Making a laser engraver with your own hands. Laser engraver: buy or do it yourself Do-it-yourself laser engraver on arduino

Thanks to rapid development technologies for processing materials of an innovative level, the prices for obsolete equipment are rapidly falling. So laser engravers, recently sold at prices that are inaccessible to the average person, can now be bought not only by large-scale enterprises, but also by any private entrepreneur.

All this greatly simplifies the possibility of providing private services in the engraving market. Many companies confirm the reduction in prices for laser engraving equipment with their price catalogs, which present a wide variety of models of devices and equipment for laser engraving. You can choose the best engraver only after getting acquainted with the features of this equipment, its price and technical characteristics.

The principle of operation of laser devices

Laser devices are divided into groups according to the composition of their working fluid. In industry, solid-state engravers and CO2 engravers are mainly used, using carbon dioxide as a working fluid for pumping the beam. The pumping of a solid body (crystal) of a laser or a closed volume of a gas mixture occurs due to the work of powerful light emitters or high-voltage electrical discharges in the surrounding space.

Being between two mirrors, the resulting monochrome laser beam repeatedly oscillates in the working body from one of them to the other. At the same time, the energy of the beam increases in a geometric progression due to the addition of ever new portions of energy - light quanta. At that moment, when the pumped radiation power in its parameters reaches the required value for performing a technological operation, a portion of a monochrome laser beam breaks out through a translucent mirror and is directed to the material processing zone. This process of pumping the energy of a crystal or a gas mixture occurs almost continuously, which creates conditions for stable laser radiation at the output of the resonator device.

Technologies for obtaining laser beams are constantly being improved, science, in conjunction with industrial practice, is looking for new ways to obtain monochrome, coherent radiation, which could have more power while saving the cost of consumed electrical energy. The topic of laser technologies is especially relevant due to the fact that their use is not limited to technological developments in the processing of various materials, engraving and cutting. The issues of improving laser devices are of interest to many other areas of human activity.

Technical applications of lasers

As a versatile piece of equipment, the beam engraver has a very wide range of applications. With it, you can apply text fragments and images to materials of a very different nature, from wood and plastic to fabrics. This list also includes materials of increased fragility in the form of glass, plexiglass. Indeed, during the operation of a laser engraver, the workpiece itself is not subjected to significant heat or severe mechanical stress.

The main consumers of laser equipment are still:

• agencies and companies manufacturing advertising products;
• printing industry enterprises;
• private entrepreneurs who are engaged in the provision of engraving services.

Advertising companies remain the leading position in the market of engraving services using laser equipment. Laser technology allows them to produce images of the most diverse properties and content, while using materials in a very wide range of properties and nature.

The private business, with the help of laser engravers, is mainly aimed at obtaining unique images on kitchen ceramics, on clothes and stationery. The laser engraver for making seals is now in great demand. But it will be almost impossible to list the entire list of products in the production of which laser engraving technologies are used. This indicates the highest demand in business and small-scale private practice of equipment of this class. The efficiency of using laser engravers is very high, and the installations themselves practically do not require periodic repairs and maintenance. Operating costs are also minimal, and the wear of the working parts of laser machines is almost zero even with a long service life. The clarity and accuracy of the images obtained with the help of laser engravers does not decrease over time.

Products for laser engraving are sold by many companies, both producing them and reputable resellers. With guaranteed high quality of work, these devices have a number of advantages over mechanical engraving machines:

• applied images have high resistance under the influence of any external factors;
• materials with high fragility can also be processed with a laser beam;
• the clarity of images obtained using a laser beam surpasses at the moment all other existing methods and technologies;
• in case of deviations in the form of a given image, it is very easy to make adjustments and corrections to the application program;
• with low power consumption, laser engravers have high productivity.

With the help of laser devices, it is very convenient to mark industrial products consisting of various materials. 3D laser engravers are very popular among manufacturers of various souvenirs. It is widely in demand in modern printing technologies, in enterprises engaged in the production of artistic products from polymers, fabrics and advertising glass.

It is difficult to limit the use of laser technologies to one industry or commercial activity. It is not uncommon to see how a person buys a mini laser engraver for their home, in order to be engaged in the manufacture of details and engravings of various directions in their calm home environment. Most of the manufactured laser engravers have a universal purpose, which opens up the possibility for a person to process products from the most different materials. Including a laser engraver on glass, which does not cause cracking of the workpiece or its deformation during operation.

When figuring out which laser engraver to buy, you need to give preference to those devices that are the most effective in terms of technical solutions And modern requirements. After all, this equipment is rapidly being modernized, and after a short time it may become obsolete compared to the upcoming technological innovations. The most reliable thing is to give preference in buying to those companies that are world famous and have proven themselves not only in our country.

It is very important that the purchased equipment refers to CNC laser engravers, since only these devices allow, without a highly qualified machine operator, to obtain engravings of the highest level, without spending a lot of time and effort on it. It is enough to enter the product manufacturing program into the control unit, and the machine will perform the rest flawlessly in automatic mode. Most modern machine tools are equipped with these numerical and program control units, reducing manual labor, increasing the productivity of the apparatus and achieving an unsurpassed quality in the production of processing parts.

In addition to the above considerations, when buying, it is important to consider the price of a laser engraver. Usually equipment with modern technical characteristics has a very reasonable cost. And the price characteristic of the equipment has always influenced the cost of manufactured products, thus providing an opportunity to expand the range of services provided. All these favorable factors create a firm engaged in laser engraving, competitiveness on modern market services, providing a high level of profit and a short payback period for investments on initial stage business.

Given that manufacturers of both full-format laser machines and desktop laser engravers, along with domestic enterprises, are also foreign companies, you need to be able to make optimal choice. Of course, for high performance parameters European equipment have to pay a high price. But a laser engraver from China, having similar specifications will cost significantly less. And the quality of Chinese equipment is growing rapidly, often reaching the world branded manufacturers of laser equipment in terms of these indicators. The Chinese laser engraver, if you look at it through the prism of the price-quality indicator, will not yield to any other global industrial options for the manufacture of these machines.

Laser cutting materials

It is very common to cut a wide variety of materials with a laser engraver, from black and white steel to PVC non-woven fabric. With the help of laser equipment, it is possible not only to apply high-precision images to the surface of products, but also to cut them into separate parts according to a given program. For such purposes, the industry manufactures machines called laser engravers-cutters. Working in multiple modes, these devices can handle engraving operations well and at the same time be able to switch to material cutting mode.

Cutting laser devices are characterized by the highest accuracy of the resulting product, and thanks to the use of this high-tech technique, the cut edges always turn out to be absolutely smooth and even. With such a cutting operation, there are no mechanical loads on the material being cut, only a microscopic zone of laser beam action leads to melting of the material, followed by the removal of the resulting melt or steam from the cut zone.

It should also be noted the high technological speed of cutting with a laser, as well as the lowest energy and time costs. It is quite applicable to solve the problem with accurate cutting and cutting of material with a laser engraver. Working in cutting mode, it can complete the parts specified by the program in the shortest time and with high accuracy.

With the help of laser cutting, it is possible to perform both complex metal cutting products, as well as elements of children's toys and light clothing from a wide variety of fabrics. Between these extreme types of materials is a large group of substances that lend themselves perfectly to cutting with a monochrome laser beam, including fabrics. human body when performing modern high-tech operations in surgery. It is only worth considering that a laser engraver for metal must have sufficient power to heat up and rule the metal, but a laser engraver for wood consumes much less energy, since burning wood fibers does not require high energy costs.

Separate types of laser engravers

Let's consider separate types of laser devices, the most common devices for engraving and cutting materials. Comparing their performance characteristics, one can choose the machine that is most suitable for performing the operations intended by the entrepreneur.

Neje Chinese laser engraver is used for processing materials in a wide range of activities. With its precision and high quality processing, this 500mW laser is capable of engraving anything on selected materials, from foam to higher strength materials such as plastics and wood. Individual design devices and attached accessories to expand the field of activity attract a large number of buyers.

Features of NEJE DK-8 Pro 5 laser engraver:

• Power of 500 mW allows you to engrave many materials, including wood, rubber and plastic;
• personalization of any accessories is carried out at the filigree level, taking into account the permissible resolution of the laser beam in 512x512;
• thanks to the program control unit, a person without much experience with engraving devices can use the device;

With the price of the NEJE DK-8 Pro 5 laser machine at 4 million 400 thousand rubles, this device allows you to perform a huge number of technological operations, which fully justifies the cost of its purchase.

The Diy desktop laser engraver is manufactured in a wide power range from 2100mW to 8000mW. This engraving and cutting machine can be equipped with a blue laser semiconductor type with any of the indicated power ratings. The choice of laser is dictated by the thickness of the metal being cut and maximum speed engraving on the surface of the material. The high-quality software of the device does work on it easy and convenient. Machine communications with a home computer are established by loading into it latest version software module and device driver installation.

To perform engraving, it is enough to choose a suitable pattern and start the machine to perform it. With DIY equipment, you can engrave and cut using materials of a wide variety of nature. The best results are engraved on acrylic, wood, plywood and cardboard, as well as plastics of any composition.

Having small size In terms of dimensions, the Endurance DIY engraver is widely used both in solving business issues and at home. The machine software is located on the flash card supplied with the machine. By installing the driver from it on a computer, placing it in any folder, you can control the machine directly using the mouse and keyboard. Such a home engraver is just a godsend for those who are taking their first steps in the business of processing materials with a monochrome beam.

The price of a DIY laser depends on the chosen power of its radiation. It is currently in the range from 30,000 rubles to 55,000 rubles. This price does not include delivery of equipment to the customer at the specified address.

CNC engravers and Speedy engravers are known for good reviews and user reviews. Having a quite reasonable price, these devices have a fairly broad functionality.

Let's try to figure out how to make a laser engraver with your own hands. It turns out that even this complex technological equipment can be made in a home workshop with your own hands.

As a beam gun, ready-made designs are usually used, which are widely sold in our market by Chinese manufacturers. With the high quality of these devices, their price usually does not exceed 5 thousand rubles. If you do not need a high power of the laser beam, then a laser from a computer burner is quite suitable. These parts in our market are sold almost for a penny. And it is not necessary to look for a used engraver on the sites, everything can be made by hand.

For those who have these skillful hands, it will not be any problem to remove the beam semiconductor from the computer's drive. It should be taken into account that a high-power laser device will also require intensive cooling. But the device for recording on a disk drive is quite cooled by a passive radiator.

The handle for holding the device can be made of brass cartridge cases from rifled weapons, more suitable for TT and PM pistols. After drilling the capsules, they can be tightly put on top of each other, forming a case, while the brass itself serves as a good radiator.

To operate a homemade laser, voltage is required direct current at 12 V. This is exactly what the computer gives out on the USB connectors. A portable device is quite suitable battery from a computer uninterruptible power supply. All these parts can be found almost in a landfill, but a hand-held laser engraver made from them will work flawlessly!

But this is only a manual burning element. For the manufacture coordinate machine you will need to make a positioning device.

If you start making a homemade engraver based on the ray principle, then the Chinese have plenty of KIT kits for this, which can be taken as the basis of the device.

You will need to make carriages with wheels from an aluminum profile. On one of them you will need to install a ready-made beam module, and the other two carriages will be used to move the guide. If the whole structure is put together in a neat box with good ventilation, you will get a fully functional finished engraver.

The movement of the beam head will be set by stepper motors, and the transmission of torque to the portal can be done by toothed belts.

But we must not forget that the fumes and smoke generated during engraving are dangerous if inhaled. Good ventilation must be ensured in the room where such a homemade laser engraver will work. We must not forget about security measures of a different nature - the beam should not be directed at the skin of a person, and even more so into his eyes. This can cause serious negative health effects.

The main thing is to set a specific goal and stubbornly go towards its achievement. And everything will definitely work out!

In this post, we will tell you a story about how to build a CNC laser machine with your own hands, which one of our subscribers told us.

Foreword

A couple of months ago I was looking through the entries from a competition where I saw some pretty cool engraving machines and I thought, "Why don't I make my own?". And so I did, but I didn’t want to copy someone else’s project, I wanted to make my own unique CNC machine with my own hands. And so my story began...

Specifications

This laser engraver is equipped with a 1.8W 445nm laser module, of course, it is nothing compared to industrial laser cutters that use over 50W lasers. But this laser will be enough for us. It can cut paper and cardboard, and can engrave all kinds of wood or plywood products. I haven't tested other materials yet, but I'm sure it can engrave many other surfaces. I will immediately go ahead and say that it has a large working field measuring about 500 × 380 mm.

Who can make such a laser machine? Everyone, no matter if you are an engineer, lawyer, teacher or student like me! All you need is patience and a great desire to get a really high-quality machine.

It took me about three months to design and build this engraving machine, including waiting about a month for parts. Of course, such work can be done faster, but I am only 16 years old, so I could only work on weekends.

Required materials for assembly

Obviously, you can't make a laser engraver without the right parts, so I've put together a spec with just about everything you need to make one. Almost all items are bought on Aliexpress because it is cheap and there is free shipping for most items. Other parts such as machined rods and MDF sheets (can be made from plywood) were purchased from a local hardware store. The laser and laser driver were ordered from ebay.
I tried to find the lowest prices for all items (not including shipping).

It took a lot of time before I came up with this design. At first I made several others, but this one was really the most beautiful of all the others. First of all, I drew all the details in a graphic editor and printed them out in natural size.
I assemble the entire engraver from MDF sheets 18 mm and 12 mm thick.
The choice fell on this design also because it was easy to attach the Z axis and the tool, turning our machine into a milling machine.

Of course, I could have made a different, simpler design... But no! I wanted something special!

Assembly process

Having printed out the drawings, I had the details that needed to be put together. The first thing I did was install the electronics case door on the left side and the hinge lock (the door installs without difficulty, so I did that first. To assemble the electronics case, I used a lot of L-shaped iron brackets with holes for self-tapping screws If the body is planned to be made of plywood, then it is also necessary to drill holes in it for self-tapping screws.

First, the left side of the electronics housing was taken again and the front and rear parts of the housing were installed on it using brackets. I did not use screws or nails to install the cover and control panel, but screwed the same brackets to the walls and simply laid the cover with the panel on them so that later on when installing the electronics there would be no inconvenience.

Putting the electronics case aside and taking the base plate and X-axis bearings, install them as shown in the photos, making sure that the X-axis and motor mount are on the right side of the CNC machine. Now you can safely install the electronics housing in the same way as shown in the figures.

Next, two 700 mm shafts were taken, two linear bearings each were strung on them, and they were fixed on the machine itself using special end supports for ground shafts.
At this stage, I got this:

Put aside this half of the laser machine for a while and take care of the moving part of X, and support the Y axis and attach the weight of the shaft support to the moving part of the X axis with nuts and bolts, and attach the support to the X axis with two nuts.

1. Now take two 500mm shafts, put one linear bearing on each shaft, slide a shaft support on each end of each shaft and mount them on the machine.
2. Attach the Y axis nut to the Y axis moving part with nuts and bolts, and screw it to the linear bearings with self tapping screws.
3. Attach the lead screw and stepper motor.
4. Connect all of this to the other half of the engraver and secure the lead screw and stepper motor.

Now you should have something similar to what is shown in this photo:

Machine electronics

I also installed wooden detail into the electronics housing to secure the stepper motor.

Or you can just put the lid and panel on the engraver to admire the work done and the great design.”

conclusions

This, perhaps, is all the information that he conveyed to us, but this is a pretty good instruction for those who have a dream to assemble a good home-made laser machine for home and hobby purposes with their own hands.

The assembly of a laser engraver itself is not particularly expensive, since the number of parts is minimal, and their cost is not particularly high. The most expensive parts are probably stepper motors, guides and, of course, parts of the laser head itself with a cooling system.

It is this machine that deserves special attention, since not every laser engraver allows you to quickly install a milling machine on the 3rd axis and turn the machine into a full-fledged CNC router.

In conclusion, I would like to say: if you really want to assemble a high-quality CNC machine yourself with your own hands, which will serve faithfully for many years, you do not need to save on every detail and try to make the guides smoother than the factory ones or replace the ball screws with a stud with a nut. Although such a machine will work, but the quality of its work and the constant tuning of mechanics and software it will simply upset you, making you regret the time and money spent on it.

Engravers are widely used in various industries production not only for engraving various materials, but also for drilling miniature holes, polishing, grinding, milling. The same operations with their help can be performed at home. If this is required only occasionally, or you just need to save money on buying a tool, then a mini-drill can be made independently from unnecessary equipment, which often lies unused in garages or storage rooms. With the help of home-made drills, it will be possible to perform the same operations as with a factory tool of similar power, only you will need to use the appropriate nozzles.

According to the features of their functioning, engravers are divided into milling and laser engravers. In the first, the material is processed with various nozzles. In laser models, all the work is done by a laser beam - this is non-contact engraving. At the same time, such a device belongs to the category of high-tech equipment. But a homemade engraver can be made at home.

To create a laser engraver with your own hands, you will need the following parts, tools and materials:

• stepper motors from a dvd drive;
• computing platform Arduino;
• Proto Board with display;
• limit switches for motors;
• laser module (for example, with a power of 3 W);
• a device for adjusting the magnitude of the constant voltage;
• laser cooling system;
• MOSFET (transistor);
• boards for assembling motor control elements;
• frame;
• toothed pulleys and belts for them;
• various sizes of bearings;
• wooden boards: 2 pieces measuring 135x10x2 cm and two more - 125x10x2 cm;
• 4 round metal rods with a section of 10 mm;
• lubricant;
• clamps, bolts with washers and nuts;
• vise;
• locksmith tools;
• drill;
• electric jigsaw or circular saw;
• files or sandpaper;
• computer or laptop.

Stepper motors can be taken not only from DVD, but also from a printer that is practically not used.

The machine is assembled according to the following algorithm:

• create a foundation;
• mount guides with movable carriages;
• assemble an electrical circuit;
• install the necessary programs on the computer;
• carry out adjustment (adjustment) of the laser head;
• check the functionality of the machine.

Connection diagram stepper electric motors taken from an inkjet printer or DVD is shown in the photo below.

The entire sequence of actions that allows you to assemble a laser engraver on arduino is shown in detail in the video below.

The created CNC engraver will cost much cheaper than any factory-produced laser models. It can be used for making stamps, for photoresist, for working with wood, plywood, plastic, cardboard, polystyrene foam and cork sheets. Metal engraving is also possible.

Assembling an electric engraver with a tripod and a flexible shaft

An electric engraver is the most common type of this kind of tool at home. To make a functionally complete device on your own, capable of competing with analogues of industrial production, you will need an electric motor that runs on AC 220 V. Such electric motors can be taken from the following equipment:

• Soviet-style reel-to-reel tape recorders;
• DVD players;
• washing machines;
• angle grinders;
• electric sewing machines.

The latter option is optimal, because it is possible to adjust the speed in a fairly wide range using the built-in rheostat.

For domestic use, a drill with an idle speed of up to 6 thousand revolutions per minute is sufficient.

Holding an electric motor from any of the listed types of equipment in one hand is inconvenient, and in most cases it is simply impossible. Therefore, it will be necessary flexible shaft for engraver. Wherein general form the future device will turn out, approximately, as in the photo below.

The functionality of the created device for engraving will depend on the materials and mechanisms used in the assembly. The motor can be put on the table, but it is more convenient to do tripod for engraver, or rather its likeness.

Production of a flexible shaft

With a flexible shaft, everything is relatively simple. It can be done in several ways:

• from an old drive shaft, for example, from a dental drill;
• using the speedometer cable of a motorcycle or car.

The shaft attachment can also be used from a drill or make it yourself from different materials, for example, from wood, textolite, plastic pipes. From textolite a device (handle) for holding the snap is done like this:

• cut off 2 textolite platinum (sheet thickness should be about 1 cm) about 2 by 10 cm in size;
• connect them together and grind them with a file or sandpaper on the outside to make a cylinder;
• grooves are machined from the inside;
• metal rings fix the parts with each other;
• a tube is inserted into the front of the handle, under a cartridge consisting of two separate halves connected with a bolt.

As a result, you get a handle, as in the photo below.

The internal hole made between the textolite plates must be of such a section that it does not interfere with the free rotation of the cable. It will be possible to insert nozzles with a shank diameter from 2 to 5 mm into the chuck.

Assembling the engraving machine

It is very easy to make a tripod (base for installing an electric motor) from plywood or the same textolite. To do this, proceed as follows:

• cut out from a sheet of material several pieces (4 is enough) of the size corresponding to the electric motor;
• a motor is attached to one of the fragments using clamps;
• collect a box;
• a hole is drilled in the front for a flexible shaft.

The created structure is suspended from the wall.

Convenient to use factory clamp holder for the engraver, if the size of the electric motor allows. Mount connects to any table. But such a device will need to be purchased additionally.

Further assembly of the engraving device is performed in the following sequence:

• using a coupling created from a drilled bolt, the cable is connected to the motor shaft;

• put a rubber hose of the appropriate diameter on the cable and attach the handle made to it;

• install the start button;
• connect the equipment to the network;

• check the performance of the device.

A homemade drill will allow you to process wood, bone, metal, glass, plastic, ceramic blanks, as well as various metals, natural and artificial stone.

You can also use electric motors to create home-made straight grinders, rated for 380 V, but if they can be adjusted to 220. In such cases, you will need to tinker extra. There is a lot of information on this subject both on the Internet and in books on electrical engineering.

Making a mini drill from a motor

It happens that at home it is required to make small holes in wood or plastic, while drills from a drill are not suitable. In such cases, a homemade mini-drill from a motor will help. It can also be used to wood engraving. And if there is an interest in amateur radio, then using the created tool, you can drill and cut boards.

To create makeshift fixture, you will need to take a miniature electric motor from an old tape recorder. even fit various models motors from children's toys. If you use a mini-engine from a 12 V tape recorder as a drive, then you will also need the following materials and parts:

• power supply unit or several batteries (accumulator) with 12 V output;
• a piece of plastic pipe (about 10 cm long) with such a cross section that a miniature electric motor can be inserted inside;
• heat-resistant glue;
• power button;
• wiring for electrical connections.

Do-it-yourself mini-drill is assembled according to the following algorithm:

• using an electric drill or a knife, make a hole in the tube for the switch;
• lubricate the motor with glue to fix it inside the future case;

• insert the motor into the tube;
• any of the wires through which the motor is powered is protruded into a hole previously drilled in the housing, and the other end is left on the back of the housing;

• one wire from the power supply is inserted into the hole for the button;
• solder the switch to the protruding ends with a soldering iron, carefully isolating the contacts;

• the two wires remaining from the end of the tube (from the button and the motor) are connected to the connector for connecting the power supply;

• cut off the neck of any plastic bottle;
• make a hole in the center of the cover for the connector and glue these parts together;
• glue the neck to the tube;

• connect the assembled mini drill to the power supply;

• by pressing a button, they check the performance of the homemade product.

Supply unit voltage should be selected so that it matches the operating voltage of the electric motor used.

To make a mini drill autonomous, it is enough just to adapt batteries to it.

Homemade dremel from a drill and a blender

If you have an old or unnecessary blender, then it is also easy to make a mini-drill out of it. This household appliance already has a comfortable handle. In addition to the blender itself, you will also need such devices and additional parts:

• tools to disassemble the device (screwdrivers with different tips, pliers);
• caliper or ruler;
• collet;
• soldering iron with soldering kit;
• file for finishing, sandpaper;
• switch.

You can do without the last detail, but then you will need to constantly hold the power button with your hand while working with a straight grinder.

An engraver from a blender is created like this:

• neatly disassemble household appliances;
• they take out internal parts: an electric motor and a printed circuit board that controls the operation of the device;
• using a caliper, measure the diameter of the spindle in order to purchase a collet chuck suitable for it;
• if the electric motor is contaminated with something, for example, rust, then it is carefully cleaned with care so as not to damage the windings;
• fix the purchased collet chuck (or made by yourself) on the spindle;
• the power button already on the blender is replaced with a switch: solder the wire contacts;
• adapting a hole in the housing of the household appliance for a new switch;
• install the electric motor with the board in their places inside the case;
• collect the tool.

Depending on the model of the blender you are converting, you may need to do additional holes in its case, or expand existing ones with a file. Doing this won't be a problem.

The entire described process of assembling a dremel from a blender is demonstrated in detail in the video below.

You can not remake the blender, but simply connect a flexible shaft for a factory-made engraver to it. The docking method is shown in the video below.

You can also make an engraver from a drill. The assembly of variants with and without a flexible shaft is shown in the following videos.

Making an engraver from a 3D printer

An ordinary 3D printer is a good basis for creating an engraver with which you can cut various materials, do crafts and perform other operations. To upgrade an existing device, you will need an additional install fee, which will feed the operational circuits of the equipment and the laser module.

An engraving machine created from a 3D printer is demonstrated in the following video.

In addition to the considered simplest ways to create a homemade engraving machine from a 3D printer, a small electric motor, a small electric motor, a blender and a drill, there are also other options. At the same time, both this technique and other power tools are used as a basis. Craftsmen constantly come up with new modifications, showing design imagination. Implementing in practice any of the above options or independent development, one should provide security created homemade. To do this, it is necessary to isolate the electrical contacts well and to reliably assemble the equipment.

Today I finally finished the engraver myself and tested it.

Now about everything in order.

Initially, the idea to assemble a laser engraver was born when I saw a NeJe craft on Ali Express - an engraver from DVD drives.

The price is 4-5 thousand rubles, expensive. But it looks like an interesting toy.

I sat, dug the Internet, watched videos on YouTube. It doesn't seem to be hard to assemble.

I had a couple of stepper motors from an Epson inkjet printer (something like 25 steps per revolution), a little aluminum profile from Leroy.

I decided to try from what is to portray something like . There would only be 2 axles.

I decided to do the drive on belts, it is easier.

Based on the guides that remained from the printers, I estimated the size and assembled the base. I fixed the motor, belt tensioner, guides, installed a movable table and fastened the belt.

There are no photos with the belt installed.

Everything would be fine, but the table ran from edge to edge in just 2.5 turns of a stepper motor. Such a scheme would not give positioning accuracy.

I disassembled the belt drive, began to think about how to remake the circuit for an M5 lead screw and abandoned it.

Work piled up, there was no time.

At this time, a friend gave me several DVD drives for analysis. Writer DVD RW Sony and a pair of CD-RW DVD-ROM LG.

On trial, I decided to assemble the engraver on pieces of a DVD drive. From what he left, to that he came. In order to understand whether I'm interested in it or not is quite enough.

It seemed to me not aesthetically pleasing to assemble an engraver on a casing from a CD drive. I decided to assemble a frame for the engraver from different aluminum profiles. I had a square 20x20x1.5, a corner 20x20x1.5, a shank 60x2 and a U-shaped profile 12x15x2. Another task I set myself to fill my hand in working with the profile. Aluminum is a nasty material, then the drill will lead away when drilling, then the hand will tremble when cutting, then the canvas will bite. In general, as a training and honing skills, it is not superfluous. In the future, I plan to assemble a printer on a profile from Leroy.

The frame was fastened with a riveter. Fast and reliable.

If the goal is to make it cheap and cheerful, you can and should assemble it on the case from the drive.

On the X axis I used a piece from LG, on the Y piece from Sony. I removed everything that was possible from the movable carriages of both drives. We won't need this.

For both axles, I designed and printed different spacers on a printer. On the Y-axis with thread.

X-axis short spacers

For the Y axis, I designed and printed a table stand. Glued it to the carriage with superglue.

I used a piece of 6mm plexiglass as a table. After assembling the engraver, I glued the plexiglass to the printing table in the same way, with superglue.

Instead of any nuts, washers and gaskets, it was convenient for me to print different fasteners on the printer. No glue guns and snot :)

From square profile 20x20 cut 4 pieces for the base and racks.

First, I assembled the base for attaching the carriage along the X axis

A piece of a corner 20x20x1.5 was needed to spread the racks, so that a piece with a carriage entered between the racks, drive along the Y axis.

I assembled the base for the Y axis. Two pieces of a square profile and an aluminum strip. Fastened with a rivet.

In place, I riveted steel corners for attaching the X-axis portal.

As holders of the X-axis racks, I used steel corners from Leroy. Rubles 14 each.

And put it all together.

I riveted 2 corners to the back of the portal X, for attaching electronics.

Almost done mechanically. At the back, through the spacers printed on the printer, I screwed home-made brains.

Mom soldered wires and connectors to stepper motors

Buying a ready-made laser with a controller on Ali is expensive, in the end I bought only a TTL controller for a laser.

Here's one:

For 250 kopecks rubles.

The laser diode was taken from a Sony drive. I took the lens from the LG drive. I inserted a laser diode in a square case into a U-shaped profile, the module with the laser stood up very tightly, and in front of it I placed an assembly lens from LG, with focus coils and other offal. Perfect fit for the width and height. In this embodiment, it becomes possible to adjust the focal length from the laser to the lens.

The photo partially shows the design of the laser module itself.

A laser diode with soldered wires, and a lens in front of it.

I didn’t come up with anything better and easier than pulling the laser module to the X carriage with cable ties. Sufficiently reliable and you can adjust the distance from the laser to the workpiece.

I soldered electronics to the engraver at work. After assembly, he showed his toy to colleagues. And it began: will it cut the paper, and black electrical tape, and blue tape, and if a piece of solder is painted black, will it melt? :)

I tell you, the laser leaves a mark on the cardboard, cuts black electrical tape and black polyethylene. Blue tape on cardboard cuts.

In general, the toy turned out to be funny.

Already home. Sawed along the length of the laser emitter. I hid the TTL scarf inside the profile.

The program for converting pictures into g-code is called CHPU.

Controls the router GRBLController.

Engraves a picture. The first one so to speak. Compare with my avatar :)

Naturally, it is necessary to select the engraving mode. And a small fan for blowing would not hurt to blow off the smoke from cutting. Engraved on a piece of cardboard.

I uploaded the firmware to the board with GRBL 1.1f, it is in the entry about the board.

As for the firmware settings:

A DVD drive's stepper motor most often has 20 steps per revolution.

Screw pitch 3mm.

20/3=6.6666666666667 steps per 1mm

The a4988 drivers have microstepping set to 16.

Accordingly, 6.6666666666667*16=106.67

The voltage on the a4988 drivers (for 100 ohm resistances in the driver) set 0.24 V

To enable the laser engraver mode in the firmware, enter

The laser (via the controller) is connected to the 11th leg of the arduino, with PWM.

Those. laser power can be adjusted, and you can turn the laser on or off programmatically.

To turn on the laser, give the command

The laser will not turn on until the carriage has moved.

To turn off the laser command

If you forgot to tell about something - ask.

I repeat, the toy turned out to be interesting, I am satisfied with the toy.

Someday my hands will reach and finish a big engraver.

TAKE CARE OF YOUR EYES! Avoid direct and reflected laser beam contact with eyes. Do not look at the operating laser without special glasses. Keep pets away from the working engraver!

Like a warning.

Step 6: Preparing the arduino

When I got into arduino, I started by writing my own software.
But while I was looking for ways to control motion through the serial port, I came across something called "GRBL". It turns out that this is a g-code interpreter with a lot of interesting features.

I already had everything connected to the arduino and so I had to do one of two things: either swap the connections, or change something in the code
It turned out that it is much easier to change the control pins in the program.

IMPORTANT:
The current version of Grbl (0.6b) has a bug in the queuing system. The laser turns on and off immediately (M3, M5).
Commands are not queued and the laser turns on and off immediately as soon as the arduino receives commands.
It will be decided - but when - I can't say for sure... Instead, what we're doing is:

you can use the source from here, or just take a ready compiled hex. file that I used. This should solve this problem until it comes out a new version Grbl.

Regardless of which path you choose, you should end up with hex. file that you have to upload later to arduino.

I've tried several different paths, and the one I like best is when I used the Xloader program.

Programming is pretty straightforward.
Select the correct serial port for arduino.
Select hex. file, then type arduino, then click on upload.
If you use a new arduino uno, the Xloader program will not work and you will get a loading error.
Therefore, I recommend using ARP/Arduino Uploader - but even this uploader has some problems with arduino uno.
When programming arduino, - select the com port and type of your arduino (what model is the full name so that the program understands how to work with it) in the corresponding drop-down list.
After that, you should make changes to the "avr dude params" text.
Delete "-b19200" - without quotes and click on the download button.

Either way, in a couple of seconds you'll be done and ready to experience.
Exit the Xloader program and go to the next paragraph.

The Arduino must be set up to get started. Launch your favorite terminal window and open the port your arduino is connected to.

There you should see a welcome message:

Grbl 0.6b
"$" to dump current settings"

If you enter $ followed by return you will get a list of options. Something like this:

$0 = 400.0 (steps/mm x)
$1 = 400.0 (steps/mm y)
$2 = 400.0 (steps/mm z)
$3 = 30 (microseconds step pulse)
$4 = 480.0 (mm/sec default feed rate)
$5 = 480.0 (mm/sec default seek rate)
$6 = 0.100 (mm/arc segment)
$7 = 0 (step port invert mask. binary = 0)
$8 = 25 (acceleration in mm/sec^2)
$9 = 300 (max instant cornering speed change in delta mm/min)
"$x=value" to set parameter or just "$" to dump current settings
ok

Grbl 0.6b
"$" reset current settings"

If you enter $ you will get a list of options. Something similar:

$0 = 400.0 (steps/mm x)
$1 = 400.0 (steps/mm y)
$2 = 400.0 (steps/mm z)
$3 = 30 (microseconds per step pulse)
$4 = 480.0 (mm/sec default feedrate)
$5 = 480.0 (mm/sec default search speed)
$6 = 0.100 (mm / arc segment)
$7 = 0 (port step invert mask. binary = 0)
$8 = 25 (acceleration in mm/s^2)
$9 = 300 (max instantaneous speed change per turn in delta mm/min)
"$x=value" set the parameter or just "$" reset the current settings
ok

You have to change steps/mm for both o53.333 - for both. Just enter "$0=53.33", followed by a return, and then "$1=53.333" followed by a return. The Z axis can be ignored - since we don't use it. The acceleration can be increased up to 100 ("$8=100" and back). Since the machine is moving slowly, the acceleration can be set high. Other side effect low acceleration may be that curves can be burned out more than straight lines, since the controller is constantly trying to speed up and slow down and never reaches full speed.

If you are building a vehicle the same way as I did, then the following error may come up: one of your axes will be mirrored. But it's easy to fix. Option $7 gives you the ability to change the direction of the axis. I would like to change the direction of the X axis, so I entered: "$7=8" since I wanted to change the bit depth to 3 (8 = 00001000 binary). If you want to change the direction of the Y axis, you need to enter 16 (00010000) or 24 (00011000) to change both.

Full documentation on mask inversion can be