Heisenberg Tiles

It's the little things that make you happy!
almost 9 years ago – Sat, Feb 06, 2016 at 09:07:57 PM

While I am waiting for the control panel to arrive, I have been tinkering with other things. The gas springs that held the top up were shot.... weak... and I needed to prop the cover up with a stick. Well, I hate things that don't work, so I spent a couple of days looking around and found two brand new gas springs that fit the bill... for only $25 for the pair.

New Control Panel
almost 9 years ago – Thu, Feb 04, 2016 at 11:37:02 PM

Okay... good news for me... for once! Today I found someone in Vermont who is 'parting out' an Epilogue Legacy 32EX 120Watt Laser, and I got a replacement control board! So, I cancelled the LCD replacement for $675 USD and instead am getting the ENTIRE control board, the equivalent of $1,500 USD, for $375 USD!

Now I don't usually get deals like this, nor do I buy used stuff on the internet, however this looked like a reputable company, and I spoke to the owner, so I am fairly confident that it will work. At the very least, I think I will get one working board as well as a few spare parts.

 I don't know about you... but these sure look the same to me. Shipped on Thursday afternoon... should have it by Wednesday... maybe Thursday. As soon as it gets here, I'll plug it in and update you.

Andrew, Kevin and James

Laser Tech Part 3!
almost 9 years ago – Wed, Feb 03, 2016 at 09:19:37 PM

Okay, the laser tech... let's start calling him 'James', cuz' that's his name, just left.

We had a very successful session where we got the laser tuned... but not fine tuned. We ran some actual tile tests on acrylic, and although it looks great... it is not perfect. For that, I need to order the new control panel for $1,100 USD.

Which I have done... today. Tomorrow morning I will drive it across the border and ship it to Epilogue. They will repair/replace as needed and ship it back. I am told it is a 1 day turn around on the repair, and 2-3 days shipping so I expect it in a week. Here is a brief video of the laser running the acrylic, as well as a video of the control panel. As you can see from the video, it is virtually impossible to operate without the screen. Oh well, one very small step closer.

And the control panel...

 So, we did get the program tweaked to fit 8 sets per run. Now, at 8 minutes per set for engraving, 4 minutes per set for the magnet receptacles, and 3 minutes for cutting... a total of 15 minutes per set. Let's look at that... 15 minutes per set, 1,100 sets = 16,500 minutes or 275 hours of running time, or about 7 weeks at 40hours/week. This doesn't include painting, magnets, packaging, sorting... my head hurts!

So, while we wait for the control panel to arrive, Kevin and I will cut the acrylic into 20" x 32" sections for the sets. That way, when the laser is ultimately ready to go, we will have everything stacked up and ready to start dropping in and hitting 'Print'!

Now, as you may know, they have recently 'discovered' four new elements, but they are as yet, unnamed. I for one, do not want to delay and wait for them to name the new elements. So, unless they name them in the next week or so, they are locked in and we start production. Okay?

Again, thanks for your continued patience.

Andrew, Kevin, and now James!

Element Names
almost 9 years ago – Wed, Feb 03, 2016 at 06:29:21 PM

Some are asking about the element names. I have always used for reference the periodic table from the Los Alamos National Laboratory website:

http://periodic.lanl.gov/index.shtml.

One this table the elements 113, 115, 117 and 118 have been assigned the 'temporary' names of Ununtrium, Ununpentium, Ununseptium and Ununoctium, respectively.

We will continue to use these until they have been named by their discoverers.

Cheers,

Andrew, Kevin and James

Laser Tech
almost 9 years ago – Tue, Feb 02, 2016 at 09:44:08 PM

In the spirit of communication... the laser tech cancelled the appointment today and is coming tomorrow at 10:00AM. I will endeavor to post a video of the operating laser tomorrow evening.

Thank you for your continued patience.