It's always nice when the complete build makes the commercial units look like crap. Well done.

@FurtherFabrication

4 жыл бұрын

haha thanks mate!

nice build.....i built my 600x400 45w spt laser a few years back.....i make 2 color acrylic labels (black over white) for a few companies for their electronic equip (basically a spec sheet). i spent $1500 making mine 4 years ago.....spt tube is great.....have replacement ready, but dang....it just keeps on going......for $25 a sheet, i'm able to print out 12 labels a sheet....i charge $15 a label...... i can say when you build it, and something goes wrong.....you usually know why...ive replaced mirrors 4 times....lens 4 times....belts 3 times and 1 stepper motor......it's the cost of doing business.....i'm retired and this was a great investment for me and my customers are thrilled with the detail....make presents, led backlight signs...led portraits and do all the neighbors dogs on acrylic and give away to them.....i have purchased a bunch of cast acrylic a few years back....(glad i did)...used to be real cheap....but with these co2 lasers popping up everywhere.....price has soared....anyway..................to anyone wondering, building one is time consuming......but it is worth it.....mine has paid for itself many times over

Found this series yesterday, watched the entire thing, bought the documents, read them all and am going to do this! Funny how I told my wife about a more expensive build with a harder build to follow and she told me to do this. lol Thanks for the great detailed instructions. I would welcome a forum for discussion with builders.

Wow, this is amazing. After watching video 2, I bought the plans. You are truly a master of.your craft sir. I already have a 1325 cnc mill, and have been looking at adding a laser to my shop tools. Your build and instructions may take me more time, but will save me a lot of money. My wife was totally against it, but after watching 1 episode of this build series, she's now on board too. Btw she says your build looks amazing and very professional. Keep up the great work man.

What a masterpiece! Thank you for taking the time to do this project and share with all of us 🤙 your workmanship is second to none!

Great video series. Bought your build guide and currently building my own. Using a Laser Tube from an old LS2030 which is about 30 watt and it's 50 watts psu as they are both brand new, the unit was damaged at work so I salvaged these parts after testing them. Will upgrade to 100watt when needed. Good fun to build, only issue is awaiting all the parts from China to arrive in different deliveries....I'm a bit impatient. One tip for anyone else building, spending some time at the beginning ensuring your table or whatever surface you build it on is perfectly level and flat...this is Crucial and will save a ton of time and frustration. I'm thinking of doing something different with the enclosure though..not sure yet. I'll probably upgrade the 2 wheeled gantries to linear rails for some more stability. Looking forward to finishing and getting cutting and etching ;-)

Yes, definitely share how you use this machine to make a living, mate! Always interested to hear that.

A laser cutter build has been on my build design for over 10 years, and this build series makes me think I could actually give it a go. Thanks for the awesome documentation at a great price!

Excellent work! And yes, I would very much like to hear your experience with the money making side of using the laser. I recently acquired (and heavily modified) a K40 type machine pretty much just for fun. On a whim I made a gift for a coworker (edge lit family tree sort of thing) and to my surprise I ended up with an order for 10 more of them. Of course now I'm thinking about starting a little side business, maybe an Etsy store or some such. Would be nice to hear some honest opinions and advice. Thanks. -Dan

@FurtherFabrication

4 жыл бұрын

haha that's exactly how it starts, word of mouth, and next thing you know your the local 'laser guy'.

@matchstickdesignco

4 жыл бұрын

Honest opinion: That's awesome. The K40 is highly underrated and underestimated. Advice: Go for it! Sell on Instagram, sell on Facebook, sell to your co-workers, sell on your own website, sell at craft shows/art markets. The biggest hurdle will be coming up with the right price points for your work. Just don't quit your day job until after you've established a steady and renewable stream of income from the laser stuff.

@marcwolf60

4 жыл бұрын

@@matchstickdesignco I have brought a K40 and modded the gantry to fill the case. I was planning to drop a 1250mm 60W tube in but the overhang is messy. So I am planning to keep the big tube for this project and drop the 40W in. The K40 is a great test bad for modding and gaining experience.

@mlee6050

4 жыл бұрын

@Further Fabrication I am looking to maybe have a co2 laser engraver but wondering is it safe and possible to add cnc spindle into it or maybe swap laser head with cnc spindle? I want to have a laser engraver but also cnc as one machine (even if swap the head part) so if got to cut deeper than an engraver I can

@jimpowell4093

4 жыл бұрын

Never mind I found you, will attempt this I have a full machine shop and was toying with just purchasing one but this build is really tase best way to go. My hat is off to you and your project. Well done !!

Wow that was a dramatic lovely funny journey, I mean really , i have enjoyed every sec of it starting from the first video i have told my self "this dude must be joking " just to end off with "wow this man is genius "at the end of every video later on and now I'm waiting my electronics form AliExpress and sourced my 2020 and 2040 locally and ready to go , thanks Rob my friend for a lovely journey and a fantastic build.

@FurtherFabrication

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks for the comment mate, glad to have had you along for the ride. That's awesome that you've started your own laser build!

Love the cordless lathe, I do the same thing too.

WOW! You make this look easy!

We've got all our 2020 and 2040 received (all the T-slot from Zyltech and the V-slot from Openbuilds in NJ) and cut to size, brackets, most of the hardware, some of the electronics, and have started assembly. We got the inner frame done this weekend and we're now looking at what's next. Still got a lot of parts in the mail so it will likely be January before we cross the finish line but we're still considering it a Christmas present that will hopefully pay itself back in a year or two. We're looking at a possible road trip to Kentucky as it looks to be cheaper to drive and pickup in person than to have our 85W laser tube shipped from China. Funny how that works. Thank you for the fantastic professional build guides and parts list. The price of the plans was completely reasonable considering the time you've invested in accuracy and detail as well as filming 9 videos over 1 1/2 hours (probably 75 hours of editing!).

@FurtherFabrication

4 жыл бұрын

That's awesome! Yeah sourcing and getting all the parts can take a bit of time. It's probably less risky getting a tube (somewhat) locally rather than shipped in. As they're delicate things.

9:45... "Kill two stones with one bird"?? 😂 In all seriousness, that's a truly incredible build. Respect.

A couple friends and I have been considering a similar build, but on a somewhat larger scale. This has been a great help for considering options on how to do things. Our goal is a workable bed that would allow for an entire sheet of plywood (4'x8') and considering whether a replaceable head for routing may be an option. Combining both (with shields for the mirrors when not in use) would make it a perfect "All in One" for a garage workshop.

@tylergady2019

3 жыл бұрын

Let me know if you do that. I'm thinking of building this with the gantry on the back, so you can do full sheets as well. Would like to see how you're going about it, thanks

@heichelb

3 жыл бұрын

@@tylergady2019 The project is still underway. The bulk of the frame is just a matter of assembly. One thing we are considering is whether the bulb placement might be better optimized, possibly being run vertically instead of horizontally.

That is one of the best build videos I have seen for a long time. I built my own cnc router, which has worked amazingly well. I just bought an atomstack laser and am loving it, but want to go bigger, was looking to a K40, but now you have convinced me to build my own as I did before, your design is really amazing, Well done young man

Superb design, planning & execution. Thanks for taking us along for the ride!

Loved every part of this entire build, great knowledge, great instructions. I will definitely be purchasing your plans when I am ready to start building! Thanks for everything

Great work man ! . Just the info that I wanted to see. Nine episodes !

Also i just went over and purchased the y-1200 guide because i super appreciate you taking the time to do this build guide for us

@FurtherFabrication

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks mate!

Complete novice with zero experience using a laser cutter. My wife has a business making/decorating bespoke wooden things kinda like those Christmas star decorations. She currently outsources all the cutting and hinted at how a laser would make things easier! I've been binge watching everything I can find on KZread. I've no idea if I'll be able to build this to a half way decent standard, but I've just bought all 3 docs for the y1200. It's been great watching the series thanks. I've no idea what size laser tube/power supply I need though. I'm guessing 3 - 6mm ply will be the majority of cuts for her, with the option of cutting for other people as a business expansion. I was looking at 100w pre made machines with the thought that the laser would last longer as it'd be run at lower power and have the option to cut 10-12mm wood as my wife also buys in cnc cut shapes, letters, and numbers from another supplier. Is it worth going for the higher power laser tube, or am I just being a dumb arse?

Wooow....I've never found a more informative or entertaining cnc build than this...thanks a lot sir for this.....i actually plan on starting to save up for my build soon. Thanks🫡

I’ll be making this possibly this summer. Awesome series! Thank you for your hard work on this! I have purchased the plans, possibly for the second time 😂 Bit worth it. Thank you 🙏

Dude loved your humor through the whole process! Very entertaining and enjoyable. Really want to build one of these now.

Massive Rob. Looking forward to following your build guides in future. Currently building a 500mm3 3D printer, and learning what is to actually engineer and make something :) It's a bit hard for software guys like me to make stuff that's submillimetre accurate - we never lived in the physical word before making/build stuff :) So it's nice to have a guide and also a someone who moves quickly through stuff without the waffle. Very cool.

Just found this series. It appears it was done a year ago. So, a year after the build, can you post a follow-up video as far as how the machine is holding up, or any problems you have encountered?

Such an informative, professional, enjoyable and creative series! Had a blast watching all the videos! Thank you for your work!

No only functional, it actually looks good as well !

A great series man. Very instructive, informative and just enjoyable to watch. You've done a fantastic job, the machine looks great and professional. I would just say that I do cringe seeing you use a lighter on heat shrink, this leaves a conductive layer of carbon on the heat shrink which kinda bypasses the function of using it. It may work just fine but just bear in mind, that burning technique may cause you some issues in the future or on different projects, espessially on higher voltages. Thanks for taking the time to produce such great content.

Just purchased the build guide and parts list. Money well spent. 👍😁

Absolutely awesome work Rob... Thank you kindly for sharing your work....You sir are an officer and a gentleman... Have an awesome blessed day....

Excellent series. Thank you.

Awsome build. I`m about to get started on mine, and any money making pointers are always appreciated!

Just purchased the documentation, thank you so much for doing this!

Great work man.. love the build. And yes a video on a business model around a laser would be cool.

Hello Rob...this is a fantastic machine build...great work...

Great build Rob....I just bought the 3 downloads for the 1200 series. Looking forward to my build. Dang, I wish you were my next door neighbor! You are very talented and have an amazing creative mind! Cheers from Canada

@cascadiancabinets3980

2 жыл бұрын

Hi. Just wondering if you have proceeded with a build or buy. I'm considering one of the two and I'm also in Canada. Thanks

I may never be able to afford to make one of these, but it's been informative and interesting watching this series. Thanks heaps, and looking forward to more from your channel!

Absolutely fantastic work on putting all these videos together, im sure we all appreciate the time & effort that has gone into all of this. For my hobby use im running a spectron laser systems YAG, ULS v460 & a modified (on-going) K40. This is the most comprehensive guide ive seen & will be buying your build guides from your website because the info in them will be so valuable. Keep up the good work, I Need to be building a 3D printer next!!!+++++++

Thank you very much! Instructive and entertaining series. Pedagogically perfect. You've done a respectable GREAT JOB!

Man, that feeling when you designed something, and you just know where everything goes. Must have been great! :D

Excellent build from beginning to end., Thank you for sharing. 👍👍👍👍👍

Awesome build! Just bought the plans and hope to start building the 400 within the next couple months. Will take a little while to get put together as I don't think I can swing all the parts at once. Wish me luck!

Thanks for doing this, I will be buying your plans. I'm working on a older machine Golden Laser right now. I can get it all to move ,but can not get the laser to fire

Journeys come in all flavours... this one has been an absolute pleasure from start to finish. Thank you so much! :o) (While it's not relevant for me, I too would be interested in your slant on putting your baby out to earn her keep!)

@FurtherFabrication

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks mate, glad to hear you've enjoyed it!

Indeed it was a wonderful journey I have spent 1600$ on aliexpress so far ordering major things from the part list but unfortunately 2020 T or V slot is not available locally so I will side track on the mechanical frame trying to make it out of regular 2020 square tubing with 3D printed connectors and using Hiwin rails on all axis for linear motion. Please keep the videos coming I would love to hear about how you make money with your laser as well almost all videos I found on youtube covering this topic are either clear advertisement of specific brand or the hype of make thousands of dollars a day with your laser so more realistic non biased one would be great. Another great topic also would be setup process for the laser job.

@FurtherFabrication

4 жыл бұрын

That's awesome you've already got your build underway! Yeah getting the aluminium can be tricky depending on your location and shipping is quite expensive. Cool, I think the business side of things is super interesting but I'm the same, I've never seen it really covered in a realistic way. Yeah I should definitely do a job setup one too, good point!

@vilas69

4 жыл бұрын

Where are you located? In Europe/Portugal you have a high quality/cheap aluminum extrusion seller - RatRig ;)

Thanks man this has been a great series. You have built a very nice unit. Very inspirational.

I can’t even get my K40 to align and this guy went and built one from scratch 😂😂 Nice work

Safety tip from a fellow technician: don't have drink or food near when soldering. Especially if it's lead solder. The chances of getting lead poisoning are relatively low, but it's good practice.

I've been following, eagerly awaiting each video. Yes I'd love to see your money making take video. One question, the power supply has cooling fans, but I didn't see any ventilation to expel heat, wouldn't the cabinet heat up?

@FurtherFabrication

4 жыл бұрын

Awesome, I'll make it happen! Great spotting!! yeah you're exactly right, at the moment I'm just leaving the door slightly open but I still need to add proper ventilation for sure

@naizeylines

4 жыл бұрын

I work with laser and the power supplies needed for them dont produce much heat. I would say they dont need the fans but it would still be nice if you added them

@BrianLeeWho

4 жыл бұрын

Many argue that you should place all of your electronics in a METAL box and have no external fans. They believe that if a component ever caught fire, the lack of external fans would keep the fire contained and, being metal, the box would not catch fire either. So what about the heat buildup? Well, being metal, the box itself should be sufficient to act as a radiator for the internal heat buildup. I do not add external fans to my builds. I always make sure to use a large metal enclosure (I don't try to cram everything into a tiny one) and haven't had any problems with heat. With all this said, I'm not going to criticize anyone who wants to add an external fan. Lots of builders add them, even professional builders.

@Tuffenough4u

4 жыл бұрын

@@BrianLeeWho I agree with what you've said. There are plenty of heat sink attachments that can be had and with a cleaver use of thermal paste/grease one can direct the heat exchange to specific areas of said encasement so long as the surfaces have been properly stripped and polished. I suppose if one really wanted to get fancy with it you could just add a PC style CPU liquid cooler to the external hot spot and flow that with the coolant from the chiller in series with the tube. Furthermore having the DSP unit, drivers and PSU's completely encased doubles as an effective EMF shield for a bonus.

Congrats Mate!! Well done, fantastic job. BTW I did find it mildly entertaining 😀

@FurtherFabrication

4 жыл бұрын

haha that's all I could really ask for

The purple glow off the LEDs is probably your digital camera being slightly sensitive to IR light coming from them.

Excellent work! Thank you.

You can use your cordless drill instead of a tap wrench. Saves a lot of time. Easier to control the tap. Works fine for plastic, ally and mild steel. You can even tap stainless with the drill if you’re careful. Much faster.

I would love to see more about your process and how you're making money on this as well. Thanks for the videos, i've enjoyed your build series quite a bit.

Fantastic build, glad I caught onto your videos early and was able to follow along in the progress. Now its time to start sourcing the parts for my own build...;)

@FurtherFabrication

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks mate, glad to have had you along for the ride

In regards to the laser pointer, I'd highly recommend using 2 "line" lasers instead (the kind that are used in laser levels). With 2 of those, intersecting each other under your cutting laser, you don't have to set it for material thickness

I think putting the electronics in a separate enclosure is particularly beneficial on this machine. My mate has a commercial and its black and sooty in the cutting area. His electrics are partitioned off, but yours wouldn't be unless you panel it so. ( probably cost more than an enclosure!)

Wow!!! I really like your design sir !! Just bought a chinese used 100w laser but now I think that I'll take your design and take the parts to make this one !!! There is an issue with the laser not firing .. did not find the cause yet... There is no water flow switch.....

New possibilities! =) Thanks for sharing! Here, an owner of an unassembled LazerBlade.

You could make these commercially. This is awesome.

Hey man, this is great! Can I make the y-400 without the enclosure then upgrade to the larger one with the enclosure once I start making some money? Also, ballpark, how much would the unit cost? Has anyone priced this out in the USA or Canada?

This has been a fantastic series and just going to buy the final plans. I am keen to get started in the build and learn more about the monetisation on this investment. I’m interested if you could do a video on the laser work. Cheers

@FurtherFabrication

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks mate, glad you've enjoyed it. I've found that a laser cutter like this will easily pay for itself, so it'll be great to share my experience on that side of things.

Loved this video. Awesome job as always! You are a true craftsman. I like how you wired the enclosure and the connectors. I was thinking of doing something similar. Keep up the fantastic work!

@FurtherFabrication

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks mate!

@paultakoy7091

4 жыл бұрын

@@FurtherFabrication I would love to see a true video (ups and downs) on making this into a business.

Thank you for sharing your results with us!

Its looking good Buddy, Looking real good, I had a laser cutter on my mind for a long time now, the build size you went with is roughly what I want too! DIY builds is definitely the most economical way to go. looking forward to seeing if you would change anything after using it more.

@FurtherFabrication

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks mate, yeah there's no way I could afford one if I didn't build it haha! I'm sure they'll be a couple of tweaks down the line, but so far so good.

@patprop74

4 жыл бұрын

@@FurtherFabricationIll be buying your build guild just to have a checklist to make sure i won't be missing anything when ordering parts.going with a 40w would the cheapest , but I think I want to get an 80W because I know before long ill kick myself for not getting better than a 40W, I mostly want to cut 8mm Plexi and wood, and 1/8 garolite, what the depth you are seeing on your 50W?

Fantastic work buddy!! Came out perfect!! Jason

@FurtherFabrication

4 жыл бұрын

Cheers mate!

Молодец, Парень! У тебя руки растут из плеч!

Great series mate. Really enjoyed it. Plans bought and looking forward to building one. Would also be very interested in a “money” video. Also perhaps you showing the cutting of different materials, the software, settings etc might be well received. I’d be particularly interested in some veneer marquetry demos showing the type of accuracy you can dial in with this machine. Thanks again. Cheers

@FurtherFabrication

4 жыл бұрын

Cheers mate. oh I've been saving up some veneers, I'll need to think of a good project to show it off with

I'm just about to start making this, parts are half ordered :)

@strangestuff1213

4 жыл бұрын

pls do a review

@corymcbride5394

4 жыл бұрын

Paul Cook let me know how it goes I just started ordering parts myself

@Dezanova

3 жыл бұрын

1 year on how did this pan out guys?

Love those benchtop machinist lathes ❤❤❤ got one just like it! 👍

Great work mate ;) Thank you so much for doing this, your a top bloke .

@FurtherFabrication

4 жыл бұрын

Cheers mate, you're welcome!

Thank you for all your hard work.

Important information about laser thanks so much

The better idea would be to add two red laser. When dots are overlaping it means that the distance is okay. Sorry for my english

Looks awesome! Love the reference to 10K a day. Haha

Realy wonderfull. Amazing man. You made some dreams closer to be possible.

This is Amazing! Great work and highly useful.

Heya brother... fantastic series! I haven't watched them all yet.... just the first few and it got me to thinking whether this same design could be used to house a fiber laser setup... as I can see that down the road, I'd likely lean towards something that would ablate and etch metal such as steel and titanium (possibly aluminium) and I've always been more a do-it-yourselfer as opposed to running to a store and buying a product. I love the intimacy in understanding what I'm using and being able to fix/repair/modify/upgrade whatever it is that I'm using. Very intrigued by your design and thoroughly enjoy the methodology used to produce this series (trip ups... humor... detailed advice... and time lapse). Would love hearing back if you think that a fella such as myself might be able to modify for laser capability, or with your experience, you believe it would be a major hassle and not worth exploring! Cheers and thanks ahead if any response is forthcoming!

It was cool to watch it in action! :D

Beautiful machine mate..

Awesome build, thanks for sharing!

Thanks a lot Mate for this serie realy great work

Making the 3D Printed parts in Silk Red... not sure about durability, but they sure do look sweet!

I have a 60watt laser my self. I do get a few sales myself but I would like to see a video of how you make money using your laser. Thank you

@Sarge92

3 жыл бұрын

i cant speak for what FF is doing but i have a freind who makes a living off it and she basically just makes alot of crap for etsy some of its good but alot of it is what id call crap like taking a piece of leather scrap engraving i love you bending it in half and BOOM keychain give me 8 dollars please!! nah but being serious she spends alot of time just coming up with cool ideas for coasters keychains little trinkets here and there and will usually just experiment list the experiment on etsy if it sells she makes anouther or more variations and designs and off she goes if it doesent sell shes out a couple dollars in materials and her time to list it and photograph it for etsy so no biggy for ideas checkout things like instagram and etsy for laser crafts

Great series! I don't know how much ventilation the power supply require ... maybe consider venting it out of the enclosure.

@FurtherFabrication

4 жыл бұрын

Yeah good spotting! I'm running it with the door hanging open at the moment but I do need to add proper venting to it for sure

All those tools and that tech... and he shrinks tube with a lighter.

Fantastic build series, buddy! I looked forward to every vid that you put out. I would love to see you, "No BS" business videos on earning a living with the laser engraver.,

@FurtherFabrication

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks mate! ooh that's a great title

Ahhh the machine looks so good! Seeing it in action was also really great! Have you any plans of building a CNC mill?

@FurtherFabrication

4 жыл бұрын

Wooo! Yeah I can definitely see a cnc mill happening in the near future

@marcwolf60

4 жыл бұрын

@@FurtherFabrication I build a C-Beam CNC and it's a great little unit for modding as well and making parts etc.

For someone who has all the tools and parts at the ready, how long do you estimate this build to take if we were following your purchasable guides? Also, do you have a necessary tool/equipment list somewhere that would allow me to see what I'd need to invest in for this project before deciding on whether I should take this on since it looks like you use quite a few different tools that I might now already have.

@bilalakyuz9866

3 жыл бұрын

im interested as well

Amazing and very inspiring series !

Any ideas on using a beam combiner rather than the red dot pointer? The Cloudray beam combiner looks like it needs a "first mirror" setup rather than the style used here. Maybe it could be rigged in there somehow. Not sure. Love the build and the price for the documentation. More than fair. Thank you for all the work you put in to this.

Great videos - thanks for sharing

Next video title: "How I don't make $10K a day using a laser cutter". I like it, and sincerely hope to be watching it soon. BTW, I'd like to make sure that you know just how much we all appreciate your taking time out of your busy day(s) to make these videos and share your knowledge with us. Thank you.

@FurtherFabrication

4 жыл бұрын

haha I like it, use some opposite clickbait/actually just tell the truth. Thanks mate, it's always nice to know it's appreciated!

You've done a great job ! Well done mate :)

Could these plans be used to build a fiber laser instead of CO2?

Great tutorial! What is the total price of all components?

Was curious is heat is an issue inside your power box, especially on longer jobs. That box looks weather resistant so I'd expect airflow isn't a thing, and you'd be relying more on passive heat transfer of the casing.

@FurtherFabrication

4 жыл бұрын

Great spotting, I'm running it with the door hanging open but I definitely need to put in some proper ventilation holes

I would install light telescoping tubes filtered blower air around optics or just jets at each. Dirty mirrors cost time/money.

Wow. Great Job.... Thanks Inspiring (Acrylic idea)