[Noisebridge-discuss] lasercutter jam

Phil Spitler phil at bonfirelabs.com
Wed Apr 10 04:54:48 UTC 2013


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 | Facebook | LinkedIn

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+
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 

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