[Noisebridge-discuss] lasercutter jam

Sat Apr 13 19:19:56 UTC 2013

I spent some more time last night. I have yet to successfully laser-cut a
single image, which is somewhat frustrating. I worked with a friend who has
a Windows machine. We installed RetinaEngrave and Inkscape on his computer.
Got the laser cutter to work, as in to begin operating when we pressed
'Go,' but it didn't cut anything. It moved across the paper rapidly as if
cutting, but didn't cut. Also it moved off the print bed (platen?) into the
"no cut zone" making that grating noise, so I Canceled & tried again after
jogging it far over to the right, only to have the same result.
Additionally, we got through all the steps of converting a JPG to vector
format by tracing the Bitmap, but nothing heppened after the final step,
where you "print to Full Spectrum Engineering." We got all the way to the
end & then nothing. These are some of the same problems Phil was having
earlier this week as described below. If anyone familiar with the equipment
is going to be around this eve, I'd be overjoyed to work with them on
trying to successfully laser-cut an image. I don't have a Windows machine,
& I haven't used a VM the way Casey described. Willing to learn, though.

+11+

On Tue, Apr 9, 2013 at 9:54 PM, Phil Spitler <phil at bonfirelabs.com> wrote:

> Ok, It's firing ;-) The magnet had shifted.
>
> One more question I can't seem to find in the wiki.
>
> How do I tell the printer where "home" is.
>
> If I jog to a position, does it start printing from there?
>
> Also, the head is moving left and right but isn't moving top to bottom so
> I am just ending up with a single thin line etched.
>
> What does the "lock" button do in the app?
>
> Sorry for the newbie questions.
>
> Cheers.
>
> Phil
>
>
>
> *Phil Spitler*  |  Creative Technologist   |  *Bonfire Labs*  |  t :
> 415.394.8200  m : 415.571.3139
>
> Website <http://bonfirelabs.com/> | Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/bonfirelabs>|
> LinkedIn <http://www.linkedin.com/company/235257?trk=tyah>
>
> On Apr 9, 2013, at 9:39 PM, Martin Bogomolni wrote:
>
> Click red button, try firing.   Click red button, try firing again.
>
> Make sure you also have dialed up the amperage so that the arrow is
> pointing straight up towards the back of the machine.   (I make it a
> habit to turn the knob all the way down when I'm done using the laser)
>
> -M
>
> On Tue, Apr 9, 2013 at 9:33 PM, Phil Spitler <phil at bonfirelabs.com> wrote:
>
> Ok, back at Noisebridge and reducing the speed seems to have fixed that
>
> issue.
>
>
> My next issue is that the laser doesn't seem to fire at all.
>
>
> I tried pressing the 2 green buttons but nothing happens.
>
>
> The instructions also say that the small red button should be in the down
>
> position but that button doesn't seem to have a down state.
>
>
> arghhhh... so close yet so far.
>
>
> Any ideas on this one?
>
>
> Cheers.
>
>
> Phil
>
>
> Phil Spitler  |  Creative Technologist   |  Bonfire Labs  |  t :
>
> 415.394.8200  m : 415.571.3139
>
>
> Website | Facebook | LinkedIn
>
>
> On Apr 9, 2013, at 12:49 AM, Phil Spitler wrote:
>
>
> Great, so you think think it's just a speed issue? That is EXCELLENT news.
>
>
> I'll try tomorrow evening if I can get to NoiseBridge.
>
>
> I hope tomorrow I don't have the connection issue and therefore be able to
>
> get cutting.
>
>
> Much appreciated.
>
>
> Phil
>
>
> Phil Spitler  |  Creative Technologist   |  Bonfire Labs  |  t :
>
> 415.394.8200  m : 415.571.3139
>
>
> Website | Facebook | LinkedIn
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Apr 9, 2013, at 12:44 AM, Martin Bogomolni wrote:
>
>
> Slow down!   What you're experiencing is called stepper binding.
>
>
> Please lower the speed down, and you'll stop seeing the head do that.
>
> It's because the whole machine is 1) very dirty and 2) I just adjusted
>
> the head to ride the rails .. the pulleys have been loose and dragging
>
> for a long time, which means they can bind.
>
>
>
> =M
>
>
> On Tue, Apr 9, 2013 at 12:24 AM, Phil Spitler <phil at bonfirelabs.com>
> wrote:
>
>
> "some" progress was made.
>
>
>
> Somehow the PC is now connected to the Laser cutter and it can control it,
>
>
> not sure what changed, it could have been the magnet, I also reseated all
>
>
> the cords.
>
>
>
> However now when I try to print a document from Retina Engrave, the print
>
>
> head shoots to the left side of the printer and keeps hitting the side of
>
>
> the case.
>
>
>
> It's as if it doesn't know where zero is. I am calling it a day today but
>
>
> may try again tomorrow evening.
>
>
>
> Any idea on this issue?
>
>
>
> Thanks again.
>
>
>
> Phil
>
>
>
>
> Phil Spitler  |  Creative Technologist   |  Bonfire Labs  |  t :
>
>
> 415.394.8200  m : 415.571.3139
>
>
>
> Website | Facebook | LinkedIn
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Apr 8, 2013, at 11:32 PM, Casey Callendrello wrote:
>
>
>
> This often happens when two copies of RetinaEngrave are running. First try
>
>
> rebooting the laser cutter computer.
>
>
>
> If that doesn't fix it, it means we've probably fried the USB board.
>
>
> According to the intrepid hacker who has one of his own, this can happen
>
>
> when the tube gets weak (which ours definitely has). Let's hope this isn't
>
>
> the case.
>
>
>
> --Casey
>
>
>
>
>
> On 4/8/13 11:19 PM, Tony Longshanks LeTigre wrote:
>
>
>
> Hey, sending a quick note / desperate plea for help re: the lasercutter
>
>
>
> to a few people I think have been knowledgeable on the subject. I was
>
>
>
> supposed to give Phil (CC'd) a tutorial on how to use it tonight @
>
>
>
> Noisebridge & we ran into a wall. Tried everything we could think of,
>
>
>
> but RetinaEngrave persistently displayed an "Attempting to Connect"
>
>
>
> status bubble without ever succeeding or advancing past that stage.
>
>
>
> Furthermore, we couldn't even get the laser engraver itself to jog or
>
>
>
> move at all. The laser test worked, but that was it. We had several
>
>
>
> others look at it & tried most every variable: cords, software, logging
>
>
>
> in as different users, &c, to no avail. Among the few things we haven't
>
>
>
> tried are unplugging or replacing the card that the connecting USB cord
>
>
>
> plugs into on the laser cutter, and....suggestions? We do know, on the
>
>
>
> encouraging side, that Martin B. used this lasercutter, apparently with
>
>
>
> success, as recently as one day ago. CCing to Martin. (Sorry if you're
>
>
>
> getting multiple messages.) Martin, do you think in the course of your
>
>
>
> "checkup" on the machine the other day there is anything you might have
>
>
>
> changed that could explain this impasse?
>
>
>
>
> Thanks for any help you can offer!
>
>
>
>
> +11+
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.noisebridge.net/pipermail/noisebridge-discuss/attachments/20130413/7b728f4b/attachment.html>