Longer Ray5 10W Laser engraver overview- Small but mighty.

I got sent a Longer Ray5 10w laser engraver, and decided to so some projects with it.
Here's the link to the product: s.zbanx.com/r/jjzdIY62qbop
It’s a pretty capable machine for a budget laser engraver. I used to grind a tool bit for my shaper to repair the back gears on my Logan model 200 lathe, since buying involute gear cutters is expensive. I also used to it help design and layout a replacement for the latch for the back gear rack.
I cut an index for my Morse Taper shank drills, and engraved some shop art related to my Index model 40 milling machine.
If you like what I'm doing here and find some value in it (or you need the drawing of the back gear catch for the Logan lathe), consider supporting my work on Patreon. Patrons get ad-free videos, behind the scenes content, and a deep feeling of satisfaction and well being that come with knowing they're helping me create.
/ jeremymakesthings

[@Rustinox]

The shaper to the rescue again. On a shaper you can make whatever you want. Just go for it :)

[@j.dietrich]

As the old adage goes, you can make anything with a shaper except money.

[@Rustinox]

@@j.dietrich This is indeed a statement typically made by people who don't know how to run a shaper.

[@pauls5745]

The only thing you can't make with a shaper is money haha

[@rallymax2]

Using it as a template and labeler is genius.

[@grntitan1]

That’s why you need two lathes. Maybe three. 😊 I’ve cut a bunch of gears using single point hand ground cutters. It works quite well and when done right the finished product is indistinguishable from those cut with an involute gear cutter. Nice work!!!

[@HM-Projects]

Good job selling the engraver, added to my shopping list.

[@nefariousyawn]

Seriously. He made the best use case demonstration for a laser engraver in a hobby metal shop.

[@DreamstoRealityAutomotiveTV]

The masking tape layout tip is fantastic

[@edsmachine93]

Nice work. The Lazer is awesome. Nice job fixing the gears in the lathe. First class job. Thanks for sharing. Take care, Ed.

[@julias-shed]

Using modern tools to fix old ones is cool 😀 I used my CO2 laser to make felt oils seals for an old Capstan lathe.

[@jdmccorful]

Enjoyed the prmo. Thanks for the look and your time.

[@kendingsor]

Laser engraver 5/5 for putting birds on things (birds aren't real). 2/5 cutting through 3/4" hardwood

[@garrettjones7202]

Are you saying all birds arnt real or just the ones from the laser….

[@kendingsor]

@@garrettjones7202 birds are robot spies for the government.

[@billmontgomery8900]

That is a friggin great idea with the laser etcher! I will be looking for one now. This is why I watch you guys and follow your channels. I love the fact that us back yard engineers have a way to communicate and share ideas. Just imagine all the things that will come in the following years!

[@Warped65er]

Good test drive/review of your new laser engraver.

[@davidsnyder2000]

Thank you Jeremy for all the work you put into these videos. They really are good. I always look forward to your forthcoming videos. I get to learn a lot from them. And there entertaining 👍🙂

[@sjv6598]

If you drill through the brazed on teeth you can pin them to give them a better chance of not popping off.

[@thehobbymachinistnz]

Great fix on the gears. And, that laser engraver is fantastic. I can think of 100 uses for it here.

[@yeagerxp]

Well done . Informative 👍👍👍. Thank you for sharing. Be safe🇨🇦

[@jeremylastname873]

Excellent endeavor.

[@thefinalthirdnetworktm5368]

This was a great video. I have a Logan 210 with similar issues of one or two broken teeth, and think brazing is a great idea. I 3D printed the safety tab for the backgear and it works "good enough". Keep up the good work! I love your videos. Whenever I get tempted to buy a part I tell myself 'No'! Make it!. That's what Jeremy would do.

[@northwind7409]

I just recently built an engraver with swappable 5W and 10W lasers (10W with air). I've been experimenting with cutting thin wood and engraving steel, wood tile and glass. You've just giver me a whole bin-full of ideas. On some projects, I occasionally print out my design at 1:1 and tape that to the work-piece to centre-punch locations. It would be so convenient to etch the whole thing on the metal. Everything would be clearly shown and easy to work with. New rabbit-hole - I could put the 5W laser on my little CNC mill and control it through Mach3. Thanks for the new ideas.

[@jmunozar]

Wow this is really impressive! I never thought that one could repair a tooth, thanks for sharing this! :O

[@jacobyunderhill3999]

Oh man, if I'm Longer, I'm over the moon right now haha. It takes a lot for me to be marketed something (even as subtle as this is) and really enjoy it. But this was great. Wonderful to see such spontaneous, specific use cases that are still generally applicable. Never would have thought of doing layout with a laser, but that's brilliant. I've been wanting to get some kind of CNC something to mess with for years and this has usurped 3D printer on the top of my list as I can imagine more practical uses. Been tossing around even just a cricut as well... maybe this could do some of that stuff too.

[@lloydbaker7099]

Great content

[@chemicalcorrosion]

Nice video. Smiled when I realized your laser art had (made in) Jackson, Michigan. I live in Jackson!

[@isaiahgillett2573]

Making a honeycomb bed for your new laser cutter would be a nice project.

[@fredbloggs4829]

I really enjoyed this video. Very novel use for the engraver. If the brazed teeth do wear/fall off again, you can drill some dowels where the teeth are meant to be be and then braze. As for pointing the laser at something, it would be really great to see text engraved into black anosided aluminium.

[@rodfrey]

I saw an article years ago in home shop machinist about brazing on material to repair gears. That guy said you had to drill into the gear body and put threaded studs in where the teeth would be, and braze around them. If the tooth falls off again maybe try that. I can't believe you can engrave metal with those things. I used to have a 130W CO2 laser and I couldn't do anything to metal without that marking paint they sell.

[@pauls5745]

yeah because most metals are reflective. there's a step he didn't show so it would engrave the steel.

[@gorak9000]

Also the wavelength of the laser is important - CO2 lasers are infrared (long wave), this is blue/violet (short wave). Infrared is good for some things, and blue/violet is good for different things.

[@glenpaul3606]

Enjoyable video. You did a good job fixing your lathe.

[@billbaggins]

Good results all round mate👍 Nice to see how it all came together after seeing the progress on Discord. Don't know much about em but that laser seems pretty impressive, if you feel like being adventurous you could try doing my makers mark on the knife that I completely forgot about 🤦‍♂🤣

[@freeliberalminds]

Great work 👏👏

[@KayleeKerin]

That was a fun use of the laser! Knowing me, I'd get nerd-sniped into making the program to cut the entire relief in the piece too (and therefore taking multiple days at 10w 🤣 )

[@AronGreen]

Get the air assist, they work well, and also keep the lens clean. Worth also cleaning the lens at this point, it might be sooted up.

[@cliffordarrow6557]

creative!

[@Dudleymiddleton]

That involute pattern is tricky and fussy to reproduce. Ideally the teeth want to roll off each other not rub - there's a fine line between the two! Well done great job! The engraver is really great, too!

[@be007]

in my opinion the year 2022 and 2023 is the year of the aggressive sales strategy of big corporations? i see more and more good yt channels turning into tel-sell channels. I hope this channel doesn't go down that road. cheers ben.

[@ferrumignis]

Honestly I'm pretty impressed that it's possible to burn through that thickness of wood (eventually) with a 10W laser, and the marking on the HSS looked very good. Is a DIY air assist on the TODO list?

[@barthanes1]

You could go crazy with labeling your flat tooling.

[@Man-in-da-shed]

A laser engraved Index plate in Brass for the mill would set it off nice.

[@wayne6318]

Thanks for sharing this, great video. One thing I've been wondering if a 10w laser would cut through 3mm brass or annealed copper

[@chrislee7817]

I spend ages trying to read the shanks of my morse taper drills. This laser would be great to mark the taper with the sizes written BIG . 👍

[@jimurrata6785]

"Semi-steel. So maybe cast iron with a little steel mixed in" I about fell off my chair! 😁

[@JeremyMakesThings]

I did a bit more research, and that’s pretty much exactly what it was. Cast iron with some scrap steel mixed it. For context, it’s a WWII era machine, so it makes sense.

[@jimurrata6785]

@@JeremyMakesThings Steel is a solution of carbon in pure iron. 1020 = 0.2%, 1080 = 0.8%, etc.. _Cast_ iron is a solution of carbon with _more than_ 1.7%, and typically ~3%

[@jacobyunderhill3999]

​@@jimurrata6785 theoretically ;) Anyone from Sheffield will tell you that you can't reduce steel to just iron and carbon ratios though.

[@christopherenoch4230]

Great video! I think the wood might need a light sanding for best results.

[@diegomartincavallo8491]

me suscribo muy bueno saludos desde argentina

[@geoffreyward4743]

the death star

[@FullSendPrecision]

I'd love to know/see what it can do on 416 stainless.

[@DK-vx1zc]

Nice review. Thanks. I was curious if these lasers can engrave lines and numbers on machine dials

[@therestorationshop]

I have the Longer LK5 3d printer and it works pretty good. A laser is certainly something I'll be looking at fairly soon. I have a couple of brass tags I need to make so maybe that would be an option. I'm not really sure how deep the laser will engrave brass.

[@624Dudley]

Hello Jeremy, that was interesting. I have no experience with laser engraving, other than seeing it done at the Starrett factory. That said, I understand that cylinders can be tricky to engrave; is that something you might attempt? I’m picturing graduated machine dials.

[@brucewilliams6292]

Neat ideas for the use of the a laser. Did you put an etching chemical on the steel before you shot it with the laser or was that just hitting the HSS straight?

[@JeremyMakesThings]

Straight onto the steel

[@SonofTheMorningStar666]

👍

[@johna2076]

Could you please try engraving on lots of different materials? Chromed steel like wrench sockets, aluminium, hot rolled steel with scale, rusty metal, anodized aluminium, painted metal, stainless steel, steel with the scale ground off, 3D printed plastic. And I see other examples on the web of engraving different colours on metal - is that doable? Make some boxes with dog bone style cut fingers for tool trays. How's that for a video ? Thanks it was interesting Jeremy.

[@mastermaker666]

Would love to see if it will cut laminate flooring, that stuff is cheap and available everywhere. The cheap stuff is still HDF-wood with a phenolic backing and a wear-surface on the other side and stiff/strong enough to serve as a direct replacement for most things you would make out of the same or slightly thinner alu or 1-2mm sheet-metal, and the more expensive stuff is even better and has a wear-surface that is so though you could actually use it as a sliding surface for many kinds of tools(cnc-router, angle-grinder slide-stand etc. could probably build a complete dremel-spindled milling-machine out of the stuff)....

[@JeremyMakesThings]

I think I have some scraps in the shop.

[@mastermaker666]

@@JeremyMakesThings Cutting it from the rear is probably the best option as many wear-surfaces have stone and mineral powder in them.

[@RoyMeraki]

when is your mill restoration video will start. eagerly waiting for the same

[@JeremyMakesThings]

I’ve got one or two other projects I need to finish up to be ready to do it, but I’ve also got a lot of other unrelated projects on the list too, so I’m really not sure when I’ll get to it.

[@RoyMeraki]

@@JeremyMakesThings okay.. I was waiting for this for some time now. will definately watch once it is out..

[@ironhead65]

Did you have to coat the HSS with anything to engrave like that? Did not seem it, but I thought laser diode style lasers typically cannot do anything to metal?

[@JeremyMakesThings]

Nothing, it seems to do really well straight on to steel.

[@Cheenoux]

I also have the longer ray 5 10w but for some reason i couldn't engrave aluminum. I ran it 100% power and only at 50 speed but still no scratch. Any idea?

[@JeremyMakesThings]

Diode lasers like this won’t mark aluminum (or certain other metals like copper) directly. You’ll have to use something like Cermark, which is basically a pigment the laser burns into/onto the metal. I haven’t tried it, or looked into it too much even, so I can’t give you specifics, but that at least gets you on the right path.

[@glennmoreland6457]

I've got gear pitch gauges and they're expensive ☹🇬🇧

[@DangerousSportsForSeniors]

Could you cut gaskets with that?

[@JeremyMakesThings]

I’m sure you could, and I probably will

[@Peter_Nottle]

🤔I feel i know this story already, Déjà vu ? 🤔

[@piccilos]

Why will it engrave tool steel but not aluminum?

[@JeremyMakesThings]

Part of is the aluminum disperses the heat too quickly (more so than the steel), and I THINK part of it the the markings of the steel are result of forming oxides (like when it turns colors when you heat it with a torch), but aluminum doesn’t do that.

[@user-cr1oc8nc6e]

Where are the videos about JEEP?, I'm really waiting!

[@JeremyMakesThings]

My need to overcomplicate everything means that this next one is taking a lot longer than I’d like, but I think the result will be worth the wait.

[@user-cr1oc8nc6e]

@@JeremyMakesThings I hope that everything will work out for you, and the result will exceed expectations!

[@camillosteuss]

Bruh, please, get some proper laser goggles rated for the wavelength output of your machine... Laser goggles are quite costly, and highly specific for wavelength ranges that they can block... Ditch those green sunshades... I have those same glasses for years now, as they were the decent option for me when i needed to grind some thick rust... Sure, they shade the sight, but they are thick and wont crack or get fucked that easily... But laser output and an angle grinder sparks and shrapnel are two diametrically opposed danger sources... Be smart about this, lasers are much more specific and destructive than even a welding arc, and even the welding glass shade 13 wont stop quite a lot of wavelengths emitted by laser modules... Please, dont fuck with lasers... Also, look at the colour of your protective glass around the laser module, its orange-pinkish, and it can block the wavelength of that laser(or at least should), whereas your goggles are green, and thus block my cock and maybe a stray rock, but not specific high energy wavelength of that little box of blindness.. Ditch those as laser protection, use them to hammer and forge shit or for such things, but for optical protection from laser, please, look at the module, read its output wavelength and invest in proper goggles... A laser than can burn wood or etch metal can obliterate your sight in a nanosecond with a decent refraction and thats it... No more editing, machining, no more seeing your kids or your hairy balls... Dont do it to yourself, i enjoy your content since you had a much smaller number of followers, and dont want for stupid shit to cost you more than the whole world can pay off... Kissing a shotgun i can understand by anyone, but errantly blinding oneself would be a tragedy beyond the sweet kiss of lead... I try to give the same advice to most content creators who get these danger synthesizers, but i hope it will get through to you... I know those special glasses cost a lot, but lasers are just as bad as working with anthrax or dimethyl mercury or such... One little mistake and thats it folks, you are done for good... Most mistakes can lead to harmless refraction and you can make billion harmless mistakes, but a single one can lead to fate worse than death...

[@pauls5745]

couldn't you use the engraver to make the profile on the gear and grind down to the line? Instead of making a tool.

[@JeremyMakesThings]

I think I tried that to give me a reference line, but it was too hard to get the gear lined up properly and the engraver didn’t work in the braze. I think you could cut a mask out of tape with the tooth profile, stick it to the gear, and use marking fluid or paint to mark what you want to grind of file out though.

[@christopherbill8537]

Do I get to make the first comment? Why, yes I do!

[@Tom-xn7zc]

Awesome job dude. Killer first comment, it's so original!

[@christopherbill8537]

@@Tom-xn7zc Thanks - it's some of my best work!

[@christopherenoch4230]

I got my first yesterday, on Matt's Off Road Recovery! My grandson was so proud! 😉

[@Tom-xn7zc]

@@christopherenoch4230 Another Christopher, how cool is that?! Well Christopher, please tell me all about what happened to you yesterday.

[@christopherenoch4230]

@@Tom-xn7zc Tom, I'm delighted you asked... Just the same stuff on a delightful day. Besides the "First Comment", it was fairly ordinary.

[@Pest789]

4:56 The only thing you can't make with a shaper is money. :)

[@Fshsa485]

Lost foam casting patterns.

[@michaelclark9409]

Maybe see if you can shoot it at Chinese balloons.