Well, I finally have my Laser Cutter up and running. Mostly cutting very nicely but I still have a little tuning to do, especially with the mirrors. Just ordered a couple of Red Dot Pointers from Marco so I can align them easier. Pressing the little button and then checking for the burn mark is a pain. I also had to purchase a new 100 Watt S4 tube, from Marco, to replace the one that broke after my Water flow sensor failed. I found that the sensor was stuck in position due to having been sitting unused for some 5 years. I have it connected to the Controller, so I am notified very quickly when there is no water flow. I test it every day to be sure the switch is still working. New tubes are expensive.
BTW, Marco, the new tube arrive quicker than expected, very well packed, fitted like a glove and powered up with no indication of sparking anywhere. I find that I can cut 3 & 6mm MDF with the power at around 30 to 40%. I am not interested in higher power or high speed cutting. Being part of the older generation, I prefer to take things slow and steady. I have yet to test whether I can cut 9 & 12mm MDF as well. I have no complaints about my new RECI 100W tube. Thanks again Marco.
After finding that an 'original spec' replacement would cost me $290.00, I used a little old fashioned common sense and put it in my electric kettle with kettle cleaner and boiled it for 5 minutes. Half an hour later I rinsed it clean and it worked again. (I have a clean kettle now as well.)
It is also now brass where it was nickel plated. Seems the kettle cleaner ate the nickel plating.However, the cutting table is giving me some problems when I cut 3mm, particularly with small pieces. The design of my Cutter is such that the cutting nozzle is only about 4-5 mm from the work piece. When the smaller pieces are cut, they will often tilt on one of the knives below and get in the way of the nozzle. If the nozzle hits it, the work piece is dragged along with it, ruining the cutting. I find that I need to pause the cutting quite often during a 3mm cut in order to remove pieces that have tilted.
I am looking at replacing the knives with honeycomb which will prevent the tilting. However, my knives get very messy, very quickly, so I expect the honeycomb will as well.
My question is, how does everyone clean their honeycomb table? is there a particular method that works better than other methods. Currently, I clean the knives regularly (read daily) with hot soapy water and a spray painters scouring pad. I can't imagine trying that method with the honeycomb.
My honeycomb will be Aluminium, not steel like most, so it will also be a little more fragile. Sorry Marco, but the freight from the U.S. is way more than I can afford.
Any ideas, anyone, regarding cleaning the honeycomb?
regards,
Albert