Do-it-yourself laser engraver from DVD. 3d models and manufacturing instructions.

What can you do with a laser engraver using disk drives?

A laser engraver, assembled on the basis of old disk drives, allows you to apply a variety of inscriptions and drawings to almost all materials of organic origin, that is, those that can char or melt. These include:

• wood;
• skin;
• thick paper and cardboard;
• most types of plastic;
• rubber, etc.

A laser engraver made from disk drives can be used to engrave small parts - souvenirs, household items, signs, etc.

Lasersolid 530 Lite laser engraving machine

• Power supply 110V or 220-240V/ 50~60Hz
• Dimensions, mm 1150x670x300

• Laser tube power 50 W
• Working field 300 x 500
• Resolution, DPI 1000
• Engraving speed 200 mm/s
• Beam travel speed 500 mm/s
• CO2 laser type
• Engraving accuracy 0.01
• USB 2.0 interfaces
• Cooling Water
• Motor type stepper

Features of using contours

If you have already figured out the question of how to make a hand-held laser engraver, then you need to clarify the question about the parameters of the contours that can be applied using such a device. Such contours, the inside of which is not painted over even when the original drawing is repainted, should be transferred to the engraver controller via 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. The size of such images and inscriptions can be changed at will, focusing on the surface on which they will be applied.

Using a laser engraver, almost all drawings and inscriptions can be applied to the surface of a product, but to do this, their computer models must be converted into vector format. This procedure is simple - special programs Inkscape or Adobe Illustrator are used for this. A file that has already been converted to a vector format must be converted again in order for it to be correctly accepted by the engraving machine controller. Inkscape Laserengraver is used for this conversion.

Sources

• https://met-all.org/oborudovanie/prochee/lazernyj-graver-svoimi-rukami-iz-printera-dvd-player.html
• https://homius.ru/lazernyj-gravjor-svoimi-rukami.html
• https://tpspribor.ru/svoimi-rukami/izgotovlenie-lazernogo-gravera-svoimi-rukami.html
• https://electronicparts.ru/svoimi-rukami/lazernyj-graver-na-arduino-delaem-svoimi-rukami.html
• https://Gistroy.ru/article/lazernyj-graver-svoimi-rukami-1/
• https://tokar.guru/samodelkin/izgotovlenie-lazernogo-gravera-svoimi-rukami.html
• https://VseOChpu.ru/lazernyj-stanok-svoimi-rukami/
• https://SuTime.ru/pro-stanki/graver-svoimi-rukami.html
• https://zetsila.ru/%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%BA-%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%B5% D1%80%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B9-%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B7%D0%BA%D0%B8-%D1%81%D0%B2%D0%BE% D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%B8-%D1%80%D1%83%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%B8/
• https://3dradar.ru/3dmodels/50714/
• https://instanko.ru/drugoe/lazernyj-graver-svoimi-rukami.html

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Parts used for the driver:

• Arduino nano.
• 2x A4988 Stepper motor drivers.
• 1x IRFZ44N N-CHANNEL MOSFET.
• 1x LM7805 Voltage regulator with heatsink.
• 1x 47 ohm and 1x 10 kohm resistor.
• 1x 1000uF 16V capacitor.
• 1x 2.5mm JST XH-Style 2-pin connector.
• Male and female header pins.
• 1x (20mm x 80mm blank PCB).

GRBL protects the digital and analog pins of the Arduino.

The stepper pin for the X and Y axes is attached to digital pins 2 and 3 respectively. The "Dir" pin for the X and Y axes is attached to digital pins 5 and 6 respectively. D11 for laser activation. The Arduino receives power via a USB cable. A4988 drivers via external power supply. The entire foundation has common connections. VDD A4988 are connected to 5V Arduino. The laser that was used operates at 5V and has a built-in DC circuit. To supply 5V DC voltage from an external power supply, an LM7805 voltage regulator is used. A radiator is a must. IRFZ44N N-CHANNEL MOSFET works as an electronic switch when it receives digital high signal from Arduino pin D11. NOTE : We use 5V from Arduino Nano

Connecting stepper motors

For stepper motors we use an old USB cable because it has 4 wires inside and a cap, it is also more flexible and easy to work with.

Using the continuity mode on the multimeter, identify 2 coils, coil A and coil B.

I made 2 pairs of wire, choosing colors: one pair for spool A and one for spool B.

I soldered them and used heat shrink tubing.

Build process

How to make pellets for a boiler at home

The homemade engraving machine of the proposed design is a shuttle-type device, one of the moving elements of which is responsible for movement along the Y axis, and the other two, paired, for movement 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 material being processed is burned is taken. The depth of the holes into which the elements of the shuttle mechanism of the laser engraver are installed must be at least 12 mm.

Desk frame - dimensions and tolerances

Aluminum rods with a diameter of at least 10 mm can act as guide elements along which the working head of a 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 exactly this diameter is explained by the fact that in this case the working head of the laser engraving device will not sag.

Manufacturing of a movable carriage

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

Housing assembly

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 whose width approximately corresponds to the width of the engine itself, and the length of which is twice the length of its base, is bent at a right angle. 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 remaining two are 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 electric 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 attaching it to the engraver body and for the output of the electric motor shaft. The pulleys on which the timing belts will be placed are mounted on the shaft of the drive electric motor and placed in the inner part of the U-shaped profile. Toothed belts placed 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

Materials and tools

Software installation

Your laser cultivator, which must operate in automatic mode, will require not only installation, but also configuration of special software. The most important element of this support is a program that allows you to create the contours of the desired model and convert them into an understandable extension for the laser engraver controls. This program is available for free and you can download it to your computer without any problem.

The program downloaded to the computer that controls the engraving device is unpacked from the archive and installed. In addition, you will need a library of contours and a program that will send data about the created drawing or inscription to the Arduino controller. This library (as well as the program for transmitting data to the controller) can also be found in the public domain. In order for your homemade laser product to work properly 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.