Good time everyone!
In this post I want to share with you the process of creating a laser engraver based on a diode laser from China.
Several years ago, there was a desire to acquire ready-made version engraver from Aliexpress with a budget of 15 thousand, but after long searches I came to the conclusion that all the options presented are too simple and, in fact, are toys. And I wanted something desktop and at the same time quite serious. After a month of research, it was decided to make this device with our own hands, and rushed ...
At that moment, I still did not have a 3D printer and experience in 3D modeling, but everything was in order with drawing)
Here's actually one of those ready-made engravers from China.
After looking at the options possible designs mechanics, the first sketches of the future machine were made on a piece of paper ..))
It was decided that the engraving area should be at least A3 sheet.
The laser module itself was one of the first to buy. 2W power, as it was the most the best option for a reasonable price.
Here is the actual laser module itself.
And so, it was decided that the X-axis would go along the Y-axis and its design began. It all started with a carriage ...
The entire frame of the machine was made of aluminum profiles different shapes bought in Leroy.
At this stage, sketches on notebook papers did not appear anymore, everything was drawn and invented in the Compass.
Having bought 2 meters square profile 40x40 mm to build the machine frame, in the end, only the carriage itself was made from it ..))
Motors, linear bearings, belts, shafts and all electronics were ordered from Aliexpress during development and plans for how the motors would be mounted and what kind of control board would be changed on the fly.
After a few days of drawing, a more or less clear version of the design of the machine was determined in the Compass.
And now the X-axis was born ..))
Y-axis sides (sorry for the quality of the photo).
Fitting.
And finally the first launch!
A simple 3D model was built general view machine, in order to already accurately determine its appearance and dimensions.
And away we go ... Plexiglas ... Painting, wiring and other little things.
And finally, when everything was adjusted and the last part was painted black, the finish line came!
Now some beautiful photos))
Our ancestors were engaged in stone processing in ancient times. This culture has survived to this day, but only working with this material has become much easier and more convenient, thanks to innovations and modern machines. A laser desktop stone engraver makes work easier and allows you to make clear drawings on any kind of stone.
A laser machine is a convenient and quick way apply any image on a stone, thanks to which you can make a pattern of any complexity, even those that you cannot create with your own hands. With the help of an engraving printer, you can start your own profitable business. But how much does such a machine cost, and which models are popular?
Stone Engraving Machine
Today many companies produce good quality laser machines... Each of them has its own pros and cons. The table describes the models the best manufacturers and prices.
These are the most popular models that allow you to start your own stone engraving service business. But not everyone has the opportunity to immediately purchase such equipment, in this case, you can start your own business with a machine made by yourself. A laser engraver made from a do-it-yourself printer is The best way start a business with minimal investment.
How to make an engraver from a printer?
Making an engraving machine from an old printer is a snap. detailed instructions will help you figure it out. But first you need to prepare all the necessary details:
- 3 studs from a hardware store;
- aluminum U-profile;
- 2 bearings;
- a piece of plexiglass;
- regular size and long nuts;
- 3 stepper motors, can be borrowed from an old printer.
Also, in addition to this, you need to have such tools at hand: a hacksaw, a drill, a jigsaw, bolts, screws, screwdrivers and other tools. The only thing that needs to be done outside the house is to weld the base for the machine, although it can also be made on a bolt mount. Instructions on how to make laser printer at home with your own hands, described in the table below.
| P / p No. | Machine manufacturing steps |
| 1. | The manufacture of the machine begins with the fastening of the lead screw and the profile. The latter is used as a kind of sled. |
| The bearings are fixed with heat shrink, and soft plastic is perfect for constricting - a regular paper folder. TO lead screw attach a plate in the shape of the letter "P" with a bolt, it is necessary for fixing the plane of the X axis. | |
| The motor on the X-axis is attached with pieces of studs. The axle is fixed with an adapter and a piece of rubber hose. It is screwed onto the running axle on one side, and the other end is fixed in the adapter. | |
| 4. | It is also very convenient and easy to attach the motor to the frame. |
| 5. | The platform is made of plexiglass, on which it is imperative to put a limiter made of a profile and a pressure roller. The platform should be the size of the working area of the machine. |
| 6. | The Y-axis is assembled identically to the X-axis, the only difference is the motor mount, it needs to be attached to the X-axis. |
| Correctly assembling the Y-axis is not difficult, because it almost repeats all the contours of the X-axis, but only the pressure rollers must be fixed in front. The do-it-yourself engraving machine in this model can be an ordinary household dremel. You can attach it with plexiglass. |
So the do-it-yourself laser desktop engraving machine is ready. Now it only remains to connect it using the limit switches. This homemade device allows you to carry out stone carving at home, but does not make it possible to cut it.
What stones can be engraved on?
Not every stone lends itself to processing engraving machine, dark colors are best for engraving. natural materials, such as the:
- granite;
- marble;
- white marble.
The engraving on snow-white marble looks especially beautiful, since the machine is capable of producing a continuous white-stone inscription or pattern with it, as a result it turns out very beautifully. Laser engraving can be compared to glass matting. Indeed, with the help of such a machine, it will not be possible to make a deep inscription, since the beam is able to melt the material, and in the end result the work is almost invisible. The best effect from the machine is obtained on surfaces in shades of gray.
But as soon as you manage to make money on good machine, it is worth buying it if there is a prospect to continue working in this area. Professional machines allow you to create an image quickly, accurately and accurately, this even applies the smallest details... Thanks to the laser engraver professional level it is possible to achieve excellent similarity with the photographic source. Professional machine, even a desktop one, is capable of applying an inscription of any font and size, so it is convenient and practical.
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Start your own business with homemade engraver convenient and inexpensive, but in the future, in order to satisfy all the needs and desires of your customers, you will still have to purchase modern model engraver, albeit inexpensive... Thus, your business will flourish in short time will pay off. Having learned how to create masterpieces on stone with your own hands, you will make yourself a good fame, and clients will come to you with orders.
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Good day, brain engineers! Today I will share with you a guide on how how to do laser cutter with a power of 3W and a work table 1.2x1.2 meters under the control of an Arduino microcontroller.
This brainwashing born to create coffee table in the style of "pixel art". It was necessary to cut the material into cubes, but it is difficult by hand, and very expensive through an online service. Then this 3-wadded cutter / engraver appeared for thin materials, I will clarify that industrial cutters have a minimum power of about 400 watts. That is, light materials such as expanded polystyrene, cork sheets, plastic or cardboard, this cutter overpowers, but thicker and denser materials only engrave.
Step 1: Materials
Arduino R3
Proto Board - board with display
stepper motors
3-watt laser
cooling for laser
power unit
DC-DC regulator
MOSFET transistor
motor control boards
Limit switches
case (large enough to hold almost all of the details in the list)
timing belts
ball bearings 10mm
pulleys for timing belts
ball bearings
2 boards 135x 10x2 cm
2 boards 125x10x2 cm
4 smooth rods with a diameter of 1cm
various bolts and nuts
screws 3.8cm
grease
cable ties
computer
a circular saw
screwdriver
various drills
sandpaper
vice
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 start from the same 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 necessary for quality workcrafts.
Laser power: When adjusting the DC-DC regulator, make sure the laser is supplied with a constant voltage not exceeding specifications laser, otherwise you will simply burn it. My laser is rated for 5V and 2.4A, so the regulator is set to 2A and the voltage is slightly below 5V.
MOSFET transistor: it is important detail given brainwashing, 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 turn off or unlock the laser power circuit, other transistors simply do not react to such a low-current signal. The MOSFET is mounted between the laser and ground from the DC regulator.
Cooling down: when creating your own laser cutter I am faced with 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 the coolers next to the motor control boards, as they also heat up decently even if the cutter is not working, but simply turned on.
Step 3: assembly
The attached files contain a 3D model of the 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 paired shuttle responsible for the X-axis.The Z-axis is not needed, since this is not a 3D printer, but instead the laser will alternately turn on and off, 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, steel is easier to get), rather large in diameter of 1 cm, but this rod thickness will avoid sagging. The factory grease has been removed from the rods, and the rods themselves are carefully ground 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 sliding.
Belts and Stepper Motors: For the installation of stepper motors and timing belts, I used conventional tools and materials that came to hand. The motors and ball bearings are mounted first, and then the belts themselves. As a bracket for the engines, a sheet of metal was used approximately the same width and twice as long as the engine itself. 4 holes drilled in this sheet for attaching to the engine and two for attaching to 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 installed in a similar way, consisting of a bolt, two ball bearings, a washer and sheet metal... A hole is drilled in the center of this sheet, with which it is attached to the body, then the sheet is bent 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 motor-bearing pair obtained in this way, which is attached to wooden base shuttle with an ordinary self-tapping screw. This process is more clearly shown in the photo.
Step 4: software
Fortunately software for this brainwashing free and open source. Everything you need is on the links below:
In and all that I wanted to tell you about my laser cutter / engraver. Thank you for attention!
Successful homemade!
Attention! Be careful when using lasers. The laser used in this machine can cause damage to eyesight and possibly blindness. When working with powerful lasers, more than 5 mW, always wear a pair of safety glasses designed to block the laser wavelength.
A laser engraver on Arduino is a device whose role is to engrave wood and other materials. Over the past 5 years, laser diodes have moved forward, which made it possible to make sufficiently powerful engravers without much difficulty in controlling laser tubes.
Carefully engrave other materials. So, for example, when using plastic in work with a laser device, smoke will appear, which contains hazardous gases during combustion.
In this lesson I will try to give a direction of thought, and over time we will create a more detailed lesson on the implementation of this difficult device.
To begin with, I propose to see how the whole process of creating an engraver looked like with one radio amateur:
Strong stepper motors also require drivers to make the most of them. In this project, a special stepper driver is taken for each motor.
Below are some details of the selected components:
- Stepper motor - 2 pieces.
- Frame size - NEMA 23.
- Torque 1.8 Nm @ 255 oz.
- 200 steps / revolutions - for 1 step 1.8 degrees.
- Current - up to 3.0 A.
- Weight - 1.05 kg.
- Bipolar 4-wire connection.
- Stepper driver - 2 pieces.
- Digital stepping drive.
- Chip.
- Output current - 0.5 A to 5.6 A.
- Output current limiter - reduces the risk of motors overheating.
- Control signals: inputs Step and Direction.
- Pulse input frequency - up to 200 kHz.
- Supply voltage - 20 V - 50 V DC.
For each axis, the motor directly drives the ball screw through the motor connector. The motors are frame mounted using two aluminum corners and an aluminum plate. The aluminum corners and plate are 3mm thick and strong enough to support the engine (1kg) without kinking.
Important! It is necessary to correctly align the motor shaft and the ball screw. The connectors that are used have some flexibility to compensate for minor errors, but if the alignment error is too large, they won't work!
Another process of creating this device can be seen in the video:
2. Materials and tools
Below is a table with the materials and tools required for the Arduino laser engraver project.
| Paragraph | The supplier | Quantity |
| NEMA 23 stepper motor + driver | eBay (Seller: primopal_motor) | 2 |
| 16mm diameter, 5mm pitch, 400mm long ball screw (Taiwanese) | eBay (seller: silvers-123) | 2 |
| 16mm BK12 support with ball screw (drive end) | eBay (seller: silvers-123) | 2 |
| 16mm BF12 Ball Screw Support (no driven end) | eBay (seller: silvers-123) | 2 |
| 16 shaft 500 mm long | (seller: silvers-123) | 4 |
| (SK16) 16 shaft support (SK16) | (seller: silvers-123) | 8 |
| 16 linear bearing (SC16LUU) | eBay (seller: silvers-123) | 4 |
| eBay (seller: silvers-123) | 2 | |
| Shaft holder 12 mm (SK12) | (seller: silvers-123) | 2 |
| A4 size 4.5mm clear acrylic sheet | eBay (seller: acrylicsonline) | 4 |
| Aluminum Flat Rod 100mm x 300mm x 3mm | eBay (Seller: willymetals) | 3 |
| 50mm x 50mm 2.1m Aluminum Fence | Any theme store | 3 |
| Aluminum Flat Bar | Any theme store | 1 |
| Aluminum corner | Any theme store | 1 |
| Aluminum corner 25mm x 25mm x 1m x 1.4mm | Any theme store | 1 |
| M5 head screws (various lengths) | boltsnutsscrewsonline.com | |
| M5 nuts | boltsnutsscrewsonline.com | |
| M5 washers | boltsnutsscrewsonline.com |
3. Development of the base and axes
The machine uses ball screws and linear bearings to control the position and movement of the X and Y axes.
Features of ball screws and machine accessories:
- 16mm ball screw, length is 400mm-462mm including machined ends;
- step - 5 mm;
- C7 accuracy rating;
- BK12 / BF12 ball bearings.
Since the ball nut consists of ball bearings rolling in a track against a very low friction ball screw, which means motors can run at higher speeds without stopping.
The rotational orientation of the ball nut is blocked by an aluminum element. The base plate is attached to two linear bearings and to a ball nut through an aluminum corner. Rotation of the Ballscrew shaft drives the base plate in linear motion.
4. Electronic component
The laser diode of choice is a 1.5 W, 445 nm diode mounted in a 12 mm housing with a focusable glass lens. These can be found, pre-assembled, on eBay. Since it is a 445nm laser, the light it produces is visible blue light.
The laser diode requires a heat sink when working on high levels power. The engraver is designed with two 12mm SK12 aluminum supports for both mounting and cooling the laser module.
The output intensity of the laser depends on the current that flows through it. A diode by itself cannot regulate current, and if connected directly to a power source, it will increase current until it collapses. Thus, an adjustable current circuit is required to protect the laser diode and control its brightness.
Another version of the connection diagram of the microcontroller and electronic parts:
5. Software
Arduino sketch interprets each block of commands. There are several commands:
1 - Move RIGHT one pixel FAST (blank pixel).
2 - move RIGHT one pixel SLOW (burnt pixel).
3 - move LEFT one pixel FAST (empty pixel).
4 - move LEFT one pixel SLOW (burnt pixel).
5 - move up one pixel FAST (empty pixel).
6 - move UP one pixel SLOW (burnt pixel).
7 - move DOWN by one pixel FAST (blank pixel).
8 - move DOWN by one pixel SLOW (burnt pixel).
9 - turn on the laser.
0 - turn off the laser.
r - return the axes to their original position.
With each symbol, the Arduino triggers the corresponding function to write to the output pins.
Arduino controls engine speed across delays between step pulses... Ideally, the machine will start its motors at the same speed, whether it engraves its image or misses a blank pixel. However, due to the limited power of the laser diode, the machine needs a little slow down at pixel recording... This is why there is two speeds for each direction in the list of command symbols above.
Sketch of 3 programs for laser arduino engraver below:
/ * Stepper motor control program * / // constants won "t change. Used here to set pin numbers: const int ledPin = 13; // the number of the LED pin const int OFF = 0; const int ON = 1; const int XmotorDIR = 5; const int XmotorPULSE = 2; const int YmotorDIR = 6; const int YmotorPULSE = 3; // half step delay for blank pixels - multiply by 8 (<8ms)
const unsigned int shortdelay = 936;
//half step delay for burnt pixels - multiply by 8 (<18ms)
const unsigned int longdelay = 2125;
//Scale factor
//Motor driver uses 200 steps per revolution
//Ballscrew pitch is 5mm. 200 steps/5mm, 1 step = 0.025mm
//const int scalefactor = 4; //full step
const int scalefactor = 8; //half step
const int LASER = 51;
// Variables that will change:
int ledState = LOW; // ledState used to set the LED
int counter = 0;
int a = 0;
int initialmode = 0;
int lasermode = 0;
long xpositioncount = 0;
long ypositioncount = 0;
//***********************************************************************************************************
//Initialisation Function
//***********************************************************************************************************
void setup()
{
// set the digital pin as output:
pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
pinMode(LASER, OUTPUT);
for (a = 2; a <8; a++){
pinMode(a, OUTPUT);
}
a = 0;
setinitialmode();
digitalWrite (ledPin, ON);
delay(2000);
digitalWrite (ledPin, OFF);
// Turn the Serial Protocol ON
Serial.begin(9600);
}
//************************************************************************************************************
//Main loop
//************************************************************************************************************
void loop()
{
byte byteRead;
if (Serial.available()) {
/* read the most recent byte */
byteRead = Serial.read();
//You have to subtract "0" from the read Byte to convert from text to a number.
if (byteRead!="r"){
byteRead=byteRead-"0";
}
//Move motors
if(byteRead==1){
//Move right FAST
fastright();
}
if(byteRead==2){
//Move right SLOW
slowright();
}
if(byteRead==3){
//Move left FAST
fastleft();
}
if(byteRead==4){
//Move left SLOW
slowleft();
}
if(byteRead==5){
//Move up FAST
fastup();
}
if(byteRead==6){
//Move up SLOW
slowup();
}
if(byteRead==7){
//Move down FAST
fastdown();
}
if(byteRead==8){
//Move down SLOW
slowdown();
}
if(byteRead==9){
digitalWrite (LASER, ON);
}
if(byteRead==0){
digitalWrite (LASER, OFF);
}
if (byteRead=="r"){
//reset position
xresetposition();
yresetposition();
delay(1000);
}
}
}
//************************************************************************************************************
//Set initial mode
//************************************************************************************************************
void setinitialmode()
{
if (initialmode == 0){
digitalWrite (XmotorDIR, OFF);
digitalWrite (XmotorPULSE, OFF);
digitalWrite (YmotorDIR, OFF);
digitalWrite (YmotorPULSE, OFF);
digitalWrite (ledPin, OFF);
initialmode = 1;
}
}
//************************************************************************************************************
// Main Motor functions
//************************************************************************************************************
void fastright()
{
for (a=0; a
6. Launch and setup
Arduino represents a brain for a machine. It outputs the step and direction signals for the stepper drivers and the laser enable signal for the laser driver. In the current project, only 5 output contacts are required to control the machine. It is important to remember that the bases for all components must be related to each other.
7. Functional check
This circuit requires at least 10 VDC power, and has a simple on / off input that is provided by the Arduino. The LM317T microcircuit is a linear voltage regulator that is configured like a current regulator. A potentiometer is included in the circuit to adjust the regulated current.