Ep5: Water Cooling & Laser Test. The DIY CO2 Laser Cutter / Engraver Build Series

[@olivetty]

Waiting the parts list. 5 months have past. Can't wait to build it. Thank you mate for doing this.

[@muddyboggswbgu]

I'm loving this series. I was going to buy a K40 until I found this. I'm holding off so I can build my own.

[@zackvanwinkle7803]

Mark Boggs I’m in the EXACT same boat. Lol

[@davidrandle5362]

This is getting better and better each episode. like everyone else can't wait to get the full parts list and build. look forward to the next installment

[@kevinm3751]

LOL, as a plumber here is a simple rule for you when applying Teflon tape to threads. Hold the part with the threads in your left hand with threads facing your right hand. Start the tape on the bottom and roll towards you over the top away from you and then around. If UR left handed do the same in reverse starting over the top towards you and down away from you..;)

[@FurtherFabrication]

Nice one! thanks for the tip - I knew they'd be a good way to remember

[@robbenge9914]

Clear, concise and very interesting. Loving the series so far Rob. Thank you

[@snyper7979]

Ok, I have to say something about his use of the terminal ends that connects to the power supply. Its about damn time I see someone properly use the correct ends and the correct tool to do the job. Very nicely done mate!!

[@TipsTricksMore]

6:19 😂😂😂 That’s totally me😂😂 Thanks for your great videos! The idea of building my own machine becomes more real with every video! I know how much effort and time you have to put in videos like that! Thanks a lot 🙏

[@sergiobarajas9092]

@9:03 That gray-out picture of the laser followed by the explanation with text overlaid is just superb !!! needed to be congratulated !!!thanks for sharing this knowledge, as I am about to change my laser tube this really helped me understand the components at play.

[@paeter88]

Your CO2 build series has been an inspiration for me and even though I have no prior experience on CO2 lasers, I decided to start my own build based on your instructions (among some others found on youtube) and I'm currently building my own laser at the moment. (sorry for not bying your build instruction as I wanted to come up with my own design, and I am sure a prebuilt plans will guide my thought too much and hinder my learning experience. I'm actually a professional design engineer and enjoy the challenge... I will surely drop you my share for the awesome guidance soon :)). I saw that some other people have also been a bit anxious on the cooling electronics layout on your design, which got to me a bit too. I planned my electronics a bit differently, but since I live in Finland and the low temperatures are more of an issue than high temps, I had to take a very different care on this issue than any others in youtube. I'm currently working on my own automated and monitored heating/cooling loop and I was wondering if you would be interested on hearing about the details? If this proves to be a capable system, you might want to try it on your system (since Australia is a cool locasion also :)) and later share it with the community? I'm not looking to profit on my work with the cooling, but rahter would like to share my findings with the community as you have with your awesome guide :) I hope this message reaches you.

[@originaltrilogy1]

I had to use a much bigger air pump on my last build, but it may have been the long runs of tube I had to use. The masking tape template is a great thing, thanks for sharing the box building tips.

[@FurtherFabrication]

hmm interesting, it's something I'll keep an eye on. Glad you found it helpful!

[@nraynaud]

would using bigger diameter tubing help you? like using oversize tube most of the run and normal smaller size just at the end.

[@joshua43214]

@@nraynaud You need to size the pump and tubing correctly for head pressure. This is the big problem with HVLP pumps - they need to be close to the nozzle. There are other silent pumps that will allow for long tubing runs. There is a lot of fancy maths, there might even be some online calculators. Best thing is to read the spec sheet, it will have something about head pressure.

[@PiefacePete46]

Was I planning to build a CNC laser?... NOOO! Do I have any use for a CNC laser?... NOOO! BUT... your series is so clear, well paced, complete, and informative that I have started to look for excuses to build one!!! Thank you, GO KIWI!

[@FurtherFabrication]

haha if you build one you'll definitely find uses for it!

[@UnexpectedMaker]

Another popp'n episode - mate, you have the best sense of humour! Makes it a joy to watch you videos :-)

[@Catalysis1144]

Simple yet elegant and functional box. Following this series..

[@thenotionlab]

Water cooling is tricky. I live in Florida and I've tried it all and i am still experimenting with options short of paying for a refrigerated chiller. Great tip about the external pump, I never thought about the heat generated from the pump affecting the water temp, that why I love this series, lots of great information. Thanks for all the hard work.

[@FurtherFabrication]

Happy to share. I've heard Florida's pretty hot year round, so I don't envy your cooling situation!

[@AndrewTann]

Another amazing vid. I've already begun purchasing parts based on model numbers I've seen in the video series. I won't have to use the small 600x300 one at work soon...

[@brynyard]

"Be safe" *looks down the barrel of the tube*

[@Matrixtechno]

I guess if the power supply is unplugged it IS safe, but yeah I would still be scared. It would probably feels like looking down a gun barrel even if you know for sure the gun is unloaded.

[@matchstickdesignco]

Absolutely loving this series. I have the infamous K40 (to be fair, it's performed flawlessly since day one right out of the box) and was looking at ways to expand the cutting area, but once I ran across your videos, I decided to just build a new one from the ground up. I just received the first set of 2040 for the gantries and frame. . . 1000mm x 1500mm bed size!

[@FurtherFabrication]

Wowee that's a big step up in size from the humble k40! Glad to hear you're enjoying the series

[@cpirius]

Thank you for taking the flow switch apart! I was curious about that too and haven't seen it open anywhere else :)

[@andrewrobb633]

Mate that masking tape template trick is gold.

[@sz72909]

That water cooler looks fantastic. Thanks for sharing.

[@domino2205]

great build series! maybe consider say a 1" hole in the bottom of the water cooler box, always a good idea when mounting electronics under water tanks

[@feldon27]

I've been loving these videos and appreciate all the detail you are going into. The CW-3000 chiller is the first thing that has given me pause. The CW-3000 design is an air cooler. It may be suitable for cool climates, but for the southeast and Southwest US, I don't think it will keep up with the heat generated by sustained use. We may not be able to cut at all if the laser cutter is in our garage on a hot day. Cutting really needs to happen below 25°C in the tube to avoid the risk of cracking. Also cut quality decreases as temperature increases. I may deviate from this plan and get a chiller that uses Refrigeration. I'm currently looking at hydroponic cooling systems in the $400 range. Unfortunately the CW-6000 is $1200.

[@FurtherFabrication]

Well said. I'm lucky enough that even in the summer the temperature never really gets above 25C, so I don't have any experience with adding refrigeration. Sounds like a good potential avenue with modified hydroponic systems.

[@feldon27]

@@FurtherFabrication I think this is going to become one of the top watched series on KZbin. Have you considered setting up a patreon?

[@davidlock8473]

What a great idea, Nice one thank you. The only comment is that you could do with some holes in each end to aid the air flow for the fans.

[@Dav4122]

You (or anyone feeling nervous about water and electronics) could add a drain hole(s) on the base of the box under the pump for potential drips

[@pdoubleyou7801]

I was uneasy about that. I would have put the pump through the side of the tank high enough to allow debris to sink to the bottom and not go into the pump. Then a drip tray underneath and no way would I put electrics underneath the tank.

[@squirralien1863]

I would love to know how to wire up the flow sensor, I guess it cuts out power to the tube if there is no water movement but I haven't found a video that covers how to wire it just see them being used. Thanks loving the series.

[@PeterWheeldon]

I'm also a Kiwi and got a CW3000 with my laser. It's still in the box. I just have a 20L container filled with distilled water and the supplied submersible pump. It hasn't even got to lukewarm yet and it's often running for long periods.

[@user-sf9so7pz5z]

Спасибо за видео, хоть я не понимаю языка, все и без этого понятно ))) Очень хорошо все объясняешь )

[@robierobert2639]

Your videos are awesome. Nice work!

[@monodeagua3]

Great Vid-- Building my own Cutter/Engraver soon. Thanks!!!!!!

[@IvanJakesevic]

Great video, but the fans are monted in the wrong direction? The air flow direction of the fans is always towards the plastic cover

[@MilanKarakas]

I think you can buy small fridge and install inside heat exchanger for cooling laser head. Just, make sure to add antifreeze and antifungal additives. Inside such fridge, there is automatic temperature control, and if there is still some room, you can cool beer for self-reward after the job.

[@Zoey_yea_boom]

I think i need to buy you drink if i see you in Welly, You have help me out with some of the decisions on how i was going to my CNC Laser.

[@LairdJ56]

I added my laser bulb to my pc's custom closed loop. 480mm rad handles the cooling fine, but I'm in the UK and our weather is cold and wet 99% of the time

[@MLpz123]

Awesome video and skills!! On another video, I saw a guy using a "Mobicool Thermoelectric Cool box" for active cooling for under 100usd. I will also install a "W1209WK DC12V Digital LED Thermostat Temperature" with 12V LED white and red, so I will have visual alarm of the temperature, white when temperature is ok, red when over the preselected temperature :)

[@juliangoulding]

Nice one bro, looking good!

[@FurtherFabrication]

Cheers homie!

[@BenMillen]

I know it's a very late comment in relation to the build but you could have added an extra fan to the power supply to give you your 4 fans

[@stime6472]

You can walk with a wooden leg but you can't see with a wooden eye. Thanks for sharing!

[@FurtherFabrication]

Wise words!

[@Stephen8454]

lol, i did this with my basic 40w CO2 laser and used twice the rads just for cheap insurance on the tube. Probably overkill but hey, I water cool PCs so I had the rads lying around :D

[@Dezanova]

Awesome 👌.

[@SebastienChedalBornu]

Honestly you took an aquacomputer d5 next with a 12v power supply and you got a good pump that got integrated can control and temperature sensor so you can control fan automatically according to the water temp. And it's fucking reliable, my aquacomputer pump is nearly 10 years old with 5 years running 24/7 on my computer.

[@FurtherFabrication]

Sounds like a pretty good option!

[@Pix8176]

Could you use a glycol water cooling system from a computer just with a bigger pump? I am loving watching this series can't wait for it to be finished so i can get my grubby hands on the plans. Big ups for making this content, and I feel you on how much things cost when we live down under and across the ditch...

[@FurtherFabrication]

Yeah that could work. Though I've heard rumors of additives in the water causing an electrical current to flow through the water supply, so that might be worth investigating. Glad to hear you're enjoying the series.

[@richardrhoads9088]

Is it possible to have the water too cold? What I'm asking is if I had a mini fridge, like the ones for bottle waters etc., can I modify it to hold a container of water and have tubes running into it? Or would that be too cold and possibly crack laser tube?

[@ntvtexan5015]

OK, I wanted to build my own 100W CO2 laser in 4' X 8'...OK, 1220mm X 2440mm...or should I just start with a eBay 100W for $1,700 ? I can't afford a Fiber Laser for what I REALLY want to do, but the 100w can get me started for now ! Your thoughts on using 2040 or 2080 for an 8 foot (2440mm) span, and where I can get single lengths, or just use 2 shorter joined together ? Great videos on the series for the build, can't wait to see the final spec sheet !

[@StallthenTurn]

Would be nice if you could start releasing a materials list, so we can at least start sourcing suppliers, which in Australia, is going to be a project in itself

[@FurtherFabrication]

It's still a work in progress I'm afraid, though I'm working hard to keep things moving as fast as I can to minimize the wait.

[@user-bj6ko6ze4o]

The glass of the pipe is of the same color as if it had been excavated in the Egyptian pyramids! Стекло трубы такого цвета как будто её раскопали в египетских пирамидах !

[@bengmo64]

Why didn't you get 24v fans? Pretty sure noctua makes some

[@alexandreturlier5464]

Your part list is listing 2 switches, with a link to a 4 or 6 Pins. It seems that you are using a 3 Pin in this video

[@ruftime]

Thank you!

[@lordapex9829]

Is the brand of pump you used submersable? I am trying to make a budget friendly Laser cutter and would prefer not to spend more money on a higher wattage power supply.

[@peterlandin457]

How did the cooling system work? Any luck holding the temp down?

[@joshedwards6205]

Anyone building this that wants active cooling should check out aquarium chillers.

[@grimsqueeker8335]

Does the pulsing of the diaphragm air pump affect the laser, or does it just require positive pressure to prevent smoke contamination? Looking forward to the plans and building my own, cheers !

[@FurtherFabrication]

Yeah it's mostly to keep smoke and debris at bay, so the pulsing doesn't worry it

[@jannekallio5047]

so do I understand cottectly I can connect the cables from cooler alarm to the loop made to the laser power? (to the water flow protection)

[@slippyblade]

Microwave safe... Yer awesome!

[@3mkperu600]

Hello friend, the water at how many degrees of temperature must be maintained. why didn't you use chiller

[@gicknardner]

Is an electromagnetic air compressor considerably quieter than using a hardware store air compressor?

[@Rockhopper1]

Great vid, I am doing a closed loop cooling system instead of a large resevoir I am running the water through the radiator which lies flat, on top is four cooling blocks with stacked peltier on top then two cpu cooling fans, The water goes to the laser then from the laser to another radiator then back to the peltier system, its experimental but fingers crossed it works, as for the power I using off grid solar system, so all I lose is power not money. I am not going to be running the laser too long any way, on the lid will be a flow meter and temp gauge, and a kinetic flow meter. Learnt a bit today so thank you.

[@FurtherFabrication]

Awesome, that sounds like a pretty sweet setup! Adding some peltiers might be a good idea for me too in the summer

[@mohamed_fawzy]

keep awesome ❤️

[@MilanKarakas]

Also, near end of the video, you put label "Class 4 laser product", which is not true if it is enclosed and during use does not emit beam directly from the laser. It is now rather "Class 1 laser product", where reflected laser beam (from cutting objects and from bed) does not exceed 1 mW.

[@jannekallio5047]

I am building my own laser at the moment and addind enclosure with 2mm acryl window. Do you think this is enough?

[@derekkehoe172]

how before we get the parts list and build plans? I am looking at making one 1000 mm x 1000 mm and cut 3 mm purspex what size CO2 laser would i need

[@Pan_Borsuk]

I'm curious, how old is that 50W tube? Some people say it will degrade over time no matter how much it is used, but yours still working.

[@FurtherFabrication]

It's a couple of years old. They should be treated as a consumable as they definitely lose their punch over time, but generally it's a pretty slow process.

[@shadowsliver01]

How can you test the power source?

[@almostanengineer]

I’ve seen that masking tape transfer method twice in a week now, looks so much better than the measure and guess method 😅

[@vi683a]

Drum roll please... what was the overall cost?

[@enniebudy]

I'm curious, How much distortion do you think will occur, by using tension belts on a large scale. I used a 5 gallon water jug, for source water, as it keeps the surface area down, reducing contamination and spill risk. Used a flow loop to prevent bubbles from back flow.

[@FurtherFabrication]

Hard to say, provided the gantry is kept light and speeds and accelerations are reasonable it should be fine. Nice, a large reservoir like that has better thermal insulation from heating up too fast as well

[@enniebudy]

@@FurtherFabrication With this video being the first I saw, then episode 3,2,4 and 1... For smoke extraction, you might consider molding duct work up the risers, that can be closed and opened based on the size of the work piece. An area that size will be a challenge. Nice work so far, I'll check out the future videos to see how it comes out.

[@MichaelEdmond]

Question, what you planning on using for a bed? I am designing my own cutter (bigger than the one I have) and need a bed I can use for fairly thin materials... I think I will be stuck with honeycomb bed....

[@FurtherFabrication]

Great question. So when I was building my first 'big' laser cutter last year, I couldn't find any vendors to import a honeycomb bed into New Zealand, for a remotely reasonable price. So frustrated, and needing to get work done, I cut a bunch of 3/4" strips of plywood and ran small nails up through them. No joke, best cuts I've ever seen. Because the smoke wasn't being trapped underneath there was almost no discoloration on the bottoms. So long story short, I'm going to do a refined version of 'sticks with nails in them'

[@MichaelEdmond]

@@FurtherFabrication so essentially a pin board? What about burn through? I will be using mine a fair bit so don't want to have down time to change out the pin bed once done. I was thinking knife bed but knife and pin bed I still need a way to hold material flat, on honeycomb, HDD magnets work a treat!

[@grafbyte]

Beast ! :)

[@888sk8er888]

Why did you use a 24V power supply for the 12V fans? I think I missed something.

[@FurtherFabrication]

the water pump runs off 24v, then the whole fan power thing got confusing

[@LeeRobertsMe]

"Its clear so I can keep an eye on it getting dirty", wouldn't it be better to use deionised water with a little bit of antifreeze and a black nontransparent, light tight container for the cooling ?

[@FurtherFabrication]

That's another totally valid way of doing it. I just prefer to see into the container. I've also found deionised water to much more difficult to get locally.

[@LeeRobertsMe]

@@FurtherFabrication hi mate, fair enough you can get it on Amazon, if you have a Tesco stores in your location they sell the DI also at just £1 for 2.5l the brand is CarPlan and I'm sure other Australian car type shops would have it, surly if you went to these lengths you would get such a life span it wouldn't be as much of a concern to you, not being negative in anyway just trying to help you improve your setup in anyways I can with what I've learnt. For allot of the CNC machines our forum members build with a water cooled spindle, this is the methods we use to keep things great. Thanks for the videos your making, they are very entertaining, informative and we'll put together. O by the way Ep.6 isn't listed in the playlist with the others 😉 just a heads up.

[@FurtherFabrication]

Cheers dude, appreciate the input and the heads up!

[@marouaneladjel1907]

hi good contuniation i have a question i have a 60w power supply I can feed it with a 40w tube

[@FurtherFabrication]

Yeah that's fine. Just run it at a lower power

[@user-ui2nx9ht9z]

Which pump did you use?

[@FurtherFabrication]

It's the model that's used on CW5000 chiller units

[@Tzupaack]

Hey, what is your experience with the power of the laser tubes? What can you cut/engrave with a 150w tube for example? Is it possible to cut 1mm staibless sheet for example?

[@FurtherFabrication]

I've only used lasers up to about 120w. Someone else might be able to chip in here, but I believe you'll need quite a bit more power and gas assist to do any serious damage against metals

[@Tzupaack]

Thanks! I will do my research definitely. I hope it is possible to achive in the homemade category.

[@benharris4436]

@@Tzupaack Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_cutting) suggests 400W for 1mm mild steel and 1kW for stainless steel.

[@stegawow]

Could this sort of radiator cooling work for 100w tubes or would you need refrigeration?

[@FurtherFabrication]

I'd say you'd definitely want to look into refrigeration if you want to be running it for more than an hour at a time. If you live somewhere really cold you might be ok

[@donaldasayers]

Electronics under the water reservoir, interesting decision.

[@DAYLY20]

você tem o arquivo stl pra imprimir esse suporte para segurar o tubo co2? se puder me passar eu te pedi la no instagram!

[@IBI-r3f]

Dear looking for metal engraved laser guide please?

[@TheCalvinSkinner]

Instead of buying a step down converter just buy a 12 volt supply

[@GraydonTreude]

i wouldn't put the electronics under the water tank. seems like asking for failure

[@FurtherFabrication]

That's a fair call, and who knows you could be right. That's the beauty of having someone else do it first though and share the experience right?

[@GraydonTreude]

@@FurtherFabrication fair enough. With my luck it would leak

[@neilgillies6943]

Absolutely correct - when (not if) it leaks - or when filling, you will drench the electronics - dangerous. Safer to invert the system and make filling more awkward.

[@l3000c]

Honesly, for the money you could have bought a Aeon Nova or Aeon Mira laser machine that is 100% reliable, tested, and flawless.

[@feldon27]

You're kidding right? FF's design is going to cost $2000 to build for a 48" x 36" (1200mm x 900mm). Aeon Mira 5 is $6000 for 12” x 20” (300mm x 500mm). Aeon Nova 10 is $12,995 for 1000*700mm. Laser cutters are all off the shelf parts, a power supply and a controller. FF has chosen the best controller you can get -- Ruida.

[@3dtechnologycnc257]

Hi, we are a Mexican company that distributes pieces like aluminum profiles, v wheels, screws, ruida systems, belts and many more parts to manufacture. and Our clients are interested in your guide and we have urged them to buy it from you so that we can provide the parts in this country (we have same or better price than aliexpress). There is 100+ people interested in MÉXICO. If you need it we can made a translated version of the guide to spanish, upload the link in your page with the updated links for buy all the assemble kit in stock!

[@semperidem2577]

Why didn't you just buy a submersible pump? Then all you'd need to worry about is the holes in the lid for the tubes.

[@TheCalvinSkinner]

STEP BIT FOR PLASTIC! I had the same reaction haha

[@tomaszbiskup891]

9:40 I cant watch this... I would not put power supply inside closed wooden box like this. In case of hose leaks, broken pump or box seal water will partially fill wooden box and power supply. And with that fill technique and water splash... Yeah. 7:59 Wiring 12V cooling/CPU fans in series for 24V is bad idea, especially those with hall sensor IC. If one fan is stopped other fan can get full 24v and burn hall IC. Otherwise love the build series. Noob question: To what kind of temperature range laser tube must be cooled down?

[@FurtherFabrication]

I understand your anxiety, we all have our own limits of acceptable risk. In my experience, this is something I'm comfortable with, worst case scenario is it could short and I blow the fuse located in the socket on the back. I want to give a 'true' experience of a Laser Build so leaving in all the potential for failure is part of what I think is important. That's a great question though, I've found running between 10-20 degree C (50-70F) to be ideal. With short instances of up to 30 degree C ok, if unavoidable.

[@oleglego3655]

That air pump sucks balls. Air vibration fucks up the engraving depth on higher speeds.

[@giovannipetitti1588]

💯💯👍👏👏👏👏

[@Chazz155511]

Bruh, why you look down tube!?

[@FurtherFabrication]

haha good to know people are watching till the end!

[@Chazz155511]

@@FurtherFabrication Well played...