Lumia Blaster.

[mixedgas]

Tried something new today to actually do something laser for once. I laser scribed some lumia wheels.

75 watt co2, 5000 hz prf, 1 psi assist gas, 3" disk, thick showerglass, 3" focal length lens. I'm not 100% happy with the edge quality, but once belt sanded, OK enough . But setting the focus at the surface was a bit wrong, it cut a bit deeper then a scribe, resulting a somewhat uneven edge. Blasting the central hole was out with this laser, but perhaps not with the 20 khz 200 watt laser designed for a small spot and for raster engraving stone. I could not upload the cad to the big laser, don't have a password on that cad machine.

The edge would be a 5 on a 1-10, but the breaking on the scribed line was the easiet I've ever done. This glass was poorly annealed and had a lot of stress in it...This was bad. It had enough stress to start self breaking.

Caveat: You have to keep the silica fumes off the lens and away from your lungs...

Drilling the center hole will still be with a glass drill, but I could mark the center reasonably well.


Steve

[swamidog]

got any optical quartz? that would be best for 405.

you might talk to sugeek...

Tried something new today to actually do something laser for once. I laser scribed some lumia wheels.

75 watt co2, 5000 hz prf, 1 psi assist gas, 3" disk, thick showerglass, 3" focal length lens. I'm not 100% happy with the edge quality, but once belt sanded, OK enough . But setting the focus at the surface was a bit wrong, it cut a bit deeper then a scribe, resulting a somewhat uneven edge. Blasting the central hole was out with this laser, but perhaps not with the 20 khz 200 watt laser designed for a small spot and for raster engraving stone. I could not upload the cad to the big laser, don't have a password on that cad machine.

The edge would be a 5 on a 1-10, but the breaking on the scribed line was the easiet I've ever done. This glass was poorly annealed and had a lot of stress in it...This was bad. It had enough stress to start self breaking.

Caveat: You have to keep the silica fumes off the lens and away from your lungs...

Drilling the center hole will still be with a glass drill, but I could mark the center reasonably well.


Steve

[sugeek]

I have a few slices left, but they are still the oddball shape, and need to be polished. I would love to scribe the surface with a co2, but not for cutting... Once I get my torch and annealing oven setup again, I will make a few lumia tubes . My cuts on the quartz were not perfect due to not being able to set it flat in the gravity feed saw vice. If you want to give it a try I can send one over if you are bored...

-Adam

[mikkojay]

A few tricks shared by my local glass-shop guy for drilling glass that I found helpful:

1) Use a hollow stained-glass bit with diamond grit (about $10 for a 1/4")
2) Make a small donut using a coil of clay or silly putty, and press it around the center of the hole to be drilled.
3) Fill the donut with a teaspoon or so of water, so the bit becomes submerged when it dips below the "dam".
4) Drill with a press if available, but a hand drill will work in a pinch- using multiple short presses instead of one continuous stroke
5) put a rag under everything to catch the water when it flows thru the new hole (unless your shop is a pit like mine and you don't care)
6) wear safety glasses

-Mike