The time has come when the hyperboloid engineer Garin from the novel by Alexei Tolstoy moved to kitchen table ordinary Moscow apartment.

A couple of years ago, inexpensive laser engraver kits could be found in Chinese online stores. At first, the laser power was 100 mW, then 500 mW ... Recently, a 5 W engraver appeared, such a power of a semiconductor laser already allows not only to burn pictures on plywood, but also to cut plywood.

The laser cutter assembly kit arrived in a quality package. Styrofoam in a cardboard box.
The laser engraver 5500mw A5 Mini Laser Engraving Machine is supplied as an assembly kit: aluminum rails, stepper motors, control board, laser eye protection goggles, body parts for assembly and a control board with fittings. It took one evening to assemble the device.

Design laser CNC simpler design 3D printer, the same guides along which the head is driven by stepper motors. Only a 3D printer has three of them, and they move the head in three dimensions. In our case, it is enough that the head simply moves along the plane in two dimensions. No effort is needed to move it, since there is no mechanical contact with the material of the workpiece. The laser engraver connects to a computer via a standard USB port.

The part you want to cut or the image you want to burn must be drawn in a vector program. The program must save the image file in wmf format.

A file in this format can be imported into the program that controls the engraver.

Better use for this free program Sketchup (enough simple program to create 3D models). The engraver control program BenBox is downloaded free of charge from the seller's website.

Unfortunately, the laser power is not adjustable. The program sets the speed of movement of the head - the faster it moves, the less it burns.

If you want to cut, set the speed lower. To regulate the power, you need to order an additional fee; by installing it, you can adjust the power manually. For engraving, 100-500 mW is enough, and for cutting material - 2000-5000 mW.

During operation, the engraver smokes slightly. With the window open, the smoke did not bother me much. But smoke delays the laser beam, reducing its power and, accordingly, the depth of cut.

Everything would be fine, but laser cutting experts write that the lens can become sooty. Therefore, immediately after buying the machine, you need to make a powerful hood or at least install a fan on the engraver head.

HOW THE LASER CNC MACHINE CUT

As you know, the laser does not cut, it burns through. The higher the laser power, the more resistant the material they can process. The point of laser cutting is that the material has time to “evaporate” in the laser beam before the edges of the material adjacent to the cutting point begin to burn.

When cutting deep, the edges of the upper layers of the material burn, therefore, a deep cut with a laser has a trapezoidal shape with a wide side on top. When cutting a material with a weak laser, heating and ignition of the edges of the material occur. the same trajectory.

Only here is not a linear relationship "laser power-number of passes." That is, if you can cut through a thin sheet of balsa or plywood with a 5W laser. then for a laser cut of 2 W, you will have to do not 2-3 passes, but much more. So with the hopes of "buy cheaper and just drive several times along the lines of cuts" it is better to part. Need to take more powerful laser, preferably with a margin of power.

FOCUSING THE LASER

Focusing of the laser is manual.

We enclose the object for engraving.

When turning on the laser at minimum power, in order to focus it on the object of engraving, it is necessary to manually rotate the adjustment of the focusing lens until the spot size becomes a point, it becomes minimal. In this case, we get the maximum power.

When cutting plywood, the laser beam, having cut through a couple of millimeters, is already defocused, weakens and does not cut the plywood to the end. It turns out that the deeper we cut, the weaker the beam. In this case, it makes sense to focus the laser on the surface on which the plywood blank will lie.

Practical use engraver at home

The engraver is ideal for cutting leather. You can apply any pattern on the skin and immediately cut out patterns with a laser. A big plus of the laser when cutting synthetic fabrics and leather is that the edges are cauterized and then do not fray. Easily engraved plastic. You can make the cover of your favorite stylish engraving on your smartphone.

Good day, brain engineers! Today I will share with you a guide on how to how to do a laser cutter with a power of 3W and a desktop 1.2x1.2 meters controlled by an Arduino microcontroller.

This brain trick born to create coffee table in pixel art style. It was necessary to cut the material into cubes, but manually it is difficult, and through an online service it is very expensive. Then this 3-watt cutter / engraver for thin materials appeared, I will clarify that industrial cutters have a minimum power of about 400 watts. That is, light materials, such as polystyrene foam, cork sheets, plastic or cardboard, this cutter masters, but only engraves thicker and denser ones.

Step 1: Materials

Arduino R3
Proto Board - display board
stepper motors
3-watt laser
laser cooling
power unit
DC-DC regulator
MOSFET transistor
motor control boards
Limit switches
case (large enough to fit almost all list items)
timing belts
ball bearings 10mm
pulleys for toothed belts
ball bearings
2 boards 135x10x2 cm
2 boards 125x10x2 cm
4 smooth rods with a diameter of 1cm
various bolts and nuts
screws 3.8cm
lubricant
clamps
a computer
a circular saw
screwdriver
various drills
sandpaper
vise

Step 2: Wiring Diagram

Laser circuit homemade informatively presented in the photo, there are only a few clarifications.

Stepper motors: I think you noticed that two motors are started from one control board. This is necessary so that one side of the belt does not lag behind the other, that is, the two motors work synchronously and maintain the tension of the toothed belt, which is necessary for high-quality work. crafts.

Laser power: When setting the DC-DC regulator, make sure that the laser is supplied with a constant voltage not exceeding specifications laser, otherwise you will just burn it. My laser is rated at 5V and 2.4A, so the regulator is set to 2A and the voltage is slightly below 5V.

MOSFET transistor: this important detail given brain crafts, since it is this transistor that turns the laser on and off, receiving a signal from the Arduino. Since the current from the microcontroller is very weak, only this MOSFET transistor can perceive it and lock or unlock the laser power circuit, other transistors simply do not respond to such a low-current signal. MOSFET is mounted between the laser and the "ground" from the regulator direct current.

Cooling: When building my laser cutter, I ran into the problem of cooling the laser diode to avoid overheating. The problem was solved by installing a computer fan, with which the laser functioned perfectly even when working for 9 hours in a row, and a simple radiator could not cope with the cooling task. I also installed coolers next to the motor control boards, as they also get quite warm, even if the cutter is not working, but just turned on.

Step 3: Assembly

The attached files contain a 3D model of a laser cutter showing the dimensions and assembly principle of the desktop frame.

Shuttle design: it consists of one shuttle responsible for the Y axis, and two twin shuttles responsible for the X axis. The Z axis is not needed, since this is not a 3D printer, but instead the laser will turn on and off alternately, that is, the Z axis is replaced by the pierce depth . I tried to reflect all the dimensions of the shuttle structure in the photo, I will only clarify that all the mounting holes for the rods in the sides and shuttles are 1.2 cm deep.

Guide rods: steel rods (although aluminum is preferable, but steel is easier to get), a fairly large diameter of 1 cm, but this thickness of the rod will avoid sagging. The factory grease has been removed from the rods, and the rods themselves have been carefully sanded with a grinder and sandpaper to perfect smoothness for good glide. And after grinding, the rods are treated with white lithium grease, which prevents oxidation and improves glide.

Belts and stepper motors: To install the stepper motors and timing belts, I used the usual tools and materials that came to hand. First, the motors and ball bearings are mounted, and then the belts themselves. As a bracket for the engines, a sheet of metal was used, approximately the same in width and twice as long as the engine itself. This sheet has 4 holes drilled for mounting on the engine and two for mounting on the body homemade, the sheet is bent at an angle of 90 degrees and screwed to the body with self-tapping screws. On the opposite side of the engine mounting point, a bearing system is similarly installed, consisting of a bolt, two ball bearings, a washer and a metal sheet. A hole is drilled in the center of this sheet, with which it is attached to the body, then the sheet is folded in half and a hole is drilled in the center of both halves to install the bearing system. A toothed belt is put on the engine-bearing pair thus obtained, which is attached to the wooden base of the shuttle with an ordinary self-tapping screw. This process is more clearly shown in the photo.

Step 4: Soft

Fortunately, the software for this brain crafts free and open source. Everything you need is in the links below:

In and all that I wanted to tell you about my laser cutter / engraver. Thank you for attention!

good luck homemade!

In this article, we will look at how to assemble a laser engraver with your own hands. Of course, you can buy it on the Chinese market, but this way we will save money and in which case we can repair such a device.

If you want to work with metals, then the laser should be more than 80 watts, but we will collect a weaker version - 40 watts.

There are various laser tubes of this power on sale, their length is from 70 to 160 centimeters.

We will also need a 40 watt CO2 laser tube power supply.

Green control board.

Lenses for laser engraver and O-rings.

Stepper motors on the X and Y axes

Infrared interrupter board.

pressed aluminum profile size 30x30 mm.

The right amount of aluminum profile.

900 mm x 4 pcs. = 3600 mm.

730 mm x 4 pcs = 2920 mm.

610 mm x 2 pcs = 1220 mm.

500 mm x 8 pcs = 4000 mm.

470 mm x 2 pcs = 940 mm.

200 mm x 2 pcs = 400 mm.

170 mm x 2 pcs = 340 mm.

120 mm x 2 pcs = 240 mm.

90 mm x 2 pcs = 180 mm.

As a result, we will need 13840 mm of aluminum profile for our laser machine.

Also do not forget to buy bolts for fastening.

In order for our engraving machine to move, we will need wheels in the amount of 4 pieces, 20mm x 20mm x 640mm in size.

For X axis 640mm rail.

This is how the laser head will move along the Y axis

Laser engraving machine CNC 2418.
You can buy this laser engraving machine by clicking on the link. The price of such a machine is not high, but the possibilities are very ...

Chinese laser engraver
Before buying a Chinese desktop CO2 laser engraver, you need to determine its capabilities. When choosing a model...

Homemade laser engraver 40W (2H)
This is the second part of our article about a homemade laser engraver, the beginning is here. So we will fasten the belt. Also, we ...

Homemade laser engraver 40W (1H)
In this article, we will look at how to assemble a laser engraver with your own hands. Of course, you can buy it in the Chinese market, but so ...

Leather keychain
Today we will make a leather keychain. Well, as always, to begin with, we will draw its outlines using the program ...

Leather tags
Today we will make leather tags using a laser engraver. First of all, using the inkscape program, we will create a drawing ...

Paper laser cutting
In this article, we will look at how laser cutting paper works. Although a low-power laser is on a laser engraver, its ...

inkscape program.
The laser engraver comes with inkscape software. It is she who allows you to get Gcode for the gcode cut program from where we ...

gcode cut program
The big advantage of this laser engraver is the ability to work with g-code commands. This program allows...

The image engrave program (Part 2)
See the start here. Next in the image engrave program for a laser engraver is manual control. To be honest, I don't...

Add a comment Cancel reply

DIY laser engraver: materials, assembly, software installation

Many of those home craftsmen who in their workshop are engaged in the manufacture and decorative design products from wood and other materials, probably thought about how to make a laser engraver with your own hands. The presence of such equipment, the serial models of which are quite expensive, allows not only to apply the most complex patterns on the surface of the workpiece with high precision and detailing, but also to carry out laser cutting of various materials.

Homemade laser machine in the wood engraving process

A homemade laser engraver, which will cost significantly less than a mass-produced model, can be made even if you do not have in-depth knowledge of electronics and mechanics. The laser engraver of the proposed design is assembled on the Arduino hardware platform and has a power of 3 W, while for industrial models this parameter is at least 400 W. However, even such a low power allows you to use this device for cutting products from expanded polystyrene, cork sheets, plastic and cardboard, as well as perform high-quality laser engraving.

This engraver will cope with thin plastic

Necessary materials

In order to make your own laser engraver on Arduino, you will need the following: expendable materials, mechanisms and tools:

• hardware platform Arduino R3;
• Proto Board board equipped with a display;
• stepper motors, which can be used as electric motors from a printer or from a DVD player;
• a laser with a power of 3 W;
• laser cooling device;
• DC voltage regulator DC-DC;
• MOSFET transistor;
• electronic boards that control the laser engraver motors;
• limit switches;
• a case in which you can place all the structural elements of a home-made engraver;
• toothed belts and pulleys for their installation;
• ball bearings of various sizes;
• four wooden planks(two of them with dimensions of 135x10x2 cm, and the other two - 125x10x2 cm);
• four metal rods of circular cross section, the diameter of which is 10 mm;
• bolts, nuts and screws;
• lubricant;
• tie-clamps;
• a computer;
• drills of various diameters;
• a circular saw;
• sandpaper;
• vise;
• standard tool kit.

The largest investment will require the electronic part of the machine

The electrical part of a homemade laser engraver

The main element of the electrical circuit of the presented device is a laser emitter, the input of which must be supplied with a constant voltage with a value not exceeding the allowable parameters. If this requirement is not met, the laser may simply burn out. The laser emitter used in the engraving machine of the presented design is designed for a voltage of 5 V and a current not exceeding 2.4 A, so the DC-DC regulator must be adjusted for a current of 2 A and a voltage of up to 5 V.

Electrical diagram of the engraver

The MOSFET transistor, which is the most important element of the electrical part of the laser engraver, is necessary in order to turn the laser emitter on and off when receiving a signal from the Arduino controller. The electrical signal generated by the controller is very weak, so only the MOSFET transistor can perceive it, and then unlock and lock the laser power circuit. In the electrical circuit of the laser engraver, such a transistor is installed between the positive contact of the laser and the negative DC regulator.

The stepper motors of the laser engraver are connected through one electronic control board, which ensures their operation is synchronized. Thanks to this connection, the timing belts driven by multiple motors do not sag and maintain a stable tension during their operation, which ensures the quality and accuracy of the processing performed.

It should be borne in mind that the laser diode used in a homemade engraving machine should not overheat.

To do this, it is necessary to ensure its effective cooling. This problem is solved quite simply: a regular computer fan is installed next to the diode. To prevent overheating of the control boards for the operation of stepper motors, computer coolers are also placed next to them, since conventional radiators are not up to the task.

Photos of the electrical circuit assembly process

Photo-1 Photo-2 Photo-3
Photo-4 Photo-5 Photo-6

Assembly process

The self-made engraving machine of the proposed design is a shuttle type device, one of the moving elements of which is responsible for moving along the Y axis, and the other two, paired, for moving along the X axis. For the Z axis, which is also specified in the parameters of such a 3D printer, the depth to which the processed material is burned is taken. The depth of the holes in which the elements of the shuttle mechanism of the laser engraver are installed must be at least 12 mm.

Desktop Frame - Dimensions and Tolerances

Photo-1 Photo-2 Photo-3
Photo-4 Photo-5 Photo-6

Aluminum rods with a diameter of at least 10 mm can act as guide elements along which the working head of the laser engraving device will move. If it is not possible to find aluminum rods, steel guides of the same diameter can be used for these purposes. The need to use rods of precisely this diameter is explained by the fact that in this case the working head of the laser engraving device will not sag.

Making a movable carriage

Photo-1 Photo-2 Photo-3

The surface of the rods that will be used as guides for the laser engraving device must be cleaned of factory grease and carefully sanded to perfect smoothness. Then they should be applied with a white lithium-based lubricant, which will improve the sliding process.

Installation of stepper motors on the body of a homemade engraving device is carried out using brackets made of sheet metal. To make such a bracket, a sheet of metal approximately the width of the motor itself and twice the length of its base is bent at right angles. On the surface of such a bracket, where the base of the electric motor will be located, 6 holes are drilled, 4 of which are necessary for fixing the engine itself, and the other two - for attaching the bracket to the body using ordinary self-tapping screws.

To install a drive mechanism consisting of two pulleys, a washer and a bolt on the motor shaft, a piece of metal sheet of the appropriate size is also used. To mount such a unit, a U-shaped profile is formed from a metal sheet, in which holes are drilled for its attachment to the engraver body and for the output of the motor shaft. The pulleys on which the timing belts will be put on are mounted on the drive motor shaft and placed in the inner part of the U-shaped profile. Timing belts put on pulleys, which should drive the shuttles of the engraving device, are connected to their wooden bases using self-tapping screws.

Installation of stepper motors

Photo-1 Photo-2 Photo-3
Photo-4 Photo-5 Photo-6

Software installation

Your laser grower, who must work in automatic mode, you will need not only installation, but also configuration of special software. The most important element of such software is a program that allows you to create the contours of the desired pattern and convert them to an extension that is understandable to the controls of the laser engraver. Such a program is freely available, and it can be downloaded to your computer without any problems.

The program downloaded to the computer controlling the engraving device is unpacked from the archive and installed. In addition, you will need a contour library, as well as a program that will send data on the created drawing or inscription to the Arduino controller. Such a library (as well as a program for transferring data to the controller) can also be found in the public domain. In order for your laser homemade product to work correctly, and the engraving performed with its help to be of high quality, you will need to configure the controller itself to the parameters of the engraving device.

Features of using contours

If you have already figured out the question of how to make a manual laser engraver, then you need to clarify the question of the parameters of the contours that can be applied using such a device. Such contours, the inner part of which is not filled even if the original drawing is painted over, must be transferred to the engraver's controller as files not in pixel (jpeg), but in vector format. This means that the image or inscription applied to the surface of the workpiece using such an engraver will not consist of pixels, but of dots. Such images and inscriptions can be scaled in any way, focusing on the surface area on which they should be applied.

Using a laser engraver, almost any drawing and inscription can be applied to the surface of the workpiece, but for this their computer layouts must be converted into vector format. It is not difficult to perform such a procedure: for this, special programs Inkscape or Adobe Illustrator are used. A file that has already been converted to vector format must be converted again so that it can be correctly perceived by the engraving machine controller. For this conversion, the Inkscape Laserengraver program is used.

Final setup and preparation for work

Having made a laser engraving machine with your own hands and downloading the necessary software into its control computer, do not start work immediately: the equipment needs final adjustment and adjustment. What is this adjustment? First of all, you need to make sure that the maximum movements of the laser head of the machine along the X and Y axes match the values ​​obtained when converting the vector file. In addition, depending on the thickness of the material from which the workpiece is made, it is necessary to adjust the parameters of the current supplied to the laser head. This must be done in order not to burn through the product on the surface of which you want to engrave.

A very important and responsible process is the fine tuning (adjustment) of the laser head. Adjustment is needed in order to adjust the power and resolution of the beam produced by the laser head of your engraver. On expensive serial models of laser engraving machines, alignment is performed using an additional low-power laser installed in the main working head. However, in homemade engravers As a rule, inexpensive laser heads are used, so this method of fine tuning the beam is not suitable for them.

Test your homemade laser engraver first on simple drawings

Sufficiently high-quality adjustment of a homemade laser engraver can be performed using an LED removed from laser pointer. The wires of the LED are connected to a 3 V power source, and the LED itself is fixed at the working end of the standard laser. Alternately turning on and adjusting the position of the beams emanating from the test LED and the laser head, one achieves their alignment at one point. The convenience of using the LED from a laser pointer lies in the fact that alignment can be carried out with its help without the risk of harming both the hands and the eyes of the engraving machine operator.

The video shows the process of connecting the engraver to the computer, setting up the software and preparing the machine for work.

Nice things with your own hands

As a high school student with an engineering background, I was given the task of creating an independent project. I decided to design and make a laser engraver with my own hands. What came out of it, see for yourself.

With the help of the Invertor program, I created the design of the engraver, in the future, all the details that I later printed on a 3D printer.

This was my first time using a 3D printer and I was surprised at how well it worked. I used to think that 3D printing was useless, but it turned out not to be the case.

The metal rods serve as the y-axis while the entire structure slides along the x-axis. The metal bearings are lubricated with oil to reduce friction.

I made the heatsink for the laser by hand from aluminum and cooling fins from an old computer. This part contains the laser diode and slides along the y axis.

I purchased a 2W 440nM laser diode, and I also need a driver and a lens. The total cost was $100.

We install a stepper motor and a belt to move along the y axis.

Before fastening, make sure that the carriage slides smoothly along the x and y axis.

In this picture you can see the stepper motor responsible for moving along the x-axis. For simplicity of design, I used only 2 motors and 2 belts.

I wasn't sure if the belt and motor alone would be enough to move the x-axis, but luckily it was enough.

After connecting the motors to the Arduino controller, I checked the movement on each axis.

I tried to engrave the inscription "Hello World!".

The walls of the engraver are made of a white board, the holes were cut with a laser cutter. To extract smoke from the engraver case, I installed a computer fan.

The scheme is pretty formidable. In this picture, from left to right, the Arduino controller, voltage regulator, driver for the laser and stepper motor, power supply are connected.

This wooden platform covers the electronics and also serves as a stand for the material to be engraved on.

All that's left is a protective case to shield the user from harmful laser radiation.

The flip top is made of orange acrylic which is designed to block UV light. I have found that acrylic is capable of blocking the blue laser beam.

The finished engraver looks quite professional.

Laser engraver at work.

View the engraving process through the fan.

Here is the result compared to the original. The engraver works much better with solid colors.

The most successful engraving.

It is possible to cut out details from cork tree and paper, I think it will be useful when modeling planes, ships and the like. The cutting process takes place at lower speeds compared to engraving.

Ready gear. Thanks for attention!

DIY laser engraver - an affordable solution for the home workshop

Lasers have long been part of our everyday life. Tour guides use light pointers, builders set levels with the help of a beam. The ability of a laser to heat materials (up to thermal destruction) is used in cutting and decorative design.

One of the applications is laser engraving. On the various materials you can get subtle patterns with almost no restrictions on complexity.

Wooden surfaces are great for burning out. Engravings on plexiglass with illumination are especially appreciated.


A wide selection of engraving machines, mainly made in China, is on sale. The equipment is not too expensive, however, buying just for fun is impractical. It is much more interesting to make a laser engraver with your own hands.

It is only necessary to get a laser with a power of several W, and create a frame system of movement in two coordinate axes.

DIY laser engraving machine

The laser gun is not the most complex design element, and there are options. Depending on the tasks, you can choose a different power (respectively, the cost, up to a free purchase). Craftsmen from the Middle Kingdom offer different prefabricated structures, sometimes performed with high quality.


Such a 2W cannon can even cut plywood. The ability to focus at the required distance allows you to control both the width of the engraving and the depth of penetration (for 3D drawings).

The cost of such a device is about 5-6 thousand rubles. If high power is not needed, use a low-power laser from a DVD burner, which can be purchased for a penny on the radio market.

There are quite workable solutions, production will take one day off

How to remove the laser semiconductor from the drive does not need to be explained, if you know how to "do things" with your hands - this is not difficult. The main thing is to choose a durable and comfortable case. In addition, the "combat" laser, albeit low-power, requires cooling. In the case of a DVD drive, a passive heatsink is sufficient.

The body-handle can be made from two brass sleeves from a pistol. Spent cartridges from "TT" and "PM" will do. They have a slight difference in caliber, and fit perfectly with each other.

We drill out the capsules, and in place of one of them we install a laser diode. The brass sleeve will serve as an excellent radiator.


It remains to connect the 12 volt power supply, for example, from USB port your computer. There is enough power, in the computer the drive is powered by the same power supply. That's all, do-it-yourself laser engraving at home is practically from garbage.


If you need coordinate machine– you can fix the burning element on the finished positioning device.

A laser engraver from a printer with a dried ink head is a great way to bring a broken unit back to life.

A little bit of work with paper feed instead of paper (for flat plywood or metal plate, this is not a problem), and you have almost a factory engraver. Software may not be needed - the driver from the printer is used.

With the circuitry, you simply connect the ink supply signal to the input of the laser, and "print" on solid materials.

Homemade laser engraver for working with large areas

Any drawing for assembling the so-called KIT kits from the same Chinese friends is taken as a basis.


Finding an aluminum profile is not a problem, making carriages with wheels is also. A ready-made laser module is installed on one of them, the other pair of carriages will move the guide truss. The movement is set by stepper motors, the torque is transmitted using toothed belts.


It is better to assemble the structure inside some box, with active ventilation. The acrid smoke emitted during engraving is harmful to health. When used indoors, an outdoor hood is required.

Important! When operating a laser of this power, safety precautions must be observed.

Short-term exposure to human skin causes severe burns.

If you work with metal plates, the reflected glare of the beam can damage the retina of the eye. The best defense red plexiglass will serve. This will neutralize the blue laser beam and allow you to control the process in real time.


The control circuit is assembled on any programmable controller. The most popular are Arduino systems UNO, sold on the same Chinese electronics sites. The solution is inexpensive, but effective and almost universal.


The most common option is to connect to a personal computer. Drawing and engraving parameters are created using any standard graphic editor.

Important! Keep in mind that most controllers on Arduino base work only with vector images.

If your picture is raster, you should trace.

By connecting and programming a USB controller, you can output an engraving job directly from a digital media (flash drive), after creating a file on a computer.
Outcome:

The laser head engraving machine is so affordable that it can be purchased not only for commercial use, but also for personal use.

Making crafts for children, saving on promotional materials for your own company, designer items for your home - this is an incomplete list of the use of the machine.

A self-made installation will delight you with minimal costs.

Do-it-yourself laser engraver from a DVD drive - video instruction

The purpose of the project: the creation of a laser engraver of low power (presumably 5 watts) and from improvised means.

An example of such a project:

From improvised means it is supposed to use:

- guides from an inkjet printer. Epson R220 printer. Another scanner and another inkjet printer are on the way. So there should be enough motors, guides, harnesses, etc.

- motors and harnesses / belts are also from an inkjet printer.

- a metal base and other parts to create an engraver frame (something from computer cases, something from the remnants of printers / scanners).

— various radiators for cooling boards (in stock).

- coolers for cooling / exhaust, etc. (in stock).

- netbook with software for transferring images to the machine.

- power supply from a regular computer. There is also a cable from a laptop with a 12 volt / 5 amp power supply. Will the built-in power supply from the printer work?

- hamutiki, screws, bolts and other small trifles for fasteners.

From the purchased parts it is supposed to use:

- brains. Most likely Ardruino UNO with A3967 or TB6560 drivers (some advised me the TB6560 board, like there is better software (I don’t know)).

- laser. Maybe 5 watts per aliexpress or more if the design allows.

Project stage: collection of information and components.

Total for iron is necessary:

1. 2 (3?) motors from an inkjet printer with belts and guides.

2. 3 alloy profiles for X-axis design.

3. 4 profiles for base frame and Y-axis attachment.

4. 2 drivers A3967 or TB6560.

5. one Ardruino NANO or UNO board.

6. power supply from a computer or from a laptop (12v / 5a).

7. 3 cooling radiators - 2 for drivers, 1 for the board.

8. cable synchronization with a computer.

9. laser with cooling (radiator + cooler).

Need advice on motor power and how to make them easier to work with. Although if he moves the carriage with a whole set of ink briskly, then why can't he cope (along the X axis) with the laser and its radiator? Here the question is rather whether the engines will cope with the Y axis. Maybe it's better for Y to take the engines from the scanner? And in general, what power should the engines be (from and to) for normal movement along the axes?

I also need electrical advice. Do the “brains” I listed feed on 12 volts? Will they have enough power supply from the computer? Where will the laser power supply connect? Yes, there will be a lot of clarifications, for sure. The main post will be added / duplicated as the project progresses.

P.S. please do not write offtopic like "this will not take off." Does the engraver work on video? So someone took off.

P.S.S. I'll add along the way if I forgot something.

With such a pace sensible And very helpful advice and critics will have time to come up with another similar printer and scanner, and so there are already boards with other things, if you order them from China, but by Russian post.

Knowledge of electronics will allow you to compose a simple circuit yourself and more experience in soldering. If I knew everything about the engines, but about which ardruino would be better to install, then I would not even register here, because why would I need advice. Is it logical? There is no experience in ardruino and the like, because up to this point I did not see much point in them, because. most of the DIY projects were either quadcopters or dancing robots, which I'm not particularly interested in.

And now to the point:

1. "Not from but for." The essence of the project is just the opposite (well, this is so, I explain, for bad readers). Those. to prove in practice that something useful can be assembled from improvised old equipment. So exactly FROM and FOR!

2. If not ardruino, then what? Can you describe in more detail what to take in terms of filling?

3. Kits are different and Nema 17 sounds like “that chick over there, but not that one, but the one on the left.” Parts have their own designations, names, articles. The same Nema 17 is not one position, as I understand it. There are 0.6 amperes, and there are 1.7.

Everything that seemed to me necessary for an engraver, I described above and even asked to supplement the list if I missed something.

ABOUT! Invented! If the concept is so difficult to comprehend, then a complete list is possible (rails, guides, mute 17th, “brains”, harnesses, etc.). But only detailed list. If there is a link to such a topic, then you can also link. I will then throw out everything already available from this list and make a general price tag.

P.S. Yes. I forgot to take a picture of the PSU from the computer, but I hope everyone knows what it looks like. And about the size of the treated surface. Well, in theory, A4 would not be bad. I think that the scanner sets the size here.

3. And why is TB6560 better than A3967?

Find datasheets for both and compare - they google it right away, especially on the TB6560DRV2 it is in Russian, although I took these trifles, although I took them for experiments for children (I myself am a supporter of normal drivers, not cheap ones) because everything important is on the drivers themselves. At least the second ones have a working current only up to 750mA (a little more peak), while the first ones have up to 3 A, there is a difference in the maximum working power.

You didn't mention your level of knowledge. FROM low level understanding of electronics is not worth taking on this project.

Mentioned and accurately stated:

how many amps should they be in power

Absolutely zero if the power is in amps. So soon the path will be measured in liters. Although such a parameter as power is NOT a characteristic of stepper motors at all. The level of understanding of electronics is two meters below the plinth. Another writer, not a reader.

Arduino flop. Forever.

Far from being a fact - such as in the first post the video "devices" are made on an arduino, especially since there is software for them, and turnkey solutions, even here on the forum a similar thing was presented on the arduinka and even breathed, but again, the aFFtor is too lazy to look for - he is a writer. it's easier for him to ask.

Knowledge of electronics will allow you to compose a simple circuit yourself and more experience in soldering. If I knew everything about the engines, but about which ardruino would be better to install, then I would not even register here, because why would I need advice. Is it logical?

Well, yes - a consumer approach that is logical for today's youngsters: I'm itching, but here on the forum everyone is obliged to help me, otherwise why was it created, otherwise all the goats and so on and so forth, including the "revolution, blah", because I I'm too lazy to look for, and if I knew, then why would I need a forum, because I myself share knowledge - FIG. And in fact:

Why does everyone so sacredly believe that rays of bright knowledge should come from the old-timers, penetrating absolutely black heads through and through? And to reproach everyone that “an amateur is beaten” is a situation considered in the immortal work of Ilf and Petrov. And it's not about boredom, or the notorious trolling. The point is in every questioner. Moreover, notice. from many “trolls” gloating here, answers that cost MONEY very regularly slip through. Read the forum carefully. There are very, very competent thoughts on the organization and on methods, methods, repairs, equipment. one shit, but someone understands the irony. So these are also internal problems of readers. Therefore, there is no need to make a resentment and climb into someone else's monastery with your charter.

I would recommend you read this first. or a more complete series of articles by this author “One step, two steps. “, but there are “many letters”. Then after that questions on steppers and their drivers will not be so stupid, but if you understand the article / articles, they will become to the point.

motors and harnesses / belts are also from an inkjet printer.

From what is right here and now there is a printer:

And in the photo, the Epson photo R220, which has NOT a stepper on the carriage drive, but a collector motor, which, in conjunction with the encoder ribbon, works in server mode (photo of the engine here) - googled in flight.

So you are even the type of engine by appearance you can't recognize. which confirms the qualification in radio engineering.

Such an engine past the checkout. those.:

Those. to prove in practice that something useful can be assembled from improvised old equipment. So what exactly is FROM and FOR

in your case, it does NOT work, well, unless the engine from the pump turns out to be a stepper, even less likely - the engine for pulling the material. It was very old printers with a print speed of no more than 4 sheets per minute that had steppers (for example, the ancient Epson Photopaint 800, which was produced in the late 90s - everything is on steppers). And in general, in order to make such projects in the style of “make candy out of shit - I picked everything up from a landfill”, you need to have knowledge at the level of a serviceman of such equipment, then you know which engines will work, and ready-made modules from boards with drivers for these engines can be use and all that, but NOT with a complete lack of knowledge, which you have already confirmed many times in your posts.

ABOUT! Invented! If the concept is so difficult to comprehend, then a complete list is possible (rails, guides, mute 17th, “brains”, harnesses, etc.). But only a detailed list. If there is a link to such a topic, then you can also link. I will then throw out everything already available from this list and make a general price tag.

Or maybe, in addition to the list, you can also adjust the drawings for assembly? And can immediately make a complete detailing and Assembly drawing with firmware? Or should I send you the assembled sample right away? and then you will do a heroic deed and throw out everything that is not necessary for this from the list you have compiled.

Mdaaa. Super design. Although I was pleased that you write competently, otherwise, usually, topics with similar megaprojects are created by figures who make up to five mistakes in a word. So, if you understand my epistolary quirks, you have a chance, at least to find and read enough literature for the real implementation of such a project, but it will take a lot of hard searching and serious work, and correctly formulated questions can be answered in essence, but don't do everything for you. And about sculpting from shit and sticks, it makes sense to read “this project” and “this one”, then it will become clear why there is such an attitude towards projectors. And why for such projects they started the section “The circus left here“.

So, I made an introduction for the project. I recommend that you find here on the forum a topic with a similar in meaning already made project of such an engraver and study, and, for starters, read the above recommended article by Ridiko, so to start a dialogue. Well, wish you luck.

If I knew everything about the engines, but about which ardruino would be better to install, then I would not even register here, because why would I need advice.

I didn’t work with arduino, BUT if I needed to get information on this circuitry, I would register on sites about arduino. Yes, and to read, get advice, you do not need to register.

I looked at the photo. thought a lot.

Here's what I thought:

- The guides are flimsy and short (the working field of A4 format is not that)

With such details, I would not aim at a laser printer (well, it won’t be interesting), but you can try a 3De printer. pile.

Not more than 3-4 months ago. here one comrade reported on his work. also built lasers. if you didn’t lie for sale, and spanked not even bad ones. The design is very simple - Spartan. but functional. So what am I. If I'm not mistaken, he also used arduino. Most importantly, no fuss with soldering-resoldering. everything is on the slats and clips. (a little welding-frame).

I don’t know how ethical it will be to roll out someone else’s work for obvious plagiarism in the future, but if I already posted it for general viewing. so that was an option. I'll rummage around right now. If I find it, I'll poke my finger (nose).

found. read see. simpler. like nowhere else.

The same project, moreover, a working one.

Gentlemen, I'm collecting cnc from scanners. everything works, but there is a problem.

there are several stepper motors from the scanner. regular tablet. motor thickness 7-9mm, diameter 35mm.

I collect something like a plotter.
I connect to CNC v3 + A4988 + arduino uno. 12 volts for cnc v3 12V is the minimum.

motors get very hot. I tried to adjust the current A4988 to a minimum. motors squeal, still warm.

what to do? I ask for help.
I couldn't find engine specs. can you tell me? at least approximately.
can these A4988 drivers be used for such motors?
What is the easiest way to solve the problem of overheating of engines? otherwise I'm sure they will melt after an hour of work%)

motor thickness 7-9mm, diameter 35mm.

IMHO: bullshit engines. only make nanorobots.

similar (in appearance) like in cheap cassette players stood.

Well, honestly. even just to play - too small

motors squeal, still warm.

as long as I remember. 80 degrees is normal for a stepper. to grab by hand, it seems to be boiling. but no.

when using the gearbox included in the motor, a simple laser module moves normally. without skipping steps.

Probably 5 volts is enough for them. I made this assumption from the fact that some scanners simply work from usb.

I'll try to leave it for a couple of hours at work.

but still, there are ideas to use for other purposes also 3-5 volts bipolar engines:

How and what to manage. maybe directly from the arduino? please help with schematic if possible

Gentlemen, I'm collecting cnc from scanners. everything works, but there is a problem. there are several stepper motors from the scanner. regular tablet. motor thickness 7-9mm, diameter 35mm.

Another project of assembling a "supermegadrive" from what is worn in the trash. If you really want to know the parameters of the engine, then take and restore its power circuit in the scanner, and then, based on the datasheet of its power driver, calculate the operating current.

Everyone has probably already heard that a semiconductor laser can be obtained from a DVD writer and used to light matches and burn thin paper.

But the author of this video went further and made quite such a handy tool for engraving on organic surfaces. And this idea immediately played out in a different way. It should be noted that the video instruction for making a laser engraver is very detailed. The author explains in detail all the steps and why, what is needed. The only thing the author did not say is that even with such a low-power laser it is worth handling very carefully and avoiding even a beam reflected from any surface into the eyes. Otherwise, you can seriously damage your eyes. There is a way to increase the power of the laser. You just need to use several semiconductor lasers and focus their beams to one point. But this will seriously complicate the design and require a more powerful power source.

• What can be done with old circular saw blades? That's right, a knife. (0)
  Very useful project with a detailed video of the process of making a knife from the canvas of old circular discs. Here are all the steps […]
• Circular saw with your own hands. Sawing table. (0)
  For beginners. Everyone can make such a machine with their own hands. Surprisingly simple and intelligible. And we literally need one old Soviet […]
• What can be done with an old DVD player? Smart charging for smartphones, for example. (0)
  How time flies. Already DVD video players are becoming obsolete and there is nowhere to put them. From the next outgoing nature, you can still do a lot of useful […]
• Where to get neodymium magnets inexpensively, and sometimes completely free. (0)
  Perhaps you, like me, needed a neodymium magnet. Don't rush to buy it. There are several places where you can get them for free. […]

Sometimes it is necessary to beautifully sign a gift, but it is not clear how to do it. The paint spreads and quickly wears off, the marker is not an option. Engraving works best for this. You don’t even have to spend money on it, since anyone who knows how to solder can make a laser engraver with their own hands from a printer.

Device and principle of operation

The main element of the engraver is a semiconductor laser. It emits a focused and very bright beam of light that burns through the material being processed. By adjusting the radiation power, you can change the depth and speed of burning.

The basis of the laser diode is a semiconductor crystal, above and below which are P and N regions. Electrodes are connected to them, through which current is supplied. Between these areas is a P - N junction.

Compared to an ordinary laser diode, it looks like a giant: its crystal can be examined in detail with the naked eye.

The values ​​can be deciphered as follows:

1. P (positive) area.
2. P - N transition.
3. N (negative) area.

The ends of the crystal are polished to perfection, so it works like an optical resonator. Electrons flowing from the positively charged region to the negative region excite photons in the P-N transition. Reflecting from the walls of the crystal, each photon generates two similar ones, which, in turn, also divide, and so on ad infinitum. The chain reaction that occurs in a semiconductor laser crystal is called the pumping process. The more energy is fed into the crystal, the more of it is pumped into the laser beam. In theory, you can saturate it indefinitely, but in practice everything is different.

During operation, the diode heats up, and it has to be cooled. If you constantly increase the power supplied to the crystal, sooner or later the moment will come when the cooling system can no longer cope with heat removal and the diode will burn out.

The power of laser diodes usually does not exceed 50 watts. When this value is exceeded, it becomes difficult to effective system cooling, so high-power diodes are extremely expensive to manufacture.

There are semiconductor lasers with 10 or more kilowatts, but they are all composite. Their optical resonator is pumped with low-power diodes, the number of which can reach several hundred.

Composite lasers are not used in engravers, as their power is too high.

Creating a laser engraver

For simple jobs, like burning patterns on a tree, complex and expensive devices are not needed. A homemade laser engraver powered by a battery will suffice.

Before making an engraver, you need to prepare the following parts for its assembly:

Remove the write head from the DVD drive.

Carefully remove the focusing lens and disassemble the head housing until you see 2 lasers hidden in heat-distributing shrouds.

One of them is infrared, for reading information from a disk. The second, red, is the writer. In order to distinguish them, apply a voltage of 3 volts to their terminals.

Pinout:

Before checking, be sure to put on dark glasses. Never check the laser by looking at the diode window. You need to look only at the reflection of the beam.

It is necessary to select the laser that lit up. The rest can be thrown away if you do not know where to apply it. To protect against static, solder all the leads of the diode together and set it aside. Saw off a 15 cm piece from the profile. Drill a hole in it for the tact button. Make cutouts in the box for the profile, charging socket and switch.

The schematic diagram of a do-it-yourself DVD laser engraver is as follows:

Tin the contact pads on the charge control board and holder:

Using wires to the B+ and B- pins of the charge controller, solder the battery compartment. Contacts + and - go to the socket, the remaining 2 - to the laser diode. First, solder the laser power supply circuit by surface mounting and insulate it well with adhesive tape.

Make sure that the conclusions of the radio components are not shorted to each other. Solder a laser diode and a button to the power circuit. Place the assembled device in the profile and glue the laser with thermally conductive glue. Attach the rest of the pieces with double sided tape. Install the pushbutton in its place.

Insert the profile into the box, bring out the wires and secure it with hot glue. Solder the switch and install it. Follow the same procedure for the charging socket. Use a heat gun to glue the battery compartment and charge controller into place. Insert the battery into the holder and close the box with a lid.

Before use, you need to set up the laser. To do this, place a piece of paper 10 centimeters away from it, which will be the target for the laser beam. Place the focusing lens in front of the diode. Moving it away and bringing it closer, achieve a target burn. Glue the lens to the profile in the place where the greatest effect has been achieved.

The assembled engraver is perfect for small jobs and recreational purposes like lighting matches and burning balloons.

Remember that the engraver is not a toy and should not be given to children. The laser beam, if it enters the eyes, causes irreversible effects, so keep the device out of the reach of children.

CNC tool manufacturing

With large volumes of work, a conventional engraver will not cope with the load. If you are going to use it often and a lot, you will need a CNC device.

Assembling the interior

Even at home, you can make a laser engraver. To do this, stepper motors and guides must be removed from the printer. They will drive the laser.

The complete list of required parts is as follows:

Wiring diagram for all components:

View from above:

Explanation of designations:

1. Semiconductor laser with heatsink.
2. Carriage.
3. X axis guides.
4. Pressure rollers.
5. Stepper motor.
6. Leading gear.
7. Toothed belt.
8. Guide fasteners.
9. Gears.
10. Stepper motors.
11. Base made of sheet metal.
12. Y axis guides.
13. X axis carriages.
14. toothed belts.
15. Mounting supports.
16. Limit switches.

Measure the length of the guides and divide them into two groups. The first one will have 4 short ones, the second one will have 2 long ones. Guides from the same group must be the same length.

Add 10 centimeters to the length of each group of guides and cut the base according to the dimensions obtained. Bend from scraps U-shaped supports for fasteners and weld them to the base. Mark and drill holes for the bolts.

Drill a hole in the heatsink and glue the laser into it using thermally conductive glue. Solder wires and a transistor to it. Bolt the radiator to the carriage.

Install the rail mounts on the two supports and fix them with bolts. Insert the Y-axis guides into the mounts, put the X-axis carriages on their free ends. Insert the remaining guides with the laser head mounted on them into them. Put the fasteners on the Y-axis guides and screw them to the supports.

Drill holes in the mounting points of the electric motors and gear axles. Install the stepper motors in their places and put the drive gears on their shafts. Insert the axles pre-cut from the metal rod into the holes and fix them with epoxy glue. After it hardens, put on the gear axles and pressure rollers with bearings inserted into them.

Install the timing belts as shown in the diagram. Pull them tight before attaching. Check the mobility of the X-axis and the laser head. They should move with little effort, rotating all the rollers and gears through the belts.

Connect the wires to the laser, motors and limit switches and tighten them with cable ties. Lay the resulting bundles in movable cable channels and fix them on the carriages.

Bring the ends of the wires out.

Case manufacturing

Drill holes in the base for the corners. Step back from its edges 2 centimeters and draw a rectangle.

Its width and length repeats the dimensions of the future case. The height of the case must be such that all internal mechanisms fit into it.

Explanation of designations:

1. Loops.
2. Tact button (start/stop).
3. Arduino power switch.
4. Laser switch.
5. 2.1 x 5.5 mm jack for 5V power supply.
6. Protective box for DC-DC inverter.
7. Wires.
8. Arduino protective box.
9. Body fasteners.
10. corners.
11. Base.
12. Feet made of non-slip material.
13. Lid.

Cut out all the body parts from plywood and fasten them with corners. Use the hinges to attach the cover to the case and screw it to the base. Cut a hole in the front wall and push the wires through it.

assemble from plywood protective covers and cut holes in them for the button, switches and sockets. Place the Arduino in the case so that the USB connector lines up with the hole provided for it. Set the DC-DC converter to 3V at 2A. Attach it to the housing.

Replace the button, power socket, switches and solder wiring diagram engraver together. After soldering all the wires, install the casings on the body and screw them with self-tapping screws. For the engraver to work, you need to upload the firmware to the Arduino.

After the firmware, turn on the engraver and press the "Start" button. Leave the laser off. Pressing the button will start the calibration process, during which the microcontroller will measure and store the length of all axes and determine the position of the laser head. After its completion, the engraver will be completely ready for work.

Before you start working with the engraver, you need to convert the images into a format that the Arduino understands. This can be done using the Inkscape Laserengraver program. Move the selected image into it and click on Convert. Send the resulting file via cable to the Arduino and start the printing process by turning on the laser before that.

Such an engraver can only process objects consisting of organic matter: wood, plastic, fabrics, paint and varnish coatings and others. Metals, glass and ceramics cannot be engraved on it.

Never turn on the engraver with the lid open. The laser beam, getting into the eyes, concentrates on the retina, damaging it. Reflex closure of the eyelids will not save you - the laser will have time to burn out a section of the retina even before they slam shut. In this case, you may not feel anything, but over time, the retina will begin to peel off, which can lead to complete or partial loss of vision.

If you catch a laser "bunny", contact an ophthalmologist as soon as possible - this will help to avoid serious problems further.