DIY Fiber Laser Tube Cutting Machine | Part 13: Test Cuts & File Prep

[@Skyfirelaser]

4:10 The most admirable quality of Travis is his refusal to hide or sugarcoat imperfections. Instead, he presents the most authentic side of himself and his machines to everyone. When problems arise, he never shies away but actively works to solve them, setting an excellent example for fellow DIY enthusiasts. His willingness to share such valuable experiences, even though it requires an enormous amount of time, helps others avoid similar issues. This spirit of openness and dedication is truly inspiring. Salute to you, Travis!

[@Appletreedude]

SLS Printer for 2025!

[@txm100]

The SLS printer!

[@makerbit3970]

Make a portable CMM, like a Faro Arm! You can use it in your shop to measure 2D and 3D parts. They also have hand controls that you select what geometry you are collecting, kinda like Fusion 360, you select a 3 point circle, and then touch off on the sides of a hole. Using an arm is like doing a 3D sketch in real life.

[@qacofalltrades]

So excited for a potential SLS metal 3d printer project! You make amazing content. It’s so impressive how you take on all these complex projects. You really are an inspiration!

[@TAMARbarCNC]

Yesss!! Been waiting for you to drop this video! That is So Awsome!! Got me excited to get mine up and running already!

[@MyDanglingUnit]

SLS would be cool but a high-speed RF tube laser would be awesome as well keep up the awesome builds Travis!

[@kazenostro]

🎉Congratulations on the completion of work on the machine, it turned out cool

[@mulberryworkshop]

I love you are building a dream workshop with sponsors. Hell yeah mate!

[@weldingempire]

Great work Travis. I appreciate you showing all of the problem-solving, as Skyfirelaser mentioned in their comment. This is a crazy good DIY project. Looking forward to see what you make with it.

[@javierramirez-mc4mw]

Awesome work.. you do a fantastic job... I love your videos I learn alot from it.. keep the good work 👏..

[@JulianMakes]

Amazing machine. Bravo.

[@soniclab-cnc]

Love this series. I am also looking for my next build another Co2 with RF tube and servos. I built my last 100 watt machine with glass tube and its so huge... , now I want a more compact machine. My current machine is just too massive. I would still like the 1 x 1.5 meter cutting area but a more compact tube and frame.

[@lestercranmer2631]

Nice! next step 5 axis head for getting those tube cuts just right for laser welding 😀

[@diyfiberlaser]

I’m drooling already! 😀

[@MattOGormanSmith]

You only need one more axis combined with the existing C axis (the tube chuck) and X axis

[@MattOGormanSmith]

SLS is fun, but DLS might be more fun. Blowing a small quantity of metal powder through the laser nozzle into the melt pool can build things in open air with far less mess and probably less complexity, although you will need a 5 axis macine for best results.

[@maxemmer]

Electric Go Kart! Make something with these awesome machines, then make more machines! ;)

[@thedabblingwarlock]

Sounds like you needs a CNC welder. ;) Cool build. I need to go back and watch the flat panel laser cutter.

[@SarahKchannel]

Use a robotic arm, to attach your laser welder. So it can weld pipes automatically. We used on of them about 20 years ago. Where the welds where programed by running an wand attached to arm, to trace the weld manually. The 'scanned' data was used to plot the weld contour manually. It was used to weld curved handrails etc.

[@diyfiberlaser]

Those are fun! I got to play with a welding cobot when I visited SkyFire a few months ago

[@Baloo-us3yu]

Great video! About the metal SLS printer,if you gonna pull through with that most industry guys call it SLM. As industry guy that builds DED (think more like deposition/welding then powder then) 3d-printers, dont. The powder handling is not just a pain its an active health risk! At least with powder sizes that are used in SLM. We too use AC servos obn our slower machine and linear motors for our faster one, but that one also has a granite frame. Its an awesome technology that has a ton of potential and if our team of 5 can design and build a machine in 6 months you can probably too! I would like to help/give feedback but have to stay inside some NDAs, hope you understand and see you in next year!

[@diyfiberlaser]

Thanks for the feedback, the powder handling is definitely my biggest concern…the health risks and I simply don’t like messy things. Though metal 3D printing is super intriguing…I will look into DED as an option

[@Baloo-us3yu]

@diyfiberlaser our system is called EHLA, but thats a special version of DED. Maybe LMD would be even better, thats more like welding.

[@OffGridOverLander]

Wish you were able to cut some 8ft 4"x4"x1/4" square tubing with this machine, I need to rebuild some hydraulic legs that I couldn’t make as precise as I really needed them.

[@mrlithium69]

whoa cool you designed a whole product!@

[@LordOfTamarac]

The metal printer would be amazing

[@cantstopthefunk22]

Just found this video. Extremely fascinating. You are a genius sir! How do you prevent the laser from passing through the tubing and beginning to melt the backside? Does the power modulate?

[@diyfiberlaser]

I turn the power level down to try to hit that sweet spot where it cuts through, but not the other side

[@ElectricBikeLaboratory]

Electric Go Kart ! Cant say no to that , Id be happy to sponsor the electric parts 😁

[@diyfiberlaser]

Thanks for the offer! We should definitely talk if I attempt the project this summer

[@ElectricBikeLaboratory]

@diyfiberlaser sounds good , though I feel like the Metal 3D Printer Project (if chosen) may encompass all of 2025 😂😁

[@diyfiberlaser]

I’m afraid of that too…it may have to be a long ongoing project, with other more manageable projects in between

[@WoodworkingforAnyone]

You guys might want to consider negotiating for hover bike parts. You know, just in case this build takes a little while ;)

[@Trancelebration]

If you can write and use your own macros there is a method to figure out profile center by checking each face 0-90-180-270 with 3 points using tip touch. Rest is just math using Z height at tip touch. Profiles are never straight so angle compensation using 2 points is needed too.

[@diyfiberlaser]

Thanks, the software has several different centering methods, I'll check if one of them uses this method.

[@Trancelebration]

@@diyfiberlaser Sometimes they just dont work anyways and proper industrial machines have vision systems with laser cameras.

[@2245Dillon]

Fantastic design. Is it possible to purchase the files/components and replicated it myself? Is there a budget you would suggest in order to complete this project?

[@2245Dillon]

I apologies after finishing the video I found my answer.......

[@diyfiberlaser]

Haha, no problem…glad you found it

[@scriptivanov9110]

New Year's gift

[@Rubenscncmachines]

👏👏👏👏 aconpanho sempre, ganhou um seguidor

[@gorak9000]

I want to know what the application is to justify building a dedicated tube cutting machine when you already built the other regular xy laser cutter

[@diyfiberlaser]

I wanted to make two smaller dedicated machines, rather than a single large combo machine...better for my small workshop space.

[@gorak9000]

@@diyfiberlaser I mean tube cutting seems fairly specialized - are you planning on selling a product or kits or something that need a lot of tube cutting? Or is it just a "for whatever I want to build in my workshop" machine? I have a large (6 ton) cnc mill (repair project still in progress), and now a medium (3.5 ton) cnc lathe (should be ready for some cuts, but I'm struggling with CAD / CAM at the moment) shoved into my 2 car garage. People always ask me "what are you going to make??" and my response is always "??? I don't know, whatever I want to I guess". Everyone assumes you have an exact application in mind when that's not necessarily the case. I don't really have any room for any more machines, but if I did, my next machine might be a wire EDM. Before this project, a cnc tube cutter wouldn't have even been a thought in my mind!

[@diyfiberlaser]

Not for any particular purpose, but I was thinking I would be able to use it for building machine frames for future projects …I’m so tired of using extrusion and hundreds of corner brackets

[@ChromedOutDubs]

Late Christmas present !

[@diyfiberlaser]

or early New Year’s present! 😀

[@ChromedOutDubs]

I’m here for either option!

[@gameboys248]

Why would high speed co2 cutter needed RF tube? From my understanding the light coming out of it does not have much difference. All 3 of the projects are nice ideas. What wattage do you think about choosing for the CO2 cutter? I work with trotec speedy laser and their engraving speed is amazing, I would be amazed if you got near or even faster than their machines. Good job and happy new year

[@diyfiberlaser]

I’ve read that RF sources can fire at a faster pulse frequency than glass tubes, allowing them to driven faster, also they have a smaller spot size allowing for more finely detailed engravings. I’m not sure what wattage I would go with…probably the largest I could afford

[@gameboys248]

@@diyfiberlaser huh, You are right google says that they have better quality beam and other parameters. Would be cool if the cutter could be fitted with both soo we can use much cheaper glass tubes. I am currently thinking about building CO2 galvo engraver on budget soo I am in the middle of researching about all the things I need.

[@diyfiberlaser]

I don’t know if you saw my video of building the galvo fiber laser, but my experience was that if you shop around and find a good seller, you can buy one for almost the same price that it will cost you to source all of the components and build one…I couldn’t find much opportunity for cost savings. Of course if you just want to build one for the learning experience, then it is worth it.

[@gameboys248]

@@diyfiberlaser yep, I found propably the cheapest fiber galvo from commarker. And they have even mopa and high wattage variants. That said I want to build CO2 galvo for marking/ cutting on wood, and similar. I wanna start side hustle making some wood products and I am currently using our trotec speedy in our makerspace. That thing is good, but I want to build some form of automation. Gantry styles are good, but I had the taste of speed(trotec) and when I had to use the small k40 laser I was not really enjoying it. The engrave on that was slooooow. And honestly I love tackling these big projects. From all the reasearch to using the finished project for making other stuff. Big part is that CO2 have bigger price difference compared to my components that should theoretically have the same effect.

[@sunday.nobody]

nice

[@jeanphilippepoirier6130]

Electric Go Kart!

[@swp466]

This has been a great project to follow along! At 14:03, how long did it take you to realize that you entered the tube diameter instead of the radius?

[@diyfiberlaser]

Until just now! Haha…thanks for pointing that out, it’s funny that it still cut it out no problem…I guess the height sensor was doing its job

[@DavidGetchel]

The printer for sure!

[@modelmaker007]

SLS metal printer

[@skiantho0834]

SLS metal 3d printer!

[@JSound777]

Pipe alignment does not help and will not help, you always need to measure the pipe yourself and correct the cut files. Use air pressure of 12 bar, so there will be perfect cuts.