BrushType4
Western Thunderer
Laser cut bogies for my NQLTRT class 47 
New s7 bogies
- Thread starter BrushType4
- Start date
richard carr
Western Thunderer
Phil
What are you going to use these with ?
Richard
What are you going to use these with ?
Richard
BrushType4
Western Thunderer
I was just poking some fun towards the S7 boys
richard carr
Western Thunderer
You should have better things to do !
Richard
Richard
BrushType4
Western Thunderer
On a serious note, it might be useful for fast prototyping and making templates for eventual cutting out in metal?
Are you going to Mark on Saturday?
Are you going to Mark on Saturday?
Dog Star
Western Thunderer
...
flexible_coupling
Western Thunderer
Seems very useful for that kind of role! Heck, if your laser can muster enough energy from your laser to lightly 'etch' the surface of brass, then you've got a highly accurate milling guideline for frames etc...
BrushType4
Western Thunderer
Yes I can etch some metal. I'll research (try) brass.
adrian
Flying Squad
Happy to be corrected but I believe you have to coat the metal with a special paint, which when lasered will react with the metal to etch it.
Maybe there is a cheaper solution but the stuff listed by HPC is expensive!
http://hpclaser.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=41
Maybe there is a cheaper solution but the stuff listed by HPC is expensive!
http://hpclaser.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=41
BrushType4
Western Thunderer
You've no need to be corrected.
I understand the paint makes a dark line and without paint, the lines are much lighter.
richard carr
Western Thunderer
Phil
No not going to Mark, its too far basically and the Boss won't be happy so I'll give it a miss.
Richard
No not going to Mark, its too far basically and the Boss won't be happy so I'll give it a miss.
Richard
adrian
Flying Squad
Thanks for the info - I'd be very interested, I mean really really interested
to see what it does with nickel-silver then. I can't abide brass, a horrible material IMHO, but if it can etch nickel-silver then I can see a lot of possibilities. If you don't have anything to hand then I'm more than willing to send you couple of samples to see what it's capable of.
iploffy
OC Blue Brigade
Great bodging there Phil I do hope all of the rivets are in the right place mate. One good thing about it you won't need split axle pick ups just a dirty gurt piece of phosphor bronze strip on the top.
That did make I larf. Lol
flexible_coupling
Western Thunderer
Adrian,
I used to work as a designer for a company building street-sweeper trucks, and did a lot of work designing steel parts that were laser-cut. We were able to specify to the cutters to run certain 'layers' as a low-power etch on the surface of the steel part - maybe nicking a few hundredths of a mm off the surface, purely for labelling directions for folds and identifying part numbers for the fabricators, that'd end up getting covered by ripple powdercoat at the end. It simply left light markings on the material surface akin to scriber lines, no need to "scratch through" (for want of a better analogy) paint or anything like that. Of course - that experience is with enormous half-a-million-bucks machines... but I imagine the hobby machines would be able to elicit a similar response on a metal surface.
I know I'd find it helpful to have a complex loco frame marked out clearly and clinically accurately before milling, sweat together two pieces of NS then just cut inside the lines. Of course, I'm a looong way off that being a real need for me!!
S-Club-7
Western Thunderer
Yes I can etch some metal. I'll research (try) brass.
Take care. My understanding is that the surface of the metal reflects the laser light straight back into the laser mechanism with expensive consequences as it starts cutting itself. The coloured coating on the metal stops the reflection so something as simple as Birchwood Casey blackening fluid may be sufficient.
BrushType4
Western Thunderer
Hmm, as one can engrave glass and mirrors I'm not sure I believe that explanation fully. I was under the impression the laser just wasn't powerful enough and not because of any rouge reflections potentially causing damage...
BrushType4
Western Thunderer
I can engrave metal but I do need a coating as otherwise no mark is made at all.
The coating is about £0.60 per square inch.
The coating is about £0.60 per square inch.
Osgood
Western Thunderer
We need a 'don't like' button for that for sure!
Surely a standard paint coating that would be burnt by the laser on very low power setting would suffice?
adrian
Flying Squad
There may be some truth in what you say but I suspect for a different reason. As Phil says it's all lens and mirrors anyway because the laser light has to get from the tube to the work surface. So I can't see how reflecting it back through the system would start cutting itself. Where I suspect the expensive consequences are is in the control circuitry for the laser. There must be some sort of control system to excite the laser in the first place, if it is a closed loop system and you start feeding back laser light into the laser tube then it might cause the control system to have "palpitations" and if poorly design could end up with "expensive consequences". I would suggest discussing it with HPC first.