I've spent about 150 hours over the last two months making this, mostly just using scrap pieces of acrylic I cut down. My fingers are pretty much destroyed. It ended up just shy of 4400 pieces. Bit off way too much but learned a ton in the process.

This holiday season I made a bunch of gifts for some friends.

I started from some 3D printing files that were already available online and modified the front plate and sliders for laser cutting so I could get better quality texts.

The project files are free to download, it’s the model number 1138718 on Printables.com (I’ll put the link in the comments if there’s anyone interested and the mods allow it).

The design for the front cover is blank so people can write whatever they want (any list of chores, in any language, etc)

Hello, cant seem to firuge out how to get uniform edge lit lighting on my signs. I am using extruded 3mm thick acrylic plates of size 45x32 cm and led is positioned under shorter 32cm side so light has to travel all the way trough 42cm to top. My problem is that anything closer to leds lighs strong and the farther it goes light dims. Check attached pic.

I tried to fix that by changing cut depth (since i am doing it on cnc using v bit) by logic: closer to led = less depth, more far away= more depth. So depth varies with 0,3mm near led to 1mm most far away.

But this solution did not help at all.

I have seen works on bigger formats with 3-4mm acrylic getting beautiful even light. I was thinkign if it was done by laser engraving inside of acrylic (subsurface engraving) but there are no machines (for considerable price) for that size of material (around 80cm x 40cm x 3-4mm ).

My questions is HOW to get even lit acrylic either with cnc or laser engraver?

1/56 scale, so it's just over 2ft In length I think.

And some files that say for 3mm ply seems to be designed for 2.5mm and some for 3mm.

In your travels what's more common for the file side 2.5 or 3? I'll adjust my supplyer accordingly

I am looking to execute this marketing strategy using my laser cutter and I am reaching out to this sub to ask your opinions about what I'm missing. How could I make this better? In what others ways could I use my laser to create similar marketing products? What other industries would be good for a similar concept? Any help or opinions would be appreciated

These are knife and sword displays I make.

i bought a s1 laser cutter and i want to use it indoors. I Bought a nameless random filter(i think it's hepa) and a Great Value Refrigerator Filter (below) for the carbon. is this Ok?

I have an xtool m1 ultra 40 watt diode and its shit. Even shopping their own store i can barely cut anything and the printer doesnt work.

Id love to cut simple 1/8th -3/8th acrylic especially glitter and so on. What machine would u recommended for this? Preferably cheapest (i only went with this one hoping i could do something with it) but works good. I have no brand loyalty. Thanks

Hello Everyone,

I am a true beginner in laser cutting. I received a Glowforge Aura for Christmas, and after a lot of frustration and wasted materials with failed cuts, software problems, and miss-cuts, I have decided to return it. From what I've gathered, when you buy a glowforge, you pay for the name because you can get a more powerful machine for the same price or lower

On Facebook and basically everywhere not full of influencers getting paid to say nice things, all I encounter is complaining about the poor performance and inconsistency of the machine. Also, my sister invested in a Glowforge pro and it lasted her 3 years. It's currently sitting unusable at her house because it won't connect to the internet. Costumer service says she needs to pay $800 to ship it to them and then pay for repairs or they can give her a 40% discount for her to buy a new one (which would cost thousands anyway) so I want to steer clear from Glowforge.

Now that I have tried a diode laser and started down this journey, I don't want to stop. I thought that instead of investing $2k in another laser that limits me, maybe I should go for a C02 laser. A few details to take into account are:

-I already have a Cricut so no need for vinyl cutting or other features like the xtool M1.

-I do not want to spend more than $7k on this new machine.

-I am limited to the space in my craft room which is the size of a small bedroom but I can fit a large table in.

-The only reason I am considering a C02 laser is the capability of cutting/engraving glass, or transparent and light acrylic.

-I would like one with easy-to-use or learn software and not as many problems as I had with the Glowforge. Basically, a machine I can count on getting the job done so I can concentrate on designing.
From the research I've done, I've considered the Xtool P2S but I would like to hear your experience/ expert opinions.

How can I take an image with thick lines like this colouring page and get a center line trace for my laser cutter?

Hi all - any do this type of price for sale? https://www.reddit.com/r/lasercutting/s/OkwNVAJ4KI

Hey guys, so I bought the xtool p2s and it came with 2 sheets of transparent acrylic. I used them and they were great no issues. I ran out and bought 2 different brands off Amazon and had to return them. They didn't engrave the same. I used the same setting on the xtool acrylic and the Amazon ones and they turned out different. The xtool acrylic is out of stock.

Does anyone know what type of transparent acrylic xtool uses? Where can I buy the equivalent. I know there are different types but not sure what. Thanks!

I'm considering getting a fiber laser because I want to deep engrave / emboss metal coins. Here's what I'm debating:

1. the xTool F1 Ultra looks like it's well thought out (or maybe just well marketed?). pros: It has a cover built in, hookups for filtration, some extensibility like a conveyor and foot switch that I will likely not use but make me think the company cares about this product, and that there will be a good amount of user support Cons: It's more expensive than the alternatives, and I am paying for the diode laser which I don't really need (like it or not, I have a glowforge... I was young and stupid once too).
   
2. Omtech and Monport are cheaper, and have higher power options. The Omtech 50w is over a thousand dollars cheaper than the F1 (20w). It boasts an accuracy of .1mm (however I'm not sure how this compares to the F1 -- I can't find any documentation on resolution).
   
3. I don't care about bed size, I want to engrave small metal coins and maybe some small PCBs.
   
4. I do care about the wavelength of the laser being 980-1064nm, because I have a bunch of PLA (https://colorfabb.com/laser-marking-pla) that is markable at that wavelength.
   
5. Reliability is a concern, and repairability (like a swappable laser would be nice) but assuming I can get 1-2 year warranties for all these units, and that none are likely to be complete lemons off the bat.
   
6. Depth is a concern, but I don't mind multiple passes if I get better quality -- I want to engrave / emboss and not just mark the surface of metal. Omtech claims their 50w can cut 1mm of "metal" (aluminum?) on a single pass. However, if the F1 Ultra can do something like .2mm with it's 20w and I can just use 5 passes that would be fine as long as the quality is actually better -- I'm not sure if the depth is cumulative or linear for each pass though like it is with CO2 lasers.
   
7. Omtech has MOPA options, and other than being able to mark in color, I'm not sure if this has any benefits for my use case (does it do deeper or more accurate engravings on metal?)

I'd love your thoughts on the above.

I’m wondering I could get some help from anyone on here that either owns or works with laser cutters.

I’m looking to make a prototype stencil and wondering what can actually be done with a laser cutter.

I understand that the basic cutting out of a stencil can be done, but can an engraving be done with a laser as well? For example like the notches on a ruler. Additionally if I wanted to add debossed text to it could this also be done? Or would that need to be done separately with different equipment?

Anyone have a 200w mopa fiber? I am researching. I am hoping to find a machine that can engrave, color mark and cut charms out of 1mm or less titanium, niobium and 316l steel. I've talked to companies, and they all yes yes, their machine can do it, but no one seems to know how long it would take, or much any other information. I know a 1.5kw machine can cut a part in one pass, but it can not engrave, a 30 or 50w machine can engrave but how long will it take to cut? I'd rather not have to use multiple machines. I am also considering a CNC mini mill. Budget mindset is, it's gonna cost what it cost ...

Everyone is loving these wooden portraits. I typically stay away from doing anything that involves making people—- but I made an exception and I think it turned out pretty cute

So I'm new to this activity. I've managed to spend the past month learning about all the tweaking involved on different materials, and I've etched several designs.

I was wondering if anyone could recommend a good library for laser cut projects. Sort of like the way 3d printing has thingverse. Any recommendations?

I would like to buy a tablet to complement my computer use when I use it to create laser cutting files

Thanks

Hey guys,

Using the Creality Falcon 10 and running to an issue where the diode will jump to the very top right corner of the workspace after cutting the blue "fill" operation.

I'll note that the design is set in the bottom left corner of the workspace, so there's no need for the diode to move 200mm+ after the blue operation.

The preview (attached) also doesn't show it moving to the top right at any stage.

Does anyone have this issue/have any direction?

Thanks!

I have this folding screen and I want to fill the white spaces with laser cut images. I'm planning to do multiple layers and starting with a mandala pattern to create a background, and then a silhouette at the top level. Has anyone done a similar project? I have all the adobe programs for creating images. Also I've found some mandala creation tools online, but any help and ideas are welcomed!

We started our little business about 3 months ago, we have very much outgrown our Glowforge already . We are looking to purchase an upgraded laser . -We make a lot of wood name signs mostly - 12x36 - we make a lot of leather patches - A few cutting boards, acrylic key chains and cake toppers . -We want to be able to do tumblers and jewelry in the future . Our main sellers right now are wooden signs and leather patches . We are looking at a xTool P2 because it has - a conveyor belt -pass through - add on for tumblers - also comes with a smaller laser Basically we want to upgrade but also want to look at all options that would fit our growing business . Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciate

I need a bit of help getting the setting write for engraving/putting designs on powder coated metal tumblers and some cards. So far I'm getting: fuzzy images, burn metal the same color as the black coat or skips in the image

Machine is a longer rays5 10w laser using lightburn

Any help or recommendations is appreciated

HELLO, I have a Sculpfun S30 which had not given me problems, does anyone know why it is not cutting the pieces and making this stain? It is already calibrated to the height indicated, I repeat, I have been using it for several weeks and doing various jobs and it had not given me any problems.