With Russ Sadler
In this Series of Fiber Laser Tutorial Videos. Lotus Laser have lent Russ a MOPA 20 watt fiber laser engraver to “play with”. Although Russ has a moderate understanding of laser technology (his words) and how constant power glass tube systems work. Pulsing fiber laser marking machines are shrouded in a deeper mystery than the glass tube machines.
They have been designed for high speed marking and the technology has been well tried and proven. There are limited “tricks” that the pulsing laser technology can perform. You enter predefined parameters for each marking “trick” you wish the machine to deliver , then stand back in amazement.
Most correspondents tell Russ that they have bought their machine direct from China and received a machine and EZCAD software, preloaded with a few default parameters. No other instructions beyond the EZCAD manual are forthcoming.
Russ states “I am neither a teacher or expert in this field so you join me in my learning adventure with the warning that I have a simple but inquisitive mind and will probably make mistakes on my way to discovering the truth.
I WILL oversimplify and maybe distort the scientific detail in my quest to build a simple picture of why and how this technology works. I am not trying to reverse engineer anything, just to break through the seemingly impenetrable “techno cotton wool” that surrounds this amazing piece of science.”
01: Introduction to Russ, Lasers and Fibers (58:33)
02: MOPA Matrix Test Leads to Understanding (20:59)
03: Light plus Aluminium and Water (23:18)
04: Fiber Laser Colour Marking (25:47)
05: Let’s Test Some Pulses (39:13)
06: The Search for Colour Part 1 (32:08)
07: The Hunt for Colours Part 2 (28:25)
08: Let’s Try the IMPOSSIBLE (03:54)
09: Let’s Zoom in on FOCUS (34:38)
10: Black Marking Clear Anodizing (25:17)
11: We are no longer Flying Blind (23:17)
12: The Search for Colour Part 3 (41:12)
13: Mining for GOLD (33:36)
14: Is this Fools Gold? (23:53)
15: A palette of Sparkly Colours (39:04)
16: Colours Part 4 The Rainbow’s End (50:12)
17: The Mysteries of 1 micron Wavelength Light (45:58)
18: Intertwined Parameters (53:00)
19: Back Reflection (01:03:31)
20: Photo Engraving on Slate (58:26)
21: Bubble Marking Clear acrylic (46:12)
Why not try out one of our other video series such as:
The Tangerine Tiger Series where Russ has purchased a new 500 x 300mm, 50W laser machine from eBay with a view to modifying and upgrading it. In fact, he rips out the glass laser tube and high voltage power supply and replaces them with an RF laser source and PSU from Cloudray. Find out how the expensive RF laser source compares to a glass CO2 laser tube and prepare to get your hands dirty!
The Lightblade Learning Lab is a series of videos that Russ did for Thinklaser Limited based on using the Lightblade 4060 Laser Cutting and Engraving Machine. The Lightblade 4060 has a 400 x 600mm bed size and was supplied with a 60W EFR laser tube.
The Lightburn Software Series is probably the best generic laser cutting software available (I use it for almost all of my laser work). This series has tutorials, hints and tips as well as the occasional speed comparisons between it and RDWorks. My thanks to the team at Lightburn for allowing me to embed their videos.
In this latest video series, the K40 Xtreeem Laser Cutter Upgrade. Russ takes a generic K40 laser machine supplied by CloudRay and turns it into a micro version of his laser laser cutting and engraving machines. With a limited budget, watch and learn how Russ manages to upgrade the K40 to the K40 Xtreeem and achieve exceptional cutting and engraving performance for the cost.
The Top 10 Ranked RDWorks Learning Lab Videos: These are the top ten RDWorks Learning Lab Videos ranked by average number of views per month.
You may also wish to consider The Concise RDWorks Learning Lab Series that condenses all of Russ’s work into an easy to follow encyclopaedia of laser knowledge. Providing valuable information and insights into the purchasing, understanding, use, repair and maintenance of the Chinese CO2 laser machines and their key component parts.
