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Topics - pedwards2932

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T2 Engraving / Selective cutting
« on: June 09, 2020, 12:54:27 PM »
When I am cutting balsa I try to cut as fast as I can to minimize charring.  Because of this sometimes it doesn't cut all the way thru on some pieces because of different density.  Is there anyway in T2 to selectively pick which part you want to make a second pass?  I have my burn board set up so I can look at the balsa to see if it cut thru and put it back in exactly the same spot.  I guess I could run another dxf file but that would be a pain.

2
General Discussion / New wheels
« on: May 11, 2020, 05:48:25 PM »
My laser has these wheels:  https://usa.banggood.com/10pcs-5237mm-Nylon-Plastic-Carbon-Steel-Bearings-Pulley-Wheels-Embedded-Groove-Ball-Bearings-p-1094058.html?rmmds=detail-left-hotproducts__1&cur_warehouse=CN

Are these new ones better? https://usa.banggood.com/Flat-V-Type-PlasticStainless-Steel-Pulley-Concave-Idler-Gear-With-Bearing-for-3D-Printer-p-1267339.html?rmmds=detail-left-hotproducts__1&ID=43260&cur_warehouse=CN

It looks like they are 24 mm as opposed to the 23 mm on the ones on my machine.  I am looking at "B" (the one that is flat with a bevel on each edge).  I suspect I would have to modify the mounting holes in the acrylic to allow for the size difference.  Just wondering if it is worth the effort.

Has anyone tried printing copies of the acrylic pieces on the A3?

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General Discussion / Printed an air assist for my laser
« on: May 09, 2020, 04:33:02 PM »
I had cobbled together an air assist that I have been using with an aquarium pump.  It seemed to work okay.  I designed a set up that will connect to my Harbor freight airbrush compressor.  Should be able to get more air and a better system to aim it.  It is all printed with my 3d printer....I did use a M5 nut for the internal threads but the thumb screws were entirely with the printer.  I need to test to see if it all holds up.  I have redesigned the bracket to get a little more support than the one in the picture.

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T2 Engraving / Inkscape DXF
« on: April 27, 2020, 07:40:08 PM »
Been a long time since I have used my laser to cut.  I did all my tracing of the parts in Inkscape 0.92.  I did ran object to path then I flattened the Bezier. I used mm for scale and when I chose save as dxf I used mm and the drawing looks tiny but when I click output size on t2 it looks correct as I need it to be 3" by 8".  I then followed Zax's instructions and used px for the export and the size in the t2 looks correct but when I click the output size it looks pretty large
282 x 748 mm.  I haven't tried to run this yet just want to make sure I am doing it correctly.  Is there anyway to check the dimensions of the drawing in t2 to make sure they are accurate?

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General Discussion / Forum isssues?
« on: February 05, 2019, 07:44:09 AM »
Anybody else been having issues with accessing the forum?  I have been unable to access for the last couple of days.....it happened about a week ago as well.  I can get to all other internet sites but am unable to reach this forum....tried on Edge and Chrome neither worked.

6
Mini CNC / Waiting for my mill
« on: December 30, 2018, 08:29:49 AM »
I have done some research on CNC mills and have a question or 2.  With 3d printing you use a slicer program to get the different layers - do you do something similar with the CNC mill?  If I use T2 I assume it can only do 2D.  How do you add the z adjustments in T2? do you manually enter them.  I have looked into Mach 4 but it is pretty expensive.  I like to use Sketchup for my STL creation and I bought a decent slicer (Simplify3d) wonder if there is a way to modify the g-code from it to work with the CNC mill?

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T2 Engraving / Size/Resolution
« on: October 22, 2018, 04:43:33 AM »
I think I had asked about this before but still need some clarity.   I was designing a decal sheet in Inkscape and had the decals precisely sized for the airplane I am building.  When I printed it from Inkscape it was exactly the correct size.  When I pulled it into T2 and traced for cutting out the decals the cut was much smaller than the print.  I remembered from before that I had to change the DPI.  The last time I did I had to bump it to 256 dpi.  On this one 256 was not large enough it turns out it was about 500 dpi so I am guessing by multiples it should be 512.  I found that Inkscape allows you to change the DPI on a png pretty easily.  My question is how do you know what factor of resolution you need.  I just did this by guessing then running the cut to see if it was correct.  Also is there any "undo" function in the trace function on T2.....occasionally you need to undo and retry but I couldn't figure out how....I don't think control Z works.

8
General Discussion / Quick and Cheap Laser Cover
« on: October 15, 2018, 04:56:19 AM »
I printed up some fittings to use to make a cover for my laser (wife is home now so I can't do it on the stove anymore...been relegated to the garage).  This is mainly to keep from burning anyone's eyes that may come in while I'm working.  I am going to use a mattress inflator to draw out the smoke and smell.  I plan on putting a hatch in the top so I can open it up to see how it is progressing.  If I can find some reasonable laser safe acrylic I will use that as the hatch.  The sides and tops are made from Dollar Tree foam board.  The whole thing comes apart easily so I can store it flat.

9
T2 Engraving / Trace/Auto trace
« on: April 24, 2018, 11:14:50 AM »
I am trying to make a decal and want to set up T2 to cut an outline of the .jpg.  When I use auto trace it picks up a variation in the color of the jpg and adds extra lines.....I just want to cut around it.  I couldn't get trace to work at all....not sure if I am doing it correctly.  Is it going to be possible to trace around the outside of this to just cut out the decal?

10
T2 Software Updates / Can't get automated update
« on: February 21, 2018, 07:21:02 AM »
Invariably I am in the middle of a project and when I open T2 it wants to do an update but I want to defer the update until I have time to do it.  After I finish what I was doing I no longer get the prompt for the update and when I "check for update"  I get you will be notified or need a beta tester number?  I am on 1.5c so I know I don't have the newest version....how can I get it to reprompt to get the upgrade?

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General Discussion / Focusable 5.5W?
« on: December 05, 2017, 08:51:03 AM »
Anyone see or buy this?  https://www.banggood.com/445nm-5_5W-5500mW-Blue-Laser-Module-With-Heatsink-For-DIY-Laser-Cutter-Engraver-p-999283.html?rmmds=search&cur_warehouse=CN

Seems big problem with the older 5watt was you couldn't get a small focus point.  I get really good results with the my 2.5W but if this works better might be worth it.

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General Discussion / So much conflicting information on Anet A8
« on: October 03, 2017, 06:04:27 AM »
I have finally made all the mods to my Anet A8 where I can pretty much get it to print right every time.  One of the suggestions that seems to have a lot of conflict is about the mainboard not being sufficient and the power supply needs to be upgraded.  Also they have separate mosfets for the heat bed and nozzle.  I bought the mosfet kits but the more I read it seems these may or may not be a good idea.  I'm confused as to if I should upgrade the power module to the 30 amp and add the mosfets.  Folks on this forum seem to be sensible....should I leave it alone or is it a fire hazard to not make the power module/ mosfet upgrade?

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General Discussion / Anet A8 extruder bracket
« on: September 06, 2017, 06:49:28 PM »
When I look at the extruder bracket it isn't parallel with the heat bed so the nozzle is at a slight angle.  Is this normal?  It seems to print okay but it doesn't look correct.

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General Discussion / A8 mods......seems the printer has me working for it
« on: September 04, 2017, 06:53:04 PM »
On Thingiverse it seems like there a massive number of modifications to make printers better.  So now I spent a ton of time printing up "improvements"  mostly for belt tightening.  I printed a filament guide and it has already broken.  I am using PLA at 210 degrees 60 degree heat bed.  I am using Hatchbox Black PLA and it was 100% fill.  The clip portion that holds the guide on broke....seems like it shouldn't have been that brittle.  I'm new at this not sure how you get the best temp settings any suggestions?

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3D Printer Software / Sketchup STL size issues
« on: August 25, 2017, 03:56:55 AM »
Well, got my printer working and have printed one or two of the test files and it works.  I am amazed at how little information is available on how to process your own files but as usual with enough internet searching I was able to get it to print a Sketchup drawing I made but the size was all wrong.  When I imported into CURA it was too large for the table and this was a shim that was 5/8" in diameter.  I exported in mm and then it would fit in CURA.  Next issue was figuring out how to get the Gcode (also getting the PLA into the extruder is a bear).  That problem solved and it printed!  But it came out about twice as large as needed?  I am guessing maybe 2.54...something to do with converting inches to mm.  So long story short does this mean I need to do all my drawings in mm so the conversions won't mess up?  Can I do my drawing in inches and then convert to mm in Sketchup?  All this for a simple shim that I could make in a few minutes with hand tools but where would be the fun in that.....welcome to the world of 3D printers.....a tool we get and then have to search for a purpose.....

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