Greetings to all!

We’ve been quiet here but very busy. Don’t you just hate it when home maintenance responsibilities get in the way of your fun? That’s what happened this weekend but, let me catch you up.

We’ve had this laser for a few weeks now but Cameron is very busy with work as the excitement with the moon mission builds. In addition, there is yet another learning curve here and it’s steep if you ask me.

Okay, so what is a MOPA fiber laser, you may ask. MOPA is an acronym for “master oscillator and power amplifier” and this type of fiber laser is high powered (100 watts in our case) with precise control over pulse parameters. In plain spoken English it means it can perform the following functions:

MOPA fiber lasers are used in many industrial and scientific applications, including:  

Engraving medical devices and automotive components

Marking metals like nickel alloys, steels, and titanium

Engraving plastics, metals, and anodized aluminum

Cutting gold and silver sheets

Engraving curved surfaces like wedding rings or bracelets

Creating colorful markings on stainless steel

MOPA fiber lasers have several advantages over traditional fiber laser engraving machines, including:

Superior performance
MOPA fiber lasers offer better engraving quality and flexibility.

Precise control
MOPA fiber lasers allow for precise control over pulse width and frequency.

Adjustable pulse durations
MOPA fiber lasers can create different colors on metals by manipulating pulse durations and frequencies.

Reduced heat
MOPA fiber lasers produce less heat, which reduces damage to metal and the risk of corrosion.

That’s a lot to take in, and we have a lot to learn because every metal and alloy mix is going to react differently and require different settings for etching, engraving, cutting, and color marking. Not every stainless steel has the same mix of alloys, for example, so a lot of testing is ahead.

Brass is a comparatively soft metal. Stainless steel is likely the hardest metal we will work with. Everything else is somewhere in between.

So this video is long, in part because it involves a good deal of guesswork on our part. It’s our first attempt at etching and cutting brass. For reference, this is the Monport 100 watt MOPA fiber laser with auto focus. We received a copy of Lightburn (which we already have and use with the CO2 and Diode lasers, a rotary attachment for engraving round/convex objects like mugs and rings, and are still waiting for the enclosure for it. Cameron built a cart for it but is waiting on the enclosure before putting the top on it to ensure the enclosure is smaller than the cart top.

Here is a first attempt at cutting crazy thin aluminum before the vice came in. Again, noobs to the max, but we share our fails in the hope that we can shorten someone else’s learning curve.

While we’ve been away Cameron built a cart for the diode laser that has lots of storage for wood and acrylic and paper.

He also installed some additional cabinetry in the shop. It has helped soooo much to get things organized and put away.

I’ll have to take updated photos for my next post. I’ll also post a photo of the second take on the brass ladybug we messed up tonight, all polished and pretty. Until then, wishing everyone an awesome October!

Dana