Has anyone heard of or tried the Prusa laser engraving upgrade
Hi All,
Since a lot of FDM printers coming out nowadays seem to have the functionality of being able to change out the tool head for a laser engraver, I decided to see if anyone had ever tried that on their Prusa (I own a Prusa MK3S+). What I found was this kit online sold by Opt Laser. https://optlasers.com/cnc-laser-upgrade-kits/prusa-laser-upgrade-kit-with-plh3d-2w
Has anyone here ever heard of or tried this kit upgrade? It says Prusa in the ad, but I have my doubts that it's an official Prusa product. While we're on the topic, has anyone attempted to install a laser tool head onto their Prusa in general? If so, were you able to get it to work or achieve some distinguishable results? I'm curious if this is something other users have tested. Any insight would be certainly appreciated.
Do yourself a favor, just by a laser that meets your needs, it's very important to evacuate burnt particulate properly, a laser system designed properly will account for this, even if your just burning through plywood or bass wood. If your looking for something beyond a CO2 laser and more along the lines of a fiber laser you will want a very specific enclosure with a filtration system. It's impotent, please research before you do this.
Regards
Swiss_Cheese
The Filament Whisperer
RE: Has anyone heard of or tried the Prusa laser engraving upgrade
Possible to put a laser on a 3D printer and get it to work well? Sure!
A good idea? No!
Aside from filtration issues there is also the fact that any laser powerful enough to cut, etch or burn also makes an excellent Retina burner if the beam gets reflected in unexpected ways. Is it possible to overcome all of the safety issues? Of course! One could just put the whole thing in a ventilated, filtered and laser wavelength proof enclosure with a safety interlock switch on the door. But it would be a lot more effective and probably cheaper in the long run to just get a dedicated laser engraver with built in safety features as well as probable better performance and longevity.
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Я немного говорю по-руÑÑки но не очень хорошо, и...
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RE: Has anyone heard of or tried the Prusa laser engraving upgrade
Thanks for sharing that insight.
Some of the same thoughts crossed my mind as well as it seems odd that a lot of the newer 3D printers on the market now come with this modular laser head assembly. It has me wondering how that's safe especially since most of them don't come with an enclosure. It also has me wondering how they can get away without having a honeycomb or special type of bed to support the parts being cut/engraved. I can't imagine it takes that high of a fluence to actually start damaging metal components. It seems odd to me. Some of the hobbyist grade desktop CNCs on the market seem to offer a similar setup with the modular tool head, but those seem slightly better equipped. I rent an apartment, so installing a heavy duty ventilation system would not be an option. However, I could set up some sort of filtration system as I own bunch of those solder fume extractors with activated carbon filters.
I know there are some dedicated desktop style laser cutters on the market that are bit more feasible for someone on a budget with limited space. Would you happen to have any recommendations?