Emooze

That joinery is hawt Naaman

Got the first stage of my next project working, an amp that started out as a Menace clone and has changed a bit over time. 6SN7 input stage, CCS with a 21st Century Maida circuit as the B+ supply.

This would also be an option. https://daisous.com/collections/n03_cutting-utensils/products/4994163294818

220V is also good for welding, surprisingly few have a 120V option. Which I why I ended up with an AHP. And Naaman, that is damn sexy. Did you do the modeling off of your badge yourself? I picked up an SMD practice kit since I have a few things I want to do that would require it. Tried hand-soldering for the fun of it. The results work, but are not worth the picture.

That tool holder is hawt AF. How did you get the wrench sizes?

I cannot wait to see what you get up to with that beast. Very envious.

Real clean. I agree that's an interesting front panel mount, and also an interesting clip thing going on for the heatsink.

I have not, though I probably will now. Feed and speeds are still a bit arcane to me. Easy enough for wood now. But I know the Shapeoko can do softer metals and I intend to do that soon. Even picked up a surplus fridge compressor to kit out as an air assist/mist cooler

I goofed around enough in Gimp and Inkscape designing patches in the past to at least be mediocre at making vectors. And like both of you, just cautiously dipping my toes into 3D so far. The motivation problem I have is that if I do not have a project that requires it, I'm not going to really put effort into learning.

Naaman, I've been using predominantly VCarve Desktop since all my work so far has been 2.5D designs. Kinda steep at $350 but it does make simple cutouts real easy. The Cub Scout plaques took me maybe 15 minutes to set up since I was able to easily import a vector file. There's a lot of community support so a G-code post-processor I bet has already been written for your specific machine/controller. The bad: the Desktop version only allows a 24x24" work area. Unlimited costs $700, which it looks like you'll need on your machine. I will say, having used my little diode laser add-on, it's good for space efficiency. But if you have the space for a whole other machine, I would say a standalone CO2 laser would be way nicer to use, and about the same price.

Cutting has definitely been an uphill battle with a diode laser in my experience. I have not been paying attention to what rig you are running so I may be in a totally different court. Also Lightburn was worth every penny for laser work. $40 is nothing compared to some of the other CAD/CAM programs out there. Those cutouts look heckin dope! ....if you wouldn't mind sharing the vectors..... I've been doing Arrow of Light plaques for the local cub scout troop. I won't share the finished project because I feel weird sending out names of children but the arrow was cut out with the router then the words cut in with the laser. Arrow was then filled in with yellow paint and the whole thing was stained and varnished.

Sounds (heh) wonderful. I'm not sure if I should be jealous of the table itself or your wood dealer.

Did you build it entirely from scratch? What did you use for the main bearing? Building a turntable has been on the long list of projects for a few years now. Just A+, bang-up job on the design. Loving the combo of woods and overall aesthetic.

It's been a nasty weekend, weather-wise. Perfect for staying in and doing stupid things with lasers. I needed an image to test out dithering and came up with this:

Truth, it is not. However, it is raining and real cold. The weather does not agree with the great news.

The thing I have learned working with a lasers is you need to treat it like a weapon: is it loaded/plugged in, is it safed/armed, is it pointed at the thing I am going to shoot and not at the things I do not want to shoot, am I wearing the safety gear, is everyone else safe or with gear on, do I know what I am doing? Only then, do you press the button. Shitty day out here, trying to motivate myself to head out to the garage and put my words into actions.

Agreed, coming from a lot of work-related laser work, there's a personal arm/de-arm sequence and there will be an enclosure before anyone else is even in the garage with me. I trust myself, but no one else. Also need an enclosure for fumes anyways.

I got the J Tech Photonics laser upgrade for the Shapeoko. Started installing it today, hope to do some test runs this weekend.

sorry, should that have been an <\vpi>?

But wait, is it really a fair comparison if all the speakers are not positioned in the same spots? You mean to tell me your store doesn't have pairs of servicepeople to move around the speakers so I can get the most accurate comparison?? Who's the manager?!?! I demand to speak to them! <\karen>

Compared to what? Also nightmares are dreams too.

I would agree that laser is the way to go with cutting paper. Marking, just thinking out loud here, you would need pretty fine control over the laser power level to ensure you didn't also burn through the paper. You could also probably rig up a fine pen to do the lines too. I think a hobby-grade machine could achieve the precision you need. Below is my experiments with a diamond drag bit on brass and that emblem is less than 1.5" tall. There's definitely some artifacts from inaccurate steps but this is straight out of the box, no tuning.

That's really damn nice Steve. I'm really digging the matching aesthetic.

Dang, that is a nice and clean build. Where did you get those heatsinks if you don't mind me asking?

Made some simple clamps for the Shapeoko out of some scrap red oak. Don't have a finished picture because I don't have a flush-trim router bit to cut off the tabs. Still learning feeds and speeds so the finish is also questionable.