MSRaynsford

One of the issues with the laser cutter is that most modes of failure have the same result. If the power supply fails, the magnet sensor fails, the water pump fails, the tube arcs to the case the laser simply stops cutting. It's then a process of elimination to discover what the problem is but it's not always obvious. Last week my tube started dying, it was a bit sudden since the last tube but if failed in a very obvious and distinct way so I thought it was worth documenting. On all of these cuts you can see that the laser started the cut perfectly but by the time it gets to the other end of the item it barely managed to mark the surface. So now if you ever see this happening on your own machine you'll know that the tube is on it's way out.

So my laser has been out of action for a week longer than it should have been while I waited for Parcel Force to tell me they had received my new laser tube and that it required customs payment. Now that it's in and my laser is working again I'm building up stock of kits for some upcoming workshops. I always like to take a mix of kits regardless of the workshop because people like to take things away with them afterwards. So if you're in Cambridge or Leicester over the next two weeks and you want to build a marble machine with my help then come along to one of these workshops. The kits are actually cheaper and I'm wandering around to actually help you build them Cambridge Makespace - 2nd March, 2pm Leicester Hackspace - 8th March, 10am or 2.30pm

I can't sell these catapult kits  because I've been struggling to cut the 6mm ply reliably. I think the 50W laser could do it if I was more patient and I turned the speed down but then I worry about black edges on things so I've held off on producing them. An opportunity arose to use Derby Makers new 100W laser so I took a bunch of wood up there to cut mini machines out. We struggle with there software, it was rather unintuitive and lacking in official manuals, user generated online help or even a name to actually identify which software it was. By the time we got something working a lot of time had passed and we decided the best way to salvage the day was to create double sized catapult in the same vein as my other double sized items . We doubled everything, using 2 sheets of 6mm ply for the frames giving us a catapult made from 12mm wood sheets. We wound the skein as far as we could slotted together some ammo and let the projectiles fly across the lab. As fun as ...

Not really extraction but this was part of an idea to solve the same problem. On a recent trip to the Derby Makers  (more on that later) I was able to draw and print a quick and easy 3D part. The idea is that extending the nozzle should bring more of the air assist air down to the surface of the work and I would get cleaner cuts (the whole point of this exercise). I made the nozzle attachment intentionally long with the idea of cutting it down, I forgot that the red dot beam alignment would be blocked so with a quick after market modification it was ready for testing.  I think it did help with reducing the char marks on the work. I think that when my bigger air pump arrives that will probably help a lot more. The biggest downside is that the 3D printed plastic just holds the residue on the surface so when I accidentally bumped the work into it, it left a large brown smudge across the top which was far worse than any of the smoke staining so I'm going to rate this...

Leicester hackspace is currently forming. Their grand opening will be on the 1st of March, over in the makers yard  feel free to come along. Sadly for me it's taking up a lot more of my time then I was hoping it would. It's left me neglecting this blog so sorry about that and some of my other projects. It will be great to have a space nearby and to be able to run workshops over there. As you saw I already made benches for the space , but there's still workshops to plan, a laser to set up, mailshot and flyers to create. I could spend all my time on it between now and then and still not get done. So in other news I'm running a Cambridge workshop on the 2nd of March (because I'm a sucker for punishment). This will be for making miniature marble machines. I'm taking Machine #1 and Machine #4 and a bag full of motors as optional upgrades and I'm hoping it's going to be a lot of fun. Finally and most importantly my laser tube has gone again, this ...

Today I have spent time at the newly forming Leicester Hackspace making them some of my patented garage benches . I'm pretty chuffed that I managed to buy enough parts for 5 benches for just under £100 giving them a whole 12m of bench space. So I only made 4 benches today while they figure out how to split the 5 bench, maximising the space they have but I was pretty proud of the design and the bargain so I wrote an instructable for it. http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-cheap-wood-workbenches-UK-Style/

I had a request for some candle wick holders. That person makes candles in old charity shop mugs and glasses and apparently lolly pop sticks just weren't cutting it any more. So I knocked these up from the thin scraps left after cutting most of my kits. The zig zag bottom should help hold the thing in place and there is a V shaped notch which the wick can be wedged into so no more need to tie them off.