What?
I built an 80 watt laser cutter named RetinaSmelter9000.
This page is not comprehensive whatsoever. Just some information for people asking about RetinaSmelter9000.
FAQ
How many watts?
80 watts
What can you cut?
Most non-metals up to 1/2 inch thick with the current lens.
Can it cut metal?
Technically yes, practically no. I had some degree of terrible success using oxygen assist.
How do I build one?
A lot of work, and about $3000 monies. There is no simple answer to this question.
Should I build one?
Find a school/makerspace/hackerspace and play with one of their lasers first.
The laser is an extremely dangerous machine which can kill/blind you. My few minor accidents were eye opening (burning a hole in a wall 15 feet away, and laser haircut). We're talking 30,000 volts and invisible light 5000x brighter than daylight.
The laser is an extremely dangerous machine which can kill/blind you. My few minor accidents were eye opening (burning a hole in a wall 15 feet away, and laser haircut). We're talking 30,000 volts and invisible light 5000x brighter than daylight.
Specs
Laser tube: Puri 80 watt
Lens: 50mm
Cutting area: a little less than 900mm x 600mm x 150mm
CNC board: Smoothieboard
Fume extractor: 1HP harbor freight dust collector
Air assist: air compressor and low pressure regulator (usually set to 0-5 psi)
Laser Software
This is how you interact with and send files to the laser.
Fusion360 (??? haven't tried it yet)
I don't like Visicut but it's the only one I've used which works well enough. At one point I attempted LaserWeb, but it's really confusing and you can't rotate parts??
Resources
Other people's builds:
Buy parts: