Discussion of (early!) July update

[millersw.628]

I fall in the crack of this analogy I like to know what the performance and specs of my car are. Not sure what to do with those numbers once I have them. Mostly I just go from point a to b. I do know I hate automatic and I’d like more power to weight ration in my next vehicle. And for lasers I know enough about them to be able to compare stats and features but I’m never going to be the guy to ask about fine tuning settings to get beautiful art

[jrnelson]

yes, i’m not quite in either group but analogies always fail on edge cases

[rpegg]

This is tongue in cheek and in no way trying to be snarky, because it’s just funny.

@polarbrainfreeze

I have a question about Draftboard

• What does it look like?
• Is it like “laserable” MDF?
• Does it have a pretty smooth surface like MDF or coarse like particle board?
• Is it darker or lighter in color?
• would it look more like the particle board (left), MDF board (center) or hardboard (right) or something else altogether?

@polarbrainfreeze

Can’t wait to try it out!

[millersw.628]

I would also presume that the old 100 wasn’t 40/45, but probably reasonably close. The old 1 was way higher than the new 1, will you measure current draw to estimate power delivered to material?

[palmercr]

No I will place a black anodized aluminium block in the bottom of the machine, well below focus and engrave it and measure the rate of change of temperature.

I will probably hook it up to an Arduino with an OLED display and directly show the power. Perhaps add a fan to cool it back down again. To calibrate it I will also have a heating element that I can apply a known amount of power to.

[polarbrainfreeze]

The humour of this has gone over my head. What did I say that was funny?

[henryhbk]

@polarbrainfreeze

The humour of this has gone over my head. What did I say that was funny?

I believe he was commenting that you first asked all these questions about what it was and how did it look, then commented you couldn’t wait to try it prior to getting the questions answered.

[polarbrainfreeze]

Oh…I’m going to try it no matter what. I just wanted to know some of its properties.

[rpegg]

You may have meant it in all seriousness. Came across like a kid at Christmas with a half dozen question and then saying I can’t wait. Thought it was funny. Guess you don’t.

[polarbrainfreeze]

I am like a kid at Christmas! I have no issue with others thinking it’s funny.

[Jamie]

You’ve checked out Trotec’s MDF? They stock in Canada so it will be interesting to see a cost comparison between Proofgrade and Trotec for Canadians once shipping is included.

[rand]

Wow oh wow oh wow oh wow oh wow!!! Yippeeeee!! Arooooogaaa!!!

Um, OK, so much for the restrained reaction…

[millersw.628]

Cool, I’ll be interested in the results if you’ll be willing to share when you get your unit

[palmercr]

Yes of course.

[jamesdhatch]

@millersw.628

access higher and lower power and not knowing where the old settings lie on that scale isn’t going to do much good

I agree. For PRU users (& I expect first prod ones) we’re told up front that settings we used would change and it might not be worth logging them in too much detail or count on them in the future.

Needing to retest materials to get the settings dialed in again is a non-issue for me. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity and don’t give a rodent’s rear end about the “missing” sub-1 levels or the difference between 99 and full. The extreme control is what I get here. Not too worried that my previous settings may or may not work.

@Rita sent me a nice heads up note last night letting me know the change was coming today and I’d have to do some testing as well as that some PG settings may not work on my PRU (presumably in case my tube is not within the calibration tolerances). There’s been some really nice proactive communication this week.

[henryhbk]

@jamesdhatch

There’s been some really nice proactive communication this week

The email basically told us we are on our own (specifically: we have no recommendations for starting settings; old settings may work or may not). kind of a bummer we have to chew up a bunch material, but I guess it will be a good understanding of the new power curves.

[palmercr]

It’s odd they don’t know the old to new mapping. Yes the old tubes might not be calibrated but if you apply the same power to them as the old settings did they should work as well as they used to do.

[jamesdhatch]

@henryhbk

The email basically told us we are on our own (specifically: we have no recommendations for starting settings

We never got a heads up changes were coming down before - they just showed up. It’s great seeing the forewarning before I waste a job and not get the results I expected.

[jrnelson]

do you know if you’re allowed to order if not a trotec customer? i tried to make an account but it said it had to be approved and then later on i had a voicemail from a number registered to them. seems like a lot of frigging trouble just to buy some acrylic.

[soldiercoleman]

Thanks for the early update!

Lots of things I’m excited about in here!

So I was wondering if the Full Power feature is going to max out the tube and wear it out faster or if that is still in the protected power range.