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BuildYourCNC

blackToothv2 40W CO2 Laser Cutter and Engraver

blackToothv2 40W CO2 Laser Cutter and Engraver

Regular price $3,500.00 USD
Regular price Sale price $3,500.00 USD
Sale Sold out
Title
A laser cutting and engraving system that is low cost and easy to use. The machine features a 40W CO2 Laser system intended for space saving and large work area of 24" (609mm) x 20" (508mm). This is possible due to the way we designed the gantry and tube position. The blackToothv2 will be provided in kit form. Of course, this will come with the usual precautions of using and aligning lasers, which can be really dangerous if not done correctly and safely. What Can You Make with the blackTooth Laser Engraver? Check out the video
You will have the option to choose between a 110V and 220V power supply based on your countries power specifications. Some examples of the use of this laser cutter and engraver can be seen here: from CAD to product on the blackTooth laser cutter, and Dustan Webb's examples. The software to control the laser system will depend on the option purchased. If the USB version is purchased, you will need to purchase the planet-cnc software license. The parallel version and the integrated computer version, you have an option of using mach3, or linuxcnc. To create designs, there are many programs out there, but in general, you will need a CAD (Computer Aided Design like SketchUp, AutoCAD, etc.) and CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing like CAMBAM, BobCAM, RhinoCAM, etc.) program. There are programs out there that will create g-code from pictures, generate cad geometry (.dxf) from artwork which are great uses for engraving. With CAD and CAM, you have infinite possibilities to engrave and cut whatever you can imagine. New: blackTooth with Integrated Laser Control Unit We are now offering the blackTooth with an integrated Laser Control Unit. You will be able to design on your own computer and import the finished file directly into the control unit and run it from the machine. You will also be able to control speed and power within the software. If you are choosing this option we will contact you to make sure you have the appropriate links for wiring and setup as well as software for this unit. Purchase with caution and lase only materials you know that will not off-gas harmful constituents. A thorough understanding of CO2 lasers, and what happens to material when burned is essential. We first introduced this laser cutter and engraver on Kickstarter - Build Your Own Laser Cutter. The project provided us enough exposure to offer the laser cutter to the kickstarter backers as pre-orders. This enabled us to get enough equipment to open this system to the public. Heavy caution must be considered with many aspects of lasers such as this. The lasing beam of this laser is invisible and cannot be seen by the human eye. Materials being lased by may emit gasses that are harmful to humans (corrode human tissue and cause damage to respiratory organs). Always read the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) for the material to be lased. You can find these MSDS from manufacturer websites for the material you are considering for use in the laser system.
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Instructions

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Step 1
blackToothv2 Assembly Part 1
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Step 2
blackToothv2 Assembly Instructions Part 2
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Step 3
blackToothv2 Assembly Instructions Part 3
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Step 4
blackToothv2 Assembly Instructions Part 4
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Step 5
blackToothv2 Assembly Instructions Part 5
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Step 6
blackToothv2 Assembly Instructions Part 6
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Step 7
blackToothv2 Assembly Instructions Part 7
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Step 8
blackToothv2 Assembly Instructions Part 8
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Step 9
Laser Alignment Part 1
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Step 10
Laser Alignment Part 2
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Step 11
Laser Alignment Part 3
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Step 12
These following instructions are for the previous blackTooth version. Please refer to the video instructions and the paper/digital instructions that came with your kit if you have the newer version. With a 5/32” (~4mm) hex wrench, screw (4) #8 nut inserts into the bottom of the right-side base.
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Step 13
With a Philips head screwdriver, screw (4) M4 x 25mm screws with #8 washers up through the bottom of the base and into the Power Supply. Use (2) #8 x 1” screws to attach each motor driver as shown (they will screw into the nut inserts at the bottom of this wood base). After these parts are fastened, connect the power supply V+ and V- to the drives labeled GND and VCC. Each Driver should be wired independently, not daisy chained. Expose the wires in the female end of the extension power cable. Three wires will be in this cable, green, white and black and need to be wired to the power supply. Wire the green to the ground terminal, white to the N terminal and black to the L terminal. Take some 22 to 24 AWG stranded wire and connect them to the terminals from the driver labeled CP-, CW- and CP+. The CW+ will need to jump to the CP+ as this is common 5V.
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Step 14
This step only applies to kits that include the computer. Insert (7) #8 nut inserts into the bottom of the left-side base as shown.
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Step 15
This step only applies to the kits that include the computer. Tap (4) plastic spacers into the holes as shown, then screw the motherboard onto these with (4) #8 x 1” screws. This would be a great time to wire/connect the motherboard components including the DC-DC converter that plugs into the motherboard for power, and hard drive with the SATA Cable power from the DC-DC converter
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Step 16
Insert (4) #8 nut inserts into the back panel as shown.
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Step 17
Insert (8) #8 nut inserts into the back side of the back panel as shown. If you have the USB breakout board, the 4 nut inserts on the right will not be needed.
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Step 18
Attach the back panel to the 2 base pieces using (3) cross-dowels (“barrel nuts”) and (3) ¼” x 1.5” screws.
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Step 19
Insert (4) #8 nut inserts into the back side of the front panel. Place the LED panel on the opposite side of this part and fasten with four (4) #8 3/4 inch screws.
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Step 20
Attach the front panel to the 2 base pieces using (2) cross-dowels and (2) ¼ x 1-1/2 inch screws.
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Step 21
Attach the Laser Power Supply to the right-side base using (4) #8 x 1” screws and (4) #8 Nuts. Make sure the red wire is facing the near rail support. Wire the power from the power supply to an exposed extension cable. See wiring diagram at the end of the instructions for specifics.
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Step 22
Connect the Y-Axis driver to the power supply. The V+ from the power supply is connected to the VCC terminal on the Driver. The V- from the power supply is connected to the GND terminal on the driver. For all connections to the terminals, the metal stranded part of the wire must be exposed first (strip the insulation off of the end of the wire). The length of each wire is 9.5 inches.
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Step 23
Connect the X-Axis driver to the CNC power supply. The instructions are the same as connecting the Y-Axis driver to the power supply. Each wire is 4.5 inches in length.
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Step 24
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Step 25
Connect the AC Power wires to the CNC Power Supply and to the laser tube power supply. Take the extension cable and remove the female end (the end that does not plug into the wall). Remove the insulation to expose the white (neutral), black (live) and green (ground) wires. The white wire is connected to the N terminal of the CNC power supply (10.5 inches) and on of the AC terminals of the laser tube power supply (6 inches). The green wire is connected to the CNC power supply terminal that has a ground symbol labeled on it (10.5 inches) and on the FG terminal on the laser tube power supply (6 inches). The black wire is connected to two toggle switches at the other side of the laser system (36 inches from the soldered connection and splits off in a Y for another 3.5 inches). The image shows only one wire leading to the far area of the system. At the end of that single wire, the wire splits off into a Y configuration.
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Step 26
Connect the Y-Axis stepper motor to the Y-Axis Driver. The wires from the stepper motor are connected to the driver as follows: Black to A+ Green to A- Red to B+ Blue to B- Also, note the DIP switch settings. These are the correct settings for the stepper motor current and to enable 16 microsteps per step (microstepping @ 1/16).
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Step 27
Connect the LED indicator panel wires to the back of the panel. There is a 2 x 4 header on the back of the panel making four pairs of headers. Each pair is connected to an LED. An Ethernet cable at 44 inches is a good convenient choice for this connection. Each pair is connected with the solid color on the bottom and the white striped wire on the top. Connections from left to right as shown in the image are: blue (x-axis), green (y-axis), orange (laser active) and brown (laser on-intensity). At the LED side, female housings and crimp pins are connected to each pair. 2" of insulation is stripped at this end.
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Step 28
At this end of the ethernet cable, strip enough insulation so that enough if the wire will be exposed to connect to the potentiometer and to the breakout board. Solder the other end of the brown wire with white stripe from the LED panel to the 5k potentiometer left lead as shown with a wire that will connect to the GND terminal on the laser tube power supply. Solder the other end of the brown wire along with a wire that will connect to the IN terminal on the laser power supply to the middle lead of the 5k potentiometer. Solder the right lead of the 5k potentiometer to a wire that will connect to the VCC on the laser power supply.
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Step 29
For USB breakout boards only: The following connections are explained from the image in a clockwise direction starting from the bottom right terminal that has a purple wire connected to it (CP=Step, CW=Direction): - First Terminal (CP Y-Axis) solid green from LED panel and a wire to the CP+ terminal of the Y-axis driver (39 inches of wire). - Next terminal (CW Y-Axis) wire to CW+ terminal on the Y-axis (39 inches of wire). - Next Terminal (GND Y-Axis) green/white from LED panel and wire to the CP- and CW- terminal on the X and Y drivers (36 inches of wire). - Next terminal (CW Z-Axis) solid orange from LED panel and a wire to the TH (H) terminal on the laser power supply. - Next terminal (GND Z-Axis) orange/white from LED panel. This GND does not need to be connected to the laser power supply GND terminal because the laser power supply provides its own signal ground. The next three terminals are shown in the incorrect three positions on the board. They should be on the next three labeled the X-Axis. - Next terminal (GND X-Axis) blue/white from the LED panel. This GND does not need to be connected to the X-Axis since the Y-Axix GND wire is jumped from the Y-Axis to the X-Axis driver to reduce the number and length of wires. - Next terminal (CW X-Axis) wire to the X-axis CW+ terminal (44 inches of wire). - Next terminal (CP X-Axis) solid blue and a wire to the CP+ terminal of the X-axis (44 inches of wire). Use the parallel breakout board diagram if you have the parallel breakout board. For the LED connections on the parallel breakout board: - The x axis LED will be connected to pin #2 and 5V - The y axis LED will be connected to pin #4 and 5V - The laser on/off LED is connected to pin #6 and 5V
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Step 30
Make sure the wire from the USB interface board's Y-Axis GND is connected to the CP- terminal of the Y-Axis driver then jumps to the CW- terminal on the Y-Axis driver then jumps to the CP- terminal of the X-Axis driver then finally jumps and terminates at the CW- terminal of the X-Axis stepper motor driver.
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Step 31
The two toggle switches are connected to the black (live) AC power wire that is split off into a Y configuration. Each side of the Y split is connected to each toggle switch. One switch connects back to the laser tube power supply at the other AC terminal to which the white wire is not connected. The other switch connects back to the CNC power supply at the L terminal. The wires that lead back to the CNC power supply is 42 inches and 36 inches to the laser power supply.
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Step 32
Connect the X-axis stepper motor to the X-axis stepper motor driver with the same configuration as the Y-Axis driver. Use a cable at 13 inches of length with 4 stranded conductors. At this point, you can test the electronics to make sure the stepping motors spin. If you are using the USB interface board, you will need the planet-cnc software. Only unlicensed version is necessary at this point since you are only testing the motors. Later, when the machine is complete, the license can be purchased to make the laser system fully functional. The parallel breakout board can be tested with either the mach3 or linuxcnc software or other software that you may prefer that can output to the parallel port (most cnc control software has this feature).
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Step 33
Attach the left-side Y-axis rail to the left-side Y-axis rail support as shown, using (5) cross-dowels and (5) ¼ x 1 inch screws.
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Step 34
Attach the left-side Y-axis drive rod support using (2) cross-dowels and (2) ¼” x 1-1/2” screws.
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Step 35
Attach the left-side Y-axis idler bearing support using (2) cross-dowels and (2) ¼” x 1.5” screws.
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Step 36
Attach the to the left-side Y-axis rail support to the front and back panels using (4) cross-dowels and (4) ¼” x 1.5” screws as shown.
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Step 37
Attach the right-side Y-axis rail to the right-side Y-axis rail support as shown, using (5) cross-dowels and (5) ¼” x 1” screws. Attach the right-side y-axis idler bearing support using (2) cross-dowels and (2) ¼” x 1.5” screws.
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Step 38
Insert (4) #8 nut inserts into the Y-axis motor mount. Attach the mount to the right-side Y-axis rail support using (2) cross-dowels and (2) ¼” x 1.5” screws.
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Step 39
Attach the to the right-side Y-axis rail support to the front and back panels using (4) cross-dowels and (4) ¼” x 1.5” screws as shown.
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Step 40
Attach the Vent Fan to the inside wall of the back panel as shown using (4) #8 1" screws. Be sure that the “Air Flow” arrow is pointing to the backside of the panel so that the air will be sent out of the machine. (Photo of airflow arrow)
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Step 41
Place the rigid coupling around the motor shaft so that the end of the shaft is at the center of the coupling. Using a size 3/32 allen key, tighten two set screws to hold the coupling to the motor shaft. Be sure to orient the motor so that the wires are able to route beneath the rail support, then attach the motor to the Y-axis motor mount as shown, using (4) #8 x 1” screws.
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Step 42
Slide the Y-axis drive rod through the left-side y-axis drive rod support. Slide on a Belt Pulley as shown and insert the rod into the rigid coupling until it nearly meets the motor shaft. Leave the sprocket set screws loose so you may adjust it later. Tighten the two remaining set screws on the coupling to secure the rod.
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Step 43
Slide a ¼” bearing and a Belt Pulley onto the other end of the rod. Leave the sprocket loose so you may adjust it later.
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Step 44
Insert two cross dowels and (2) ¼ x 1-1/2 inch screws into the left-side gantry bearing support (the smaller part with two slotted holes) to use as set screws for those two bearing assemblies. Assemble the (4) V-groove bearing assemblies onto the left and right gantry bearing supports. Each assembly in order is - (3/8 x 2 inch screw, 3/8 inch washer, wood part, 3/8 inch washer, 3/8 inch thin washer, V-groove bearing, 3/8 inch nut).
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Step 45
Join the left and right gantry bearing supports by attaching the gantry connector with (8) ¼” x 2” screws and (8) ¼” nuts as shown. Make sure to keep the screws and nuts loosely fastened at the slot locations.
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