Big Laser Status Update - Work Party on Saturday 9/14 10am

Status Update

As you probably already know, the big laser was damaged in a fire on August 12th. This is an update on the repair status.
My personal target for completing repairs is 9/30/19. With your help we can get the Big Laser back in action this month.

Please let me know if you can help on these tasks by responding to this post. Several of you have already signed on to help, now we just need to get this done.

The enclosure has been cleaned. Thanks to everyone who helped.
Replacement parts have been ordered. $2000 was budgeted. $1060 has been spent so far. As tests proceed we may find something to replace, including the controller. (another story)

As of 9/11/19, 90% of the parts needed to reassemble the laser have arrived. The rest should arrive by 9/19/19. There is much we can do to get the big laser back up while waiting on the parts to arrive.

To Do Tasks:

Clean 30 bed bars - Anyone can do it. You will get dirty. You don’t have to wait on Saturday to do it either! WooHoo!
Make adapter bezel for mAmmeter - Laser cut on small laser or 3D print. We need this by 9/14 if possible.

Things we can do on Saturday 9/14 before the last parts arrive. We have all the parts required:
Test Power Supplies, stepper drivers, stepper motors and limit switches.
Install and wire in mAmmeter, eStop Switch, hour meter and key power switch. We need to build a new wire harness.
Install Leetro Controller and LaserCut2017
Test fire old laser tube without mirrors installed
Install LED strip under X gantry

Drain the chiller and cooling lines. Flush out the tank, clean the coil and reinstall with clean distilled water.

Install a new wire chain on the x gantry. Need to make or adapt some brackets.
Run new wiring for the Z-datum probe, the red dot aiming laser and air line to the laser head.

Tasks Waiting on parts:
Install z-datum probe on laser head. (waiting on probe)

Install x-axis slider and mount laser head (waiting on slider)

Install 1st and 2nd mirror mounts and mirrors - This must happen after x slider is installed.

Install belts on X and Y drives (waiting on belts)

Align Laser - this task needs two people to go faster
Test cuts

Tasks to do after the laser is up and running.

Install replacement lid struts
Install Ruida Controller
Document LightBurn use
Train Members on new updates to Laser Cutter

I’ll be in this evening to clean bars. I’ll get as many done as a I can. Without actually knowing the extent of what is involved I cannot estimate how many I will get done - but I doubt if it will be 30. If I develop a process that seems effective I’ll share it on this email thread.

Update: The X-cross slide arrived this afternoon. Now we can install all of the mirrors and laser lens head.

The work party can really make PROGRESS on Saturday.

All 30 bars have been cleaned of years of door and smoke and fire extinguisher powder and general schmutz. About 8-9 still have chunks of burnt plastic on them. I have brought them all home with me to get a final pressure wash and to scrape the rest of the melted burnt plastic off of them.

I will return them on Friday ready to have food served off of them.

Outstanding. Thank you.

Last night I used a stainless steel scrubbie that I stole from the kitchen area (there were half a dozen in play) to clean the bars from the laser. It dawned on me this morning that I left the scrubbie on the wooden table by the big laser. The scrubbie still has tons of life left in it so it shouldn’t get thrown away. But it absolutely should not make it’s way back to the kitchen as the stuff that came off the bars was disgusting and not food safe.

The laser bars, 40 of them not 30, have all been pressure washed.

33 of them are certified clean enough to serve food off of is you are weird enough to try. 7 of them still have small amounts of burnt plastic on them. I got off as much would easily come off with my pressure washer but some remains. These 7 are marked with blue painters tape.

I will return the bars to the Hive sometime before the Saturday laser fixin’ party.

The remaining 7 bars should be a fairly quick and easy job. Aside from having burnt shit on them they are otherwise clean as a whistle and it shouldn’t be a gross, disgusting task - just a scrapy, solventy one. I suggest trying the stainless steel scrubby and the “garage floor cleaner” (for the life of me I still don’t know what “garage floor cleaner” is but I suspect that it may be the gallon jug of stuff labeled “cleaner degreaser”). If that doesn’t do it try a heat gun or a nastier solvent or a courser abrasive.

We made good progress today. Thanks to Jacob, Parker, Brad and Dave S.

Done

Clean 40 bed bars

Install z-datum probe on laser head.

Install x-axis slider and mount laser head

Install 1st and 2nd mirror mounts and mirrors - This must happen after x slider is installed.
Install and wire in mAmmeter, eStop Switch, hour meter and key power switch. We need to build a new wire harness.
Install LED strip under X gantry

Drain the chiller and cooling lines. Flush out the tank, clean the coil and reinstall with clean distilled water.

Install a new wire chain on the x gantry. Need to make or adapt some brackets.
Run new wiring for the Z-datum probe, the red dot aiming laser and air line to the laser head.

The new laser head is mounted with new wiring and air-tube pulled. The wiring in the wire bay is getting unsnarled as we prepare to wire in the new controller. The chiller has been cleaned and filled with distilled water.

Thanks everyone. I’m planning to work on this next on Monday.

It looks a whole lot more like a laser now.

New Laser Head and wirechain.JPG

To Do Tasks:
Make adapter bezel for mAmmeter - Laser cut on small laser or 3D print. We need this by 9/14 if possible.

Test Power Supplies, stepper drivers, stepper motors and limit switches.

Test fire old laser tube without mirrors installed
Install belts on X and Y drives (waiting on belts)

Align Laser - this task needs two people to go faster
Install Leetro Controller and LaserCut2017
Test cuts

Tasks to do after the laser is up and running.

Install replacement lid struts
Install Ruida Controller
Document LightBurn use
Train Members on new updates to Laser Cutter