Still working on the K40 laser machine at the maker space.
I'm using a separate 24V power supply for the cohesion 3D mini board control board and for the stepper motors. So I feel comfortable using the 24V and 5V from the laser power supply (LPS) to power some led lights and other small things. Problem is that the 5V and 24V connections on the LPS are made with a pin plug instead of screw terminals. So no easy way to add more connections
Had a bunch of 2 pin detachable screw terminals on hand so I made up a power distribution block with some solder board.
@NedMan very cool! I've never laser etched my 3d prints before, any specific thing to pay attention to? I'm guessing stone materials work better than others, but are there definite "don't do this"materials? Like abs/asa have VOCs during print, but what's the verdict on laser etching/cutting?
@NedMan I see some comments that ABS can emit hydrogen cyanide, and others saying it's generally safe. Do you happen to know which is true? If so, want to update that table with another line? Or add a comment below and I can add it to the table?
I see that Acrylonitrile has H, C, and N in it, so the idea of emitting hydrogen cyanide doesn't seem far-fetched to me, but as you know I'm no chemist.
@goeland86@mcdanlj The Hydrogen cyanide is a myth as far as I can tell. I could never find a reputable source list that has that as a voc or combustion product. The main concern would be any styrene emitted as you get a large enough dose you can get styrene poisoning. But that takes a fair amount. It’s really probably safe to laser engrave with descent ventilation.
@NedMan@goeland86 Ah, we didn't have it in the table, but it was in text:
ABS to some degree. ABS is reputed to give off hydrogen cyanide (HCN) when lased. Don’t try this until you have a GOOD vent system, and then don’t vent it into your neighbor’s window.
So I can tweak that text — given that the rumor exists I guess we could ask for reputable sources?
I assume that not everything that contains H, C, and N forms hydrogen cyanide when it burns, because that would be... a lot of stuff. ☺
It turns out I was not correct. I think I had ABS confused with something else I had looked into. It turns out that you can get some HCN generated during flame combustion in air, but it's a small amount. You are more likely to die form the carbon monoxide produced.
Here is a literature summary on combustion and thermo-oxidative degradation of ABS. They also look at the toxicity of the combustion products and compare it to things like that of polypropylene, red oak and Douglas fur. The numbers are mostly comparable across the studies for relative toxicity.
@NedMan@goeland86 Cool, I linked to that from the page. As before, feel free to tweak it to improve it. I left the "cut" column "?" but for engrave said "Y"...
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