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Mini Laser Cutter

Tiny laser cutter built out of broken DVD drive parts. NOT A PRIZE ENTRY - PLEASE IGNORE!

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NOT A PRIZE ENTRY - PLEASE IGNORE!!! Update and entry at https://hackaday.io/project/10747-mini-pcb-printer

Fairly basic build. An arduino controlls the stepper motors from two dvd drives and uses a laser to cut out designs. Been waiting to be finished for years, now slowly coming together.

This is basically my continued experimentation along the same sort of theme. So far I have completely rebuilt this thing far too many times :P

This is a fun project, and I hope more people try something like this.

I used it to melt toner onto PCBs (https://hackaday.io/project/7535-cddvd-mechanisms-and-cartesian-thinggies/log/28947-pcb-fab) which is a pretty cool (and novel?) use. Need to write details up and make an actual PCB at some point.

The log https://hackaday.io/project/560-mini-laser-cutter/log/28767-getting-there has the most info on what it can do, and an overview of the last (working) setup. It's also described at https://hackaday.io/project/7535-cddvd-mechanisms-and-cartesian-thinggies/log/28905-newbie-his-setup-and-the-sun

As you can see from the latest log, I'm in the process of updating it but in need of parts. Anyone around Cape Town with old drives or DVD players please get in touch!

[JUDGES PLEASE READ}: I know I need a new project for THP2016 entry. If I don't get parts I won't make one, and you judges can please ignore this old thing :) I REPEAT DO NOT JUDGE THIS! You're welcome to read it for fun though :)

  • 2 × DVD drive sleds
  • 1 × Laser Diode from DVD burner
  • 2 × Easydriver Stepper motor drivers
  • 1 × Arduino (actually an ATMega328 with some passives)
  • 1 × Bluetooth module (HC-06) Allows control from phone (optional)

  • Attempted streamlining, laser driver burnout, plans moving forward.

    johnowhitaker03/22/2016 at 17:58 1 comment

    SO I had to leave most of the machine behind to save weight, but I kept the guts. In setting it up and playing with it, I wired something wrong on the laser driver circuit and let out some smoke. I was planning to update that part anyway, but this now means that for now I don't have a laser.

    I also wanted to make a more compact frame. Before I explain further, some pics.

    What I have:

    What I did:

    What it looks like:

    As you can see, one axis is now mounted on the other axis. There are four legs, currently just long 4mm machine screws that will eventually have a base plate to keep them aligned, so that the whole thing can be stood on whatever it is you want to engrave. This means I'm no longer limited to burning stuff that fits inside a machine. I could also theoretically print larger things in sections, moving the platform each time.

    Unfortunately, the axis I cut was already sticking before the operation and now is giving even more trouble. And unlike at home, I have no spare drives about. So, this whole thing is going to have to wait until I find me some parts...

  • Getting there

    johnowhitaker12/07/2015 at 12:07 19 comments

    Gave up trying to write the software from scratch, and ended up going with the same sort of setup as groover on instructables. Inkscape is used to make a design, and a modded version of the lasercutter extension turns paths into gcode.

    Universal gcode sender then passes the commands to my ATMega328 over serial, where the gbrl firmware decides what to do with it all. The whole shebang is mounted in an old PC power supply box, so the fan can keep everything cool. Still messy, but dialing it all in and slowly getting rid of the hacky bits of tape, jumper wires and cable ties.

    Had to share the first proper cut (after a triangle for calibration):

    ___EDIT____

    What can it cut?

    It struggles with white paper, or anything very light coloured. It cuts through bin liners easily, engraves black plastic (eg my phone cover) like a charm, can cut black electrical tape at slower speeds, makes short work of 1mm black polystyrene (from which i have cut the obligatory tesselating escher lizards) and gets 2mm into thicker polystyrene.

  • Some progress at last!

    johnowhitaker02/09/2015 at 04:59 0 comments

    Had a Sunday afternoon free, couldn't resist banging something together with whatever I could scrounge from the dustbin outside. Looks pretty cool!:

    Next, I'll make some proper slide rails, re-build the frame out of something better, add the LASER (a 500mW IR one) and generally make it all better.

    The code as it stands - very obviously hacky, will get better:

    /*
    Enable turtle-like control of an etch-a-sketch like 2 axis stepper
    thingee. Penup/pendown can be, for eg, laser on or off etc.

    Code by Jonathan Whitaker, MIT licence

    */




    //Settings for motor stuff
    int delay_time = 200; //ms, lengthen for debugging
    int xsize = 2000; //number of steps possible in the X direction
    int ysize = 2000; //""Y""



    //Store Position etc
    int posX = 0; //start bottom left
    int posY = 0;



    //Instructions - the biggie
    int instructions[] = {'F 100', 'R 90', 'F 100'};



    //Pins for steppers 1 and 2
    int s1s = 3; //stepper 1 step
    int s1d = 2; //direction
    int s2s = 6;
    int s2d = 7;
    //Pins for LASER!!!! Sharks to follow in version 42
    int lpin = 2;
    //all together now
    int out_pins[] = {s1s, s1d, s2s, s2d, lpin};
    int out_pin_count = 5;



    // Setup stuff, pretty self-explanatory
    void setup() {
    for (int i=0;i<out_pin_count;i++){
    pinMode(out_pins[i], OUTPUT);
    }
    }




    void loop() {
    square();
    delay(5000);
    }



    //step x and y by a certain amount.
    void step_by(int stepsx, int stepsy){
    //sort out directions
    if (stepsx < 0){
    digitalWrite(s1d, LOW);
    stepsx = (0-stepsx);
    }
    else{
    digitalWrite(s1d, HIGH);
    }
    if (stepsy < 0){
    digitalWrite(s2d, LOW);
    stepsy = (0-stepsy);
    }
    else{
    digitalWrite(s2d, HIGH);
    }

    //figure out which one is bigger - we will step that one each cycle
    //then we'll step the other one only when d(small)/d(large) hits the next integer
    if (stepsx > stepsy){
    int prev_int_y = 0;
    for (int i = 0; i < stepsx; i++){
    digitalWrite(s1s, HIGH); //always step X
    if (floor((i*(stepsy/stepsx)))>prev_int_y){
    prev_int_y = floor((i*(stepsy/stepsx))); //keep track of last int jump
    digitalWrite(s2s, HIGH); //step Y
    }
    delayMicroseconds(delay_time);
    digitalWrite(s1s, LOW);
    digitalWrite(s2s, LOW);
    }
    }
    //the same thing again - remember to propagate changes for now, next time do the damn job properly!
    if (stepsy >= stepsx){
    int prev_int_x = 0;
    for (int i = 0; i < stepsy; i++){
    digitalWrite(s2s, HIGH); //always step X
    if (floor((i*(stepsx/stepsy)))>prev_int_x){
    prev_int_x = floor((i*(stepsx/stepsy))); //keep track of last int jump
    digitalWrite(s1s, HIGH); //step Y
    }
    delayMicroseconds(delay_time);
    digitalWrite(s1s, LOW);
    digitalWrite(s2s, LOW);
    }
    }
    }



    //need a goto_pos(x, y) function, plus fill in circle and square
    void go_to(int xpos, int ypos){
    step_by((xpos-posX), (ypos-posY));
    }

    void circle() {
    // go to center, out 300, draw a circle
    for (int i = 0;i < 360;i++){
    step_by(floor(20*sin(i/360.0)), floor(20*cos(i/360.0)));
    }
    }



    void square(){
    step_by(0, 2000);
    step_by(2000, 0);
    step_by(0, -2000);
    step_by(-2000, 0);
    //go to 100, 100
    //go_to(100, 100);
    // go_to(300, 100);
    // go_to(300, 300);
    // go_to(100, 300);
    }


  • I caved...

    johnowhitaker06/14/2014 at 07:17 1 comment

    Didn't have the time to be messing around building H-bridges, so I caved and ordered some easydrivers from AliExpress. 4 bucks free shipping, so not really breaking the bank to get a couple. Got both sleds moving nicely, and wrote a quick python script to direct them by clicking my mouse. rather than flashing grbl I am writing everything from scratch to control the steppers, laser etc through serial - allowing me to do the hard part (g-code interpretation) in python and also opening up other uses without having to re-program the Atmega328.

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johnowhitaker wrote 01/09/2016 at 15:43 point

That is epic! My build would be much simplified by leaving the sled optics intact - which is the plan for v2 :) so your project will be super useful! My strategy for finding the max current was to shine the laser with no optics onto a wall and increase the current slowly. It gradually gets brighter, suddenly jumps (starts lasing) and increases a lot, then as you get too high the beam shape distorts, at which point I immediately back down a little. Much less scientific ;p

  Are you sure? yes | no

Eric Hertz wrote 01/12/2016 at 08:20 point

Another "Ah-hah, I knew there must be a way!"

You gotta click the reply link ;) @DeepSOIC, didja see this response?

  Are you sure? yes | no

DeepSOIC wrote 01/12/2016 at 10:35 point

No I didn't ;) until you mentioned me here, thanks!

  Are you sure? yes | no

johnowhitaker wrote 01/16/2016 at 10:36 point

Wow, I do that about half the time :P thanks for fixing my mistake!

  Are you sure? yes | no

DeepSOIC wrote 01/06/2016 at 12:30 point

Hi!

Thanks for skull to my #Measuring DVD-RW laser project. You probably don't know that your #Mini Laser Cutter project is the final reason I started playing with the laser =)

  Are you sure? yes | no

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