Quiet - But NOT Idle

I haven't updated the blog this past week, but that does not mean I have not been busy. We are awaiting the birth of our 9th grandchild. In preparation, it has been requested (decreed?) that I build a double deck combination baby crib and youth bed to hold the newborn and his 2 year old brother. Another brother and sister already laid claim to the other two bed rooms. When I get it done, I'll post a few pics.

The laser shop has not been idle either. I have not been doing production, but had a whole list of maintenance items to work on. I'll be posting on each of them as well. Until then, here is a sneak peak at what all was covered.

• Install new laser tube
• Upgrade the y axis mechanics
• Install a combined drive card for the x, y, and z axes
• Replace the 400 step motors on x, y with 200 step motors
• Get the z axis automated and functional
• General cleaning, etc.

Most of these got done over the weekend; some more than once so check back for all the gory details when I get the posts and pics up. I still need to button everything up and get it off the workbench and back to its usual workstation. Then I can turn my attention back to the bed for a few days and write blog entries while the finish is drying.

Searching for the Perfect Laser Cutting Table

At some point, everybody who builds a personal laser begins a search for the best and cheapest cutting table they can find, buy, build, borrow, or invent. And like everyone else, I have been on that quest for some time now. But maybe - just maybe - I may have found it.

Laser Power Settings Via PWM Can Fool You

When I bought my first cheap Chinese laser, I set the laser power level with a variable resistor and a mA meter. It worked, but it seemed just a little too iffy to me. If I moved my angle of view of the meter, I would see different readings. I couldn't help longing for a way to be more exact, more repeatable from job to job. Then I heard about the magical PWM. I didn't know what it was, exactly, or how it worked, but I was hearing that it was the modern digital approach to managing power levels in your laser. I'm a modern kind of guy. I'm a digital kind of guy. Sounds like just what I was looking for - or was it?