Resources for Lumia

[clickamouse]

Greetings, all;

As some of you know, I am deeply embedded in the art of lumia these days. I do shows at art competitions and have a big gallery show coming up in October that will involve 17 linear lumia laser projectors.

Pix of my Grand Rapids show are here:

http://mikegouldlaserartist.com/webg...s10/index.html

PL has been of enormous help to me over the years, so it’s payback time. Here is a list of where to get parts for lumia, based on my many years of research.

Hardware
I am currently toiling away deep in the sub-basement of St. Wilfred’s Lumentic Institute, cooking up new nifties and spending a lot of quality time with my new band saw:

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...FSJlMgodxGsAlg

Ideal for cutting up aluminum for motor and lens mounts, base plates, etc. Note that you want to set it for the slowest speed and you need to keep the wheels clean of aluminum debris. These aren’t really designed for metal work, but if you use a 14tpi blade and keep ‘em clean, they work a treat.

Once you cut your aluminum, you need to clean the edges with a bench sander:

http://www.amazon.com/Shop-Fox-W1828.../dp/B00B4US0SY

This also works to remove sharp edges on lumia disks; just be very careful with the powdered glass this generates. Use a vacuum system and a breathing filter.

Then you need to shoot some holes into your aluminum. I use this:

http://www.ryobitools.com/catalog/po...enchtop/DP102L

It has not one, but two lasers built into it!

Metal
I buy my Aluminum cheaply at Alro, which has outlets around the US. The one in Ann Arbor has an enormous variety of surplus bits and pieces, and has been supplying me and CDBeam for years now. My home away from home…

http://www.alro.com/Locations/Locations_AA.aspx

Motors
To do this right, you need to spin a glass disk or other media very slowly in front of your laser of choice.
I use a DC geared motor: with DC you can easily control the speed and direction of your media. This led me on a merry chase for the last 3 years, but I finally tracked down the ultimate lumia motor:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-3RPM-Tor...376df2737#shId

The price is right ($6.70usd) , and they give a nice deal if you order a bunch. I bought 50 of them for my museum project (total cost: $370 including shipping from China – shipping time was very speedy). Attn: Dave or other dealers – how about stocking up on these puppies?

Hubs
Next you need to attach the media to the motor shafts – I use these hubs:

http://www.pololu.com/catalog/product/1203

I epoxy these to the glass disks I use.

Speed control
PWM (pulse width modulation) is your friend. Lots circuit boards out there for this. For years I used these:

http://www.bakatronics.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=383

A quickie-built kit. I have received some that were missing some drilled holes, easily fixed with a 1mm bit.

Then I discovered these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271046566081...84.m1439.l2649

Cheaper, pre-built, working well for me with the above motors. I have around 8 of these, and one has died. I am using these for testing while I await the custom 3-channel PWM board my Chief Engineer is designing for me..

Lenses
Surplus shed for these, used to turn laser points into lines:

http://www.surplusshed.com

I buy long cylindrical lenses and cut them into smaller items with this:

http://www.amazon.com/Master-Cut-600...amond+tile+saw

Ideal for glass cutting, but very messy. Do this in a garage wearing a raincoat, as you will be coated with glass dust suspended in water. I also use this to cut up glass vials for torture tubes. This el-cheapo saw works great, but you need to replace the blade with a good one, such as this:

http://www.amazon.com/QEP-6-1008BW-1...tile+saw+blade

Power Supplies
For my museum install, I am running 3-cond. Conventional AC line to each box, and turning it into 12VDC to run my lasers and motors. I like these supplies:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/370701394876...84.m1439.l2649

Super cheap, and reliable so far.

For wire:

http://www.skycraftsurplus.com/search.aspx?find=SK9CJC

Again, dirt cheap.

Glass
For lumia, you need to experiment with a variety of textured glass. I am fortunate in living within easy driving range of one of the biggest stained glass suppliers in the country:

http://www.delphiglass.com/index.cfm...FQdgMgodu2EA9Q

I like this glass, among many others:

http://www.delphiglass.com/stained-g...extured-petals

Note that they have assortment packs:

http://www.delphiglass.com/spectrum-...ral-glass-pack

Now to make your glass disks, you need a circle cutter – I use this one:

http://www.delphiglass.com/glass-cut...ut-lens-cutter

Once your glass is cut, I find it works best to drill out a ¼” circle in the center so the disk is adjustable up and down the motor shaft. First you need to find the center of the glass circle:

http://www.amazon.com/Woodstock-D309...=center+finder

You drill your center hole under water with this:

http://www.amazon.com/Amico-Diameter...22+diamond+bit

These are even cheaper on eBay.

The above should help you get started, or ease your way if you are already addicted.
Hope this helps some of you. Thanks again for all the fish.

Lux Plus Esto…Mike

[swamidog]

thank you for this awesome gold mine of lumia resources!

Greetings, all;

As some of you know, I am deeply embedded in the art of lumia these days. I do shows at art competitions and have a big gallery show coming up in October that will involve 17 linear lumia laser projectors.

Pix of my Grand Rapids show are here:

http://mikegouldlaserartist.com/webg...s10/index.html

PL has been of enormous help to me over the years, so it’s payback time. Here is a list of where to get parts for lumia, based on my many years of research.

Hardware
I am currently toiling away deep in the sub-basement of St. Wilfred’s Lumentic Institute, cooking up new nifties and spending a lot of quality time with my new band saw:

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...FSJlMgodxGsAlg

Ideal for cutting up aluminum for motor and lens mounts, base plates, etc. Note that you want to set it for the slowest speed and you need to keep the wheels clean of aluminum debris. These aren’t really designed for metal work, but if you use a 14tpi blade and keep ‘em clean, they work a treat.

Once you cut your aluminum, you need to clean the edges with a bench sander:

http://www.amazon.com/Shop-Fox-W1828.../dp/B00B4US0SY

This also works to remove sharp edges on lumia disks; just be very careful with the powdered glass this generates. Use a vacuum system and a breathing filter.

Then you need to shoot some holes into your aluminum. I use this:

http://www.ryobitools.com/catalog/po...enchtop/DP102L

It has not one, but two lasers built into it!

Metal
I buy my Aluminum cheaply at Alro, which has outlets around the US. The one in Ann Arbor has an enormous variety of surplus bits and pieces, and has been supplying me and CDBeam for years now. My home away from home…

http://www.alro.com/Locations/Locations_AA.aspx

Motors
To do this right, you need to spin a glass disk or other media very slowly in front of your laser of choice.
I use a DC geared motor: with DC you can easily control the speed and direction of your media. This led me on a merry chase for the last 3 years, but I finally tracked down the ultimate lumia motor:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-3RPM-Tor...376df2737#shId

The price is right ($6.70usd) , and they give a nice deal if you order a bunch. I bought 50 of them for my museum project (total cost: $370 including shipping from China – shipping time was very speedy). Attn: Dave or other dealers – how about stocking up on these puppies?

Hubs
Next you need to attach the media to the motor shafts – I use these hubs:

http://www.pololu.com/catalog/product/1203

I epoxy these to the glass disks I use.

Speed control
PWM (pulse width modulation) is your friend. Lots circuit boards out there for this. For years I used these:

http://www.bakatronics.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=383

A quickie-built kit. I have received some that were missing some drilled holes, easily fixed with a 1mm bit.

Then I discovered these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/271046566081...84.m1439.l2649

Cheaper, pre-built, working well for me with the above motors. I have around 8 of these, and one has died. I am using these for testing while I await the custom 3-channel PWM board my Chief Engineer is designing for me..

Lenses
Surplus shed for these, used to turn laser points into lines:

http://www.surplusshed.com

I buy long cylindrical lenses and cut them into smaller items with this:

http://www.amazon.com/Master-Cut-600...amond+tile+saw

Ideal for glass cutting, but very messy. Do this in a garage wearing a raincoat, as you will be coated with glass dust suspended in water. I also use this to cut up glass vials for torture tubes. This el-cheapo saw works great, but you need to replace the blade with a good one, such as this:

http://www.amazon.com/QEP-6-1008BW-1...tile+saw+blade

Power Supplies
For my museum install, I am running 3-cond. Conventional AC line to each box, and turning it into 12VDC to run my lasers and motors. I like these supplies:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/370701394876...84.m1439.l2649

Super cheap, and reliable so far.

For wire:

http://www.skycraftsurplus.com/search.aspx?find=SK9CJC

Again, dirt cheap.

Glass
For lumia, you need to experiment with a variety of textured glass. I am fortunate in living within easy driving range of one of the biggest stained glass suppliers in the country:

http://www.delphiglass.com/index.cfm...FQdgMgodu2EA9Q

I like this glass, among many others:

http://www.delphiglass.com/stained-g...extured-petals

Note that they have assortment packs:

http://www.delphiglass.com/spectrum-...ral-glass-pack

Now to make your glass disks, you need a circle cutter – I use this one:

http://www.delphiglass.com/glass-cut...ut-lens-cutter

Once your glass is cut, I find it works best to drill out a ¼” circle in the center so the disk is adjustable up and down the motor shaft. First you need to find the center of the glass circle:

http://www.amazon.com/Woodstock-D309...=center+finder

You drill your center hole under water with this:

http://www.amazon.com/Amico-Diameter...22+diamond+bit

These are even cheaper on eBay.

The above should help you get started, or ease your way if you are already addicted.
Hope this helps some of you. Thanks again for all the fish.

Lux Plus Esto…Mike

[Jem]

Thanks for sharing the information

[Displaser]

I recommend placing any glass grinder or cutter inside a 10 or 20 gallon fishtank (on its side). Keeps the glass shards and water under control.

Very nice list Mike, thanks for sharing your finds.

Greg

[hakzaw1]

While I do like the ability to reverse directions 3 rpm is too fast for my tastes.
Cheaper but not DC
just AC -& - are the 1/3 rpm also from Fred at Surplushed.

I get mine 10+ at a time(discount) have have gotten 50 or so over the years.

I take a green pointer to the thrift shops around here and make new finds all the time.

Great thread- best ever on this subject- worthy of a +3 if there was a rep system here..

hak

[Jem]

Cheaper but not DC
just AC -& - are the 1/3 rpm also from Fred at Surplushed.

I tried something that looks almost identical to those, but I found they weren't quite as smooth as I would have liked. Also, they were quite noisy.

Just to check we're looking at the same thing, is this the one?

http://www.surplusshed.com/pages/item/m2001p.html

Do you have similar observations? Guess it could perhaps just be a 240v thing in the UK.

[hakzaw1]

i cant hear a thing-- I never noticed anything that appeared not smooth-

yes thats the one i get- i am the 'Len" that is mentioned at the end of the description- IIRC they are made to go into the timers in washing machines- explains why they are so cheap $3.50 each..

one guy sells them for 10$ each on feebay and lists them as 'lumia' motors.

the OPs avatar is awesome and inspiring too. Linking this thread to all that get lumia kits from me..

Len

[clickamouse]

"While I do like the ability to reverse directions 3 rpm is too fast for my tastes...."

Absolutely; thats way I use PWM to control them. I like to run them at a barely perceptible rate.
The problem is that I get them just the speed I like, turn off, turn on, they don't have enough mojo to start up again. So my engineer is putting in a "start fast, then ramp down to a preset slow speed" feature on my museum pieces.

Although in a performance situation, it is cool to be able to start up fast and do a dramatic slow down, and vice-versa.

...Mike

[dsli_jon]

..Very nice, Sir Mike...

Por favor - sticki in the Wiki? http://www.photonlexicon.com/wiki/in...in_Progress.29 - Gr8 place to have it (..since, even 'stickys' in-threads get lost in the tides of history..) and helps peeps see that the Wiki's 'value' is far greater than just for 'Safety bashing'..

If you need 'help', Herr Janitor is happy-to, but.. it's pretty-simple to-add / format, and if ya get stuck, he's only a PM-away.. Don't be afraid.. use the Force..
ciao
j

PS - fwiw, the 0.5 RPM DC 'Hankscrafts', and, if-desired, a pot, work wonders, as-well. ..but even a straight 1/2 rpm is a decently-slow speed for many fx.. But, deffo-agreed that 'slower is (generally) better', and best under 'playable-control'..

[swamidog]

one solution to overcome the starting friction is to gear the motors down instead of just under driving them. i use pulleys and belts to do it in my lumia builds.

"While I do like the ability to reverse directions 3 rpm is too fast for my tastes...."

Absolutely; thats way I use PWM to control them. I like to run them at a barely perceptible rate.
The problem is that I get them just the speed I like, turn off, turn on, they don't have enough mojo to start up again. So my engineer is putting in a "start fast, then ramp down to a preset slow speed" feature on my museum pieces.

Although in a performance situation, it is cool to be able to start up fast and do a dramatic slow down, and vice-versa.

...Mike