materials

I'm not going to talk about the first two. These things are particular to your situation, which is different than mine. I will talk about the material later. 

The next couple of things you need are for measuring. Get yourself the following measuring devices: 

• Calipers
• Rulers
• Mechanical Pencils
• Speed Square

Again, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Those are Amazon links. 

The calipers are to measure the thickness of the stock. You can use a ruler, but it's a low-quality situation can be prevented by a $20 tool. I suggest metal rulers because they could dent or bend, but not as easily as wood or plastic. You might be tempted to get carpenter pencils, but you can use mechanical pencils for both marking and drawing designs. Get used to drawing and sketching now. 

I have a zillion carpenter pencils from every local shop and you probably do, too. The speed square is a very handy tool, doing angles and alignment tasks. Every workshop should have one. However, while I love mine, it could be the last item you should buy. I often use it for project assembly but never for project prep. 

You can buy MTG stuff online, 
but mother-fucker, you need to shop local.

As far as materials go, I use 1/8 inch plywood. I can buy 8-foot by 4-foot sheets from the big box store, but to be honest, I order smaller sheets from Amazon. This is about consistency, waste, ease of use, not transporting the stuff, etc. 

I use 2 different kinds of materials from Amazon to avoid cutting 8-foot by 4-foot sheets down to the 400x415 mm size of the laser bed. Plywood is usually marketed in inch increments, but when they arrive, you'll find they are metric. For sanity's sake, I order sheets that are sold as 12" x 12" x 1/8" and larger sheets that are sold as 16" x 16" x 1/8". They are a touch off, but as long as they fit on the laser bed, I don't care.

A layered effect

I like my 1/8" inch thick boards for laser cutting. It's strong and it can be layered for strength or design elements. I am not making structural items. 

The laser will happily knife through 1/4" sheets, but the smoke and time are incredible. I personally cut 1/4" wood on the tablesaw. It's faster and cleaner. 

For smaller items, I move down to 1/16" plywood, but the use case is particular to me. I don't suggest either 1/16 or 1/4 inch unless you actually have a use case for them. I made bowls out of 1/16", but the process is mind-numbing. They are cute, but not really fun. 

You will need one more thing that I am not suggesting. Laser goggles or glasses. Make sure you are wearing those. The reason I don't suggest a brand or type is that I would be guessing as to what you need. Get yourself a second pair, just to cover drops or loss from the company that sold you the laser. They will be exactly what you need, but always more expensive for that certainty. You can't fix your eyes, so make sure you have laser-safe goggles. 

The next few posts are going to hop from lasers to D&D and back again. Stay tuned. 

Laser Cutter Update

I took some time to knock out a few projects this weekend. I created two different-sized boxes using an online template, finished a couple more bowls, and my wife added two requests for her plaque holder. 

It's really cool to have a laser cutter, but it is difficult to pick out which items to spend time on. 

The boxes are 9x5x2 1/4 and 6x4 3/4x1 1/4. They don't really suit any particular project I have in mind, but I will use these to practice staining and painting. Once have the finishing bit down, I will scale them up to hold figures and models.

What size would be best for figures? I'd really like to stop storing my Battlemechs in a terrium to protect them from my evil cats.  

The lids are totally plain, so I might add some designs to them. I don't really have the knack of double burning, where I cut out one lid and then burn an image on it, so I need to work on that process. 

Also, this particular type of wood is very "pitchy". The brown streaks in the images aren't an imperfection in the wood; it is the tar-like material that comes out of the wood when I cut with the laser. 

You can really see this substance in the images of the bowls. The small hexagon bowls are 5 3/4 by 1 1/2, while the larger ones are 6 1/2 x 2 inches. These examples highlight my lack of skill in finishing items. I tried painting some and finished the others with beeswax. I do like the beeswax finish. 

I can sand that brown stuff off, but with each layer of the bowl being 3/8 inch wide, sanding this one project is difficult. Sanding the boxes is a snap. This also highlights a couple of problems with these types of projects. I will hit on this last*. 

I don't know what the last two items are called. My wife purchased some home decor from 15 Monkeys. These included door hangers, signs, and these "plaques", for lack of a better word. Beth, the owner of 15 Monkeys, does a couple of subscription packages which we really enjoy. However, there are only so many Disney-themed items you can have in one home. My wife tends to switch up the subscriptions. 

You should check out 15 Monkeys on FB and on the website above. We have so many cool things designed by Beth. 

Jen asked me to make a couple of Dave Matthews Band-themed plaques to go in the holder she got from Beth. They are really easy to make if you have the measurements and a good idea of what you want. In the first image, you can see the DMB Coffee Rings, and a fire dancer in the second. 

What makes a good design is all in the finishing. Beth's 15 Monkey's designs are perfect, every time. These, not so much. My wife likes the natural wood, but that style doesn't match the holder. I might simply place hooks on my designs to be used as wall hangings. 

The last issue is, I'm happy to make my wife or myself something quick and kitchy. However, I have this vision of actually selling items. I don't have a storefront; I am just an online digital retailer. While one of my outlets does support physical goods, I am stuck with the twin dilemma of what style/size at what price? 

Costing out materials is easy. All of the items in this post cost less than $3 in materials. 

The machinery cost is higher. I have two computers, a laser cutter, a tablesaw, 3d printer, and a host of other tools I need to produce these items. As I use each tool, the price per item goes down. That is weird.  

Costing time is something else. Worse, getting good at something takes more time than the actual production of a finished good. My time is worth something. 

For this example post, I ended up creating 12 bowls (6 unseen), 6 boxes (4 unseen), and 2 plaques. All of these are non-saleable items. I think I need to think in terms of projects, as opposed to time to create and assemble a single item. 

I am not sure how to proceed, but you can be sure to see some new and unique items on my websites. 

Back into Scale Models

It has been a very long time since I have worked on a model. My dad gave me a couple of his older buildings and I intend to fix them as they haven't held up with children and age. I started with some photos to get an idea of how to start.

Edit - This building is a stave church, which is different from my expectations. I picture stave churches as having graceful sloped components. Now I am off to research more on the topic. Please see my next post.

Front view (click image to enlarge)	Rear view(click image to enlarge)	Side view(click image to enlarge)

Looking at the damage, I wanted to make a copy first. I took some measurements and sketched out a plan.

Front view (click image to enlarge)	Side view(click image to enlarge)

I am using I intended to work with balsa wood, but bass wood was the only type available. It is much harder. So using the drawings above, I cut my lengths of wood for the frame and matched them up to the sketch.

Front view (click image to enlarge)	Side view(click image to enlarge)

And the first problem presented itself. I had measure, sketched, and measured again. The beams are 1/4 inch. I purchased 5/16 inch dowels. That is close, but no cigar.

Since I have a scanner, I quickly ran copies and corrected the sketches.

Front view (click image to enlarge)	Side view(click image to enlarge)

What I decided was to extend the beams inwards and upwards. Now I have an idea of where to go. 

Tomorrow, I will make a base and start gluing. Look for more updates shortly.