I’m keeping a large ABC dry powder fire extinguisher near the printer. Lasers burn things, and it is unfortunately common for those things to catch fire inside the laser. These are specially made materials which will help keep you safe from the invisible blindness beam your K40 puts out when your other safety measures fail. But don’t mistake them for bog standard safety glasses. IR safe glasses will be clear, or nearly so. There are many types of lasers out there, and goggles meant to protect you from a UV medical laser won’t help much at all when it comes to an IR laser like the one in the K40. Whichever pair you order, make sure they are rated for CO2 lasers. Amazon had them available on Prime, so they got to me before the K40 itself. I did some checking around and ended up ordering a pair manufactured by Honeywell. There are plenty of them available from China, but I really didn’t want to risk my eyes to a company I had never heard of. There are many vendors for laser safe goggles online. While the K40 may be cheap, I didn’t want to skimp on safety equipment. That gave me plenty of time to order some safety equipment. The machine in its 62 lb crate would take about a week to ship from the west coast.
I clicked the “buy it now” button and started waiting. My model also came with a temperature readout for the cooling water, and wheels – for those who like to roll their benchtop lasers around. In the end, I decided to go with one of the cheaper (but not the cheapest) lasers with a digital front panel display. There is enough information to throw even the most seasoned eBayer into analysis paralysis mode. Some boast different accessory packages, and things like air assist – but also cost more. Everyone says they’re newer and better than the rest. eBay and Alibaba are riddled with auctions from sellers with different versions of the K40. My first problem was deciding which laser to buy. With all this in mind, I finally decided to jump in and get a K40 laser. I’m guessing the machines are shipped to a warehouse here in the USA, tested, then the good units are sent on to customers. Now, many of the machines are shipping from California and other ports within the lower 48 states. It was a crapshoot if a large heavy gas filled glass tube would survive the trip halfway around the world. Originally these machines were shipped from China. I’ve been watching the K40 and similar machines on eBay for years. In other words, these are the perfect machines for a hacker. The exhaust duct is routed 3 inches into the cutting area. The cutting bed looks like a mixture of an afterthought and parts someone found in the spares bin. Low cooling water flow alarm? Nope, better keep an eye on that yourself. Overheat protection for the tube is your problem. Make no mistake, these are not “quality” machines. The K40 mechanics haven’t changed very much, but the electronics have been updated to USB with modern stepper drivers.
CORELDRAW LASER CUTTING SETUP SOFTWARE
Earlier versions came with Moshidraw software and a parallel interface. The cutting compartment is on the left and the electronics are on the right. They all look about the same though: A blue sheet metal box with the laser tube mounted along the back. There are numerous manufacturers and there have been many versions over the years. The most popular is the smallest – a 40-watt model, dubbed the K40. Currently, there are several low-cost laser models available in various power levels. China got involved, and suddenly there were cheap lasers on the market. Over the last decade or so things have changed. A few companies made a go with the Epilog and did quite well – notably Adafruit used to offer laptop laser engraving services. The closest you could get to a hobbyist laser was Epilog laser, which would still cost somewhere between $10,000 and $20,000 for a small laser system. Much like 3D printers, they were originally impossibly expensive for someone working at home. Laser cutting and engraving machines have been around for decades. Yes, it sounds like a used car dealership ad, but how far is it from the truth? Read on to find out! Just head on down to Al’s Laser Emporium and pick one up. Why spend thousands on a laser cutter/engraver when you can spend as little as $350 shipped to your door? Sure it’s not as nice as those fancy domestic machines, but the plucky K40 is the little laser that can.
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