New laser machine for PCBs, Aluminium and more

[@4.0.4]

At 7:28 we see the proper safety procedure of etching PCBs.

[@battlecoder]

And at 5:25, how to properly test if a laser diode is working.

[@Anvilshock]

Do not look into beam with remaining eye.

[@BillAnt]

Hmm... I was trying to wrap my brain around how will this "laser etching" work, since it's not actually vaporizing the copper. Then it dawned on me that he's basically etching away a small grove AROUND the traces, so after the chemical etching those traces will be free and and independent from the rest of the board... very cool! :)

[@Mirandorl]

Your humour is drier than dessicated coconut thats been left in the sahara desert with a sachet of silica gel and then eaten with an extra dry martini. I love it. You shouldn't eat silica gel though. Says so on the packet.

[@adorned0]

:DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

[@BillAnt]

Or drier than a semen stain on the bed sheet at a cheep "Motel 8".. tsk-tsk

[@user46782]

literally all germans

[@apricotcomputers3943]

Exactly, the guys German. Lol

[@PaperPackingMachines]

Great working! By the way, please feel free to get back to us, if you will need Smart High Power High Voltage UV Lamp Ballasts, reference at www.uvballastsupplying.com. Thanks and have a good day! :- )

[@FireguyNtx]

Totally awesome, and love the dry added humor as well. Very interested in the flex circuit designs in the future. Have been looking also for a perfect way to etch for ages. Remember over 30 years ago the old radio shack etch kit, messy and time consuming. Think I will give this a shot. Thanks.

[@dbzssj4678]

Just found this channel, I know what I'll be doing this weekend.

[@JohnBailey39]

The laser firing at start-up is because the control pin is floating while the Arduino is initialising (on my board at least). A 10k resistor across the TTL connections on my laser control board fixed that problem for me. Not sure if there is a way to do that easily on a ready made board like that, but on my separate controller board, it was pretty easy.

[@DrexProjects]

I would use something like this module and slice it to the laser power wires. www.aliexpress.com/item/12V-DC-Infinite-Cycle-Delay-Timing-Timer-Relay-ON-OFF-Switch-Loop-Module-Trigger/32820660645.html That way you could adjust the the delay time of the laser power to allow the arduino time to boot up.

[@satipsrl5207]

same problem with my acan , first time was worried to see my wifes wooden desk with a big burn due at my disattention to power the device without usb plug connected to my pc... :-)

[@shraiwi]

*THE LASER IS A DEADLY LAZER*

[@brunocabral1578]

Taking this video as inspiration I decided to try this the DIY way. Lasercut the openbuild ACRO plates on a friend, buy some aluminum profiles, a cheap 500mW laser diode from aliexpress, arduino uno + cnc shield with a4988 drivers, some screws and motors and belt and pulleys and mount everything. Then I used lasergrbl and it worked like a charm cutting paper, EVA, cardboard, and engraving wood. It was all easier than I thought. Will try to laser some PCBs soon

[@pheenix42]

Thinking of making a circular slide rule, and I think this type of machine would be just the ticket for etching the scales on the moving parts. Thanks for the upload!

[@techtalkmike4968]

Having just recently completed the build of an Eleksmill CNC machine myself I laughed when I heard the rooster crow in the background. A build I thought would take 2-3 hours, ended-up taking 6.5 hours including witnessing the sunrise ... on a workday!

[@Spirit532]

One thing to try doing for custom flex is to try heating the -kapton- *koptan* tape with a heat gun, and also try having thicker traces and no big fill planes. And deeper "cuts"(more passes).

[@K.D.Fischer_HEPHY]

5:05 - AYYYLMAO. Glad you kept your sight, good sir.

[@AlexKenis]

The flexible pcb idea was great. I'll have to give that a try in the future!

[@allthegearnoidea6752]

I love your shot of firing the laser at the butane- LOL

[@battlecoder]

Awesome. Would love to see more experiments with the laser engraver and your Captain Tape©.

[@ZoeyR86]

not sure if anyone has noted this but 445nm lasers us an array based chip tech so you can't get a dotyou end up the a very fine line or oval shaped Dot. if you want a round dot use a 405nm laser as they have a true round dot. the dot can be made 3x smaller then a 445nm laser so a 1 watt 405nm preforms about as good as a 3 watt 445nm also with what your doing try swapping the steppers 0.9deg 400 step motors and Ti DRV drivers with finer micro-stepping you will lose 15~20% of your top speed but gain 16X the control over X and Y if you want the top speed back try using a 18~24v power supply for the stepper drivers only.

[@Rewind_Start_Over]

techmasterjoe thank you, I appreciate the heads up.

[@satipsrl5207]

exact ....the burn on my wifes wooden desk has an oval shape :-)

[@jakobhalskov]

Hah, 5:26 made me smile! (I am in the middle of binge watching every video you ever made)

[@charleshines6155]

Those flexible PCBs can open the door for people to create a ton of things. I never thought of using those two types of tape but that is clever. We have some of that aluminum tape which would be very similar to that copper stuff. Also some double sided tape that is remarkably strong for what it is.

[@mikevanin1]

Nicely done, Marco! I have to mention that you forgot to tell us that ... You'll be back!

[@kirkmham]

what field of engineering does this fall under? truly fascinating stuff

[@nubletten]

Saying "peeling that will be the highlight of my day" + no change in voice tone = me having a good lol

[@charleshines6155]

I am just glad that thing didn't blind you. Those lasers are very dangerous to unprotected eyes.

[@DavidALovingMPF102]

My laser engraver should arrive the end of this month...Very good video.

[@brh4015]

Bungard sells 0.125mm PCBs even double sided. They are basically sort of pre pregs for multilayer boards. They are not flex PCBs when compared to the kapton based ones. But they are flexible.

[@MidnightVisions]

@8:37 The reason for the spacing difference on angled lines is the belt configuration running over the pulley wheels has too much expansion and contraction in the belt and wheels. Changing the belt to a reinforced non expanding type and changing the drive configuration to a standard arrangement will fix that.

[@reps]

I think the belts do have a metal mesh reinforcement inside. What did you mean by 'drive configuration to a standard arrangement'?

[@MidnightVisions]

This design wrapps the belt around the wheels. the expansion and contraction of the wheels alters the positioning of the head on that axis. the belts should not have any source of contact except for the two pulleys at each end of the machine. this will give the least amount of positioning error.

[@reps]

Yeh, the flexing wheels! That sounds like a possibility. Thanks for the idea!

[@Moonblade042194]

Ordered one with your coupon code I'll upload a video about my usage when it arrives.

[@user-nb8yt2il2r]

6:12 a masterpiece is born

[@Custom_Heroes]

Hello. Could you please explain again how did you mange to do flexible PCB? Step by step

[@android4cg]

Wow, great video! Please make video showing the complete workflow. It seems to be one of the best lasered PCB's i have seen on youtube so far. Thanks for sharing !!!!

[@Natemasterflex]

OMFG I laughed my butt off when you had the gas canister and your eye under the laser! Very funny 😁

[@gortnewton4765]

Very nice assembly and review, thanks for showing us.

[@maule5653]

I thoroughly enjoy your style of vids and your humor. I'm out of my depths electronically, but glean much entertainment from them. Thank you.

[@instanoodles]

Sometimes I wish I bought a kit for my CNC machine, it has been a work in progress for along time. This is very interesting

[@brunocabral1578]

you can mount something similar buying openbuils ACRO plate set, some aluminum profiles, nema motors, arduino uno / cnc shield / a4988 drivers and an aliexpress 2500mW laser for about half the price he paid.

[@carloh8790]

I've watched tons of computer videos and this one was by far the funniest and entertaining video I've seen! Never thought I'd been laughing at a computer videos. Love your humor ;)

[@m1geo]

Excellent! Just the information I was looking for, presented well, clearly, and with a splash of humour! I've subscribed! Thanks!

[@hiney69]

masking tape on raw copper sheet - cut out solder pad shapes. then spray paint over the whole thing, incl. the masked solder pads. then etch the traces. then remove the tape. bam

[@pentachronic]

I was thinking the same but use Kapton. Basically cut the positive shape into kapton, adhere it to your Copper clad board, and then spray with etch resist/paint. Cure, pull off kapton and etch. Basically like the photo lithography they use for silkscreen or paste stencils.

[@AngelusMortis1000]

He is good at reviews

[@CatMoff]

В этом ЧПУ 2 вещи под сомнением: 1 - это то, что для использования всего лишь одного лазера, который при прожигании не имеет сопротивления при прожиге, (как это происходит во фрезерных чпу при обработке например дерева) не обосновано использование данной кинематики; 2 - то что ремень будет протираться колесом при контакте, так как диаметр контакта колеса с ремнем больше чем контакт колеса с рамой.

[@brandonbentley8532]

Impressive kit for the price!

[@jbs428]

Nice job, looking forward to more...

[@ratbagley]

1:50. Well done.

[@RixtronixLAB]

Cool video shot, thanks for sharing, keep it up :)

[@5150mkii]

I gave this video a like just for the goat.

[@FLyyyT_]

I do that too when I peel the acrylic paper

[@WaltonPete]

Another inspiring video. Now I want a laser engraver! Your dogs are really cute BTW!

[@paulinmt2185]

Nice overview. Thanks!

[@clausnymann5527]

+1 for the Husaberg logo! :-)

[@NTGInnovations]

Marco, you are a genious! Kind regards from east Germany! :D

[@thomashanson7600]

Presented in a fine way. Thank you. I would never have attempted such a build had I not watched your vid. I am a graphic designer not a C.B. designer. I don't think this would work to take the place of a good photo emulsion unless you have any pointers. Again, thanx Tom

[@marksierra3522]

They gave him a pretty nice case for the parts...

[@BABAjijilicious]

omg you got me at 2:33

[@zlackbiro]

Powered by Arduino Nano (CH340 serial) and Arduino CNC shield! :)))))))

[@nxxxxzn]

We love you man. Keep it up

[@Fugatech3DPrinting]

Would love to see how you set up LaserWeb. I'm new to lasers and having a hard time trying to import something for it to cut.

[@manickn6819]

Good review. Looks decent. If you improve the quality please do another video with details.

[@Stelios.Posantzis]

Nice, very nice. I definitely liked the parts with the innocent looking puppies and the Koptan tape. Printing flexible pcbs by using kapton film seems like a great idea, if you can improve it. On the other hand, I still do not like the idea of these jagged lines all digital printers make when it comes to making pcbs. Or maybe, I just like straight lines to be actually straight rather than staircase-like. Somehow it doesn't feel right to me. Although I know in low frequency and voltage applications it's no problem at all, I have this nagging thought that it may cause reliability issues 10-20 years down the line (I have this thing about making things that last) especially when, upon maginification, it appears that the staircase lines are actually composed in fact by a number of horizontal segments which have tiny gaps in between (9:07), quite serpentine-like. I'm sure a CNC machine could be designed that would allow for the head to move in a variety of angles. It would only take only one more motor and one more rail (welll, actually two rails: one free to rotate on which the head can slide and one fixed where the other end of the rotating rail would be supported). Is there such a thing out there? I reckon it could be worth the trouble because in theory it should put much less strain on the vertical motion motors (and the whole moving assemblies) when printing diagonal or curved lines. Another advantage would be that it would print perfect circles of any size.

[@jeffbeck6501]

Wow. Check out those caliper pliers I think they are called in the USA. Pico de Loros in Spanish. At 1:13. Those are awesome pliers.

[@johnchiz54]

We cut through clear acrylic and polycarbonate with our 30w co2 laser

[@shanethereefer9428]

Great vid, thoroughly enjoyed your info, humour and general delivery. Liked, subscribed and notifications enabled 👍

[@TheMadMagician87]

Points for the Hussy'berg, represent!

[@TheOriginalEviltech]

It's all because of the shape of the laser dot. It is not cylindrical, it's a thick line.

[@amperion1]

Use NAND gate. plug it to laser controll pin and other one spare in controller pinout. When controller is booting it is setting all pins at 1. With NAND gate youll get 0 while booting and 1 then operating. It costs one free pin on pinout and almost nothing on gate.

[@Vape_Master69]

Your videos are so awesome!

[@bikefarmtaiwan1800]

Great video content- wonderful narrating voice, really very engaging! Good stuff.

[@WilliamEllison]

Love you man keep it up. Great video and funny

[@backofficeshow]

Marco, I have the T8 and it also does that damn tool power up on boot as well. Still, it was cheap and hackable.

[@rgones]

8:40 Your diagonal lines are coming out too narrow because that laser doesn't project a circular dot. >1W blue-ish diodes are usually multimode, producing an astigmatic bar-like shaped beam no matter how you try focus them. To get a circular gaussian beam easily, you should use single-mode laser diode. An affordable option is using 12x 405nm Blu-Ray laser diodes (search ebay for BDR-209 diode), which you can find on ebay and go up to around 800-900mW. Careful with more powerful models, since some 405nm multimode diodes have cropped up in the market and those won't be any better.

[@lpjunction]

Just a thought. Use powder coating gun to lay a powder layer on the copper. Use laser to cure the powder to create the conduction path. The uncured area not lasered is easy to remove. Next put the board to FeCl3 solution for etching. Then remove the powder coating layer. Drill the through holes. Refering etching. Best result is etching in hot solution. Try this, find a transparent zip lock polybag roughly 20% larger than the PCB. Put a sugar cube size FeCl3 into the bag. Then pour in hot water of around 90degree C. Insert the PCB then seal the zip lock of the bag. Put the bag on a small board that you can tilt it. Tilt the board +10 degrees then -10 degrees. In this way, the FeCl3 solution is slightly agitated, so you don't need use air pump to do the agitation. Zip lock bag keeps the hot solution from evaporating, so the temperature stays high whether etching.

[@linuxmintman]

I don't know if you use this but I would recommend some conformal coating ($20

[@sarahclark5447]

Isn't this machine limited not by the software but first by the "dot" size of the laser and secondly by the step size of the laser head? surely the ultimate machine would necessarily have to have an x-y step very small indeed but the dot size of the laser would have to be variable too. my dad is experimenting with an inkjet printer "sprayer" what it is, is a unit from a factory he worked at, it isn't from an inkjet printer but from a, production date and serial number conveyer line, as the products go by the print head date's the product the ink drys instantaneously and is etch resistant. the printhead my dad has is large and heavy but it can fire a dot from 20 mm away so small you can hardly see it, the print head for obvious reasons only has the dot matrix in the x-direction (as the moving conveyor is the y) further, and more interesting the ink used in this head is designed to spray onto plastic! if anyone is reading this from the uk and is working on a traditional inkjet printer setup and you would like to try this ink I could send you a little to see if that takes your project forward. Miss Sarah Clark.

[@anibalvilelarj]

Hello Sarah, did your Dad completed his tests with that etch resistant ink ?

[@razz5891]

Hey marco, I must say I really love your videos. Could I request a video on a good headphone amplifier, the components might be readily available with you already and the internet is full of tutorials etc.. but your explanations are very easy to understand !!

[@allthegearnoidea6752]

Very impressed. I always wanted to have a PCB mill. But I'm thinking with the low cost of China PCB this type of equipment is expensive and still a lot of work. But I'm sure the making is part of the hobby that you enjoy. Well done very interesting and thanks best regards Chris

[@allthegearnoidea6752]

Well I understand that feeling and used to make PCBs myself. It however normally quicker than six weeks more likely 2-3 the services I use.

[@gregandark8571]

For more examples and references about how to craft your own pcb's, you can find also here ; search on youtube for the following videos : 1 Making PCBs with LDGraphy 2 PCB Laserprinter Version 2 3 Homemade Laser Exposer .

[@Unstable23]

Yah, that looks good!

[@tobystewart4403]

I have also ported my own fork of Gerber to make it work with Chinese knock off CNC machines. I felt like a real man's nerd for weeks afterwards. Heck, I still talk about it.

[@ser7ser7i]

Thank you

[@ByeTech]

nice rooster and dogs!

[@gregandark8571]

For more examples and references about how to craft your own pcb's, you can find also here ; search on youtube for the following videos : 1 Making PCBs with LDGraphy 2 PCB Laserprinter Version 2 3 Homemade Laser Exposer .

[@PeteVanDemark]

Great stuff!

[@MCsCreations]

Really nice!

[@sarreqteryx]

it seems to me one of the axes is just slightly out of alignment. that could cause the diagonals to cut the way they did.

[@TheLawrenceWade]

"Peeling that off will be the highlight of my day." LMFAO. It reminds me of when I worked in collections and we had an amazing lady with a Ukrainian accent. "You must to come in to pay us or the bad things will happen."

[@pepper669]

Fuckin' high power laser will never enter my friggin' house.

[@edercarneiro]

Cool as hell.

[@Eman2000]

Do you think that this would cut opaque white acrylic?

[@reps]

Not sure, depending on the thickness it might just end up being a half melted, half charred mess ...

[@Eman2000]

Thanks for the reply. I was thinking about 3mm. Also this brings up another question. Is it worth it to buy the 5500 mw version. It's about twice the laser power but also twice the price.

[@brunocabral1578]

a friend of mine that uses CO2 laser in hist work told me once that low powered lasers can actually cut i.e. 6mm acrylic, you just need to be slower and add a blower to remove garbage from the laser path while it is cutting the material. I never tried, though

[@NearEDGE]

Wait a minute, are you Mr. Puzzle?

[@Paxmax]

Very nice boot up state of the laser driver output... How can they get every other thing ok-ish but just completely disregard this obvious safety hazard!? ..what if there is a power out and machine reboots?! Fire hazard?

[@tedvanmatje]

hi marco. this is the first of your videos that I have watched....have to say, this laser etching seems like a solid idea to me, man. if any of you guys have any ideas how I can convince my wife that I need one, I'd be grateful ;) thanks for sharing.... +1 to your subscriber list

[@TerryPorterElectronics]

Excellent tutorial, and funny too :)

[@liveen]

Wait wait, with the laser powering on issue, couldnt you maybe have it inverted in hardware, and then in the controller's software you have it inverted again there? so it turns OFF (from off, I know) at first, then the controller starts and you have it set to do nothing until you start a job? its hacky, but if it works, that could be something?

[@northshorepx]

Great video - v. informative and very funny. I love your your sardonic jokes.

[@urdnal]

1:55 ...subscribed.

[@VNNZTC]

Thank you for the video...One comment, I find your voice very easy to listen to, unlike some of the American voices which they seem to have to have irritating music in the background to accompany them speaking... I found it easy to understand and helpful as I am going to buy a machine soon...I am still at the investigation stage as obviously the investment is quite high so I want to make sure that I get exactly what I want and need...You have a new subscriber...Thank you Marco...

[@avejst]

Wow. Thanks for sharing😀👍

[@seanflanagan5674]

Please do a follow-up and explain the features that persuaded you to purchase this machine. A quick view of the page on BankBad's site shows several 2500mW devices. Additionally, are the sources of the upgrades posted on your Patreon page? (I am very interested in following your lead on this project, though not for PCBs.)

[@reps]

GRBL update: github.com/gnea/grbl/wiki/Flashing-Grbl-to-an-Arduino Laserweb software: github.com/LaserWeb/LaserWeb4

[@seanflanagan5674]

mr mister, I first wish to know the things he considered and reasons for his choices to better understand nuances of the various machines/configurations. And certainly I hope to absorb some of his wisdom. My interest is in the area of decorative etching metals, and scorching/burning wood and paper.

[@seanflanagan5674]

mr mister, thanks for the information, I appreciate your help.

[@DiverCTH]

The A3 model that +Marco Reps has doesn't display nearly as bad an X-Axis alignment issue as the A5 model, but this issue is a combination of the zero-play design of the rollers, and the non-adjustable belt tensioners. The belt tensioner www.thingiverse.com/thing:2341585 was created by joshuruiz The roller tensioner www.thingiverse.com/thing:2482004 was created by Falconson and nottingham82

[@seanflanagan5674]

DiverCTH, thank you, I believe that will help me a lot.

[@spikespaz]

At 7:33 we see a quality product.

[@martin_3146]

Hallo Marco, ich bin gerade dabei den gleichen Laser in der A3 Version in einen PCB-Belichter zu hacken. Mit der development-Version von FlatCAM lassen sich recht gute Gcodes für den Laser erzeugen. Einfach die Geometrien als Isolation erzeugen und dann die Geometrie mit der "paint"-Funktion füllen. Ich schreibe aber gerade auch ein Program um die PCBs in Linien zu belichten, was in ersten Tests recht gut funktionierte. Vorerst werde ich aber die beiden Steppertreiber durch Trinamic 2100 tauschen (6,50 bei Digikey) um die heftigen Vibrationen aus der Mechanik zu bekommen. Wenn du willst können wir da weiterhin Erfahrungen austauschen.

[@reps]

Oh ja, Trinamic ICs sind toll! Ich hatte mal einen mit integrierter Stillstand-Erkennung. Sowas wäre toll um kleine CNC Maschinen zu homen ohne extra Endschalter an jeder Achse zu haben. Leider gabs das Feature damals nur mit nicht echtzeit-fähigem SPI interface, also nicht für CNC geeignet ...

[@martin_3146]

Die TMC 2130 haben stall detection und die DIAG Pins können darauf konfiguriert werden. Step Direction haben sie auch. Das Pinout der Module ist pololu-kompatibel.

[@reps]

Hab mal ein paar samples requested, mal sehen ob die sich darauf einlassen ...

[@kirmi5249]

Guten Tag hab mir ( www.banggood.com/de/2500mW-A3-30x40cm-Desktop-DIY-Violet-Laser-Engraver-Picture-CNC-Printer-Assembling-Kits-p-1003863.html?rmmds=myorder ) gekauft. Wollte damit mir PCB machen. Jedoch ich bekomme das Ding nicht zum Laufen. wenn ich ihm einen GCODE über EleksMarker sende macht er manchmal das was er soll. Sonst bring ich nix zusammen. Kann wer mir Helfen?

[@joelmoskowitz5170]

Marco, This is a great video and NOT BORING. Keep up the great work. I built the Elekslaser and now am trying to get Laserweb to work. (under the eleks software it works fine.) Laser web opens a drawing - DXF and it goes to the laser (grbl 1.1) but the laser doesn't turn on at the start of a run. and scaling is off. I am guessing that I need to send some sort of configuration to the laser. Can you share your configuration file and more importantly how to set it up. Everything have tried gives me an error or one sort or another rror: 1 - ?G-code words consist of a letter and a value. Letter was not found. error: 3 - Grbl '$' system command was not recognized or supported. error: 3 - Grbl '$' system command was not recognized or supported. error: 2 - Numeric value format is not valid or missing an expected value. So I am obviously missing something. - thanks, joel

[@mikelemon5109]

Yeah flex PCB!!! great video but I don't understand why not to use a laser printer? it can reach much higher accuracys and resolutions....

[@TheElbarfo]

Marco, how did you get Laserweb to trace the outlines of the traces rather than raster it?

[@moisesferber]

Same question here. I tried Laser cut option, but I'm not sure it is ideal. Any update on this question?

[@bumbarabun]

@@moisesferber just use FlatCAM

[@plemli]

@3:28 Watch "The Final Tightening Of The Screws" in your horror movie theater today !

[@ThuanDuong-pv3xu]

Overheat ! High temperature of Laser and it's short wave may be damaged PCB (bad PCB type)