Prototyping, Case Studies, Projects - Blog

As we said in our previous post, we've got more information on saltwater etching from Bruce Bradley, who's put together a nice instructional video, which we've uploaded to our Youtube channel. Bruce has been using automotive primer as a masking paint for his etching; over here in our lab, we've been using Duplicolor as our go-to brand, but most others designed for sandability and weather resistance are fine. Enjoy the video, and let us know if you have done anything cool with our products yourself!

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The L-Cheapo Mk7 is back in stock! We've also made some small changes to the way we build the L-Cheapo Mk7, and would like to share them with you. It's still the same laser; but the next run should get a wee bit better.

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We have for you today another submission from Bruce Bradley, the gentleman responsible for the six-year L-Cheapo, demonstrating saltwater etching with his laser. Saltwater etching of conductive metals is a relatively simple electrochemical process. A good Instructable explains the details of the process. The purpose of the laser in etching is to cut the mask material or paint, instead of using a scalpel as in the above demonstration. This allows for complex shapes to be very precisely cut, and with the right mask material, a clean edge mated to the metal.

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This is another ebike, this time built from an ordinary bicycle using a rim mounted friction drive. Designed for a now-defunct client, these surplus parts ended up in our storage closet waiting to be put to use. Waste not, want not.

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Similar to the positive pressure suit we made before, using painter’s suits, we made another one using an inflatable costume. This will work with any similar inflatable suit, like the silly dinosaur, but being space cases we went for the astronaut.

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We had an interesting support ticket come in recently; an original L-Cheapo Mk1 needed a PWM adapter to be moved to a new machine. After running for six years, we thought this venerable laser deserved a salute. We don't play around when we guarantee our product for life. (We sent out a custom-designed PWM adapter, of course).

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The L-Cheapo Laser Cutter Module has a new iteration! The Mark 7 is the newest iteration of the L-Cheapo laser cutter, with an even greater peak output than the 10W Mk6.

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The L-Cheapo laser cutter is a great tool for artistic projects. Davide Antonello, a graphic designer and artist from Italy, sent us these photos of a monitor he rebuilt using laser cut plywood.

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Our faceshield design is really making a difference. With shortages reaching extreme levels in northern Italy, especially smaller places like K's hometown of Verbania, we had to help. We reached out to every small fabrication shop we could. Eventually, we found one that would help. For the first week of April 2020, we were reaching out to shipping companies and fabrication shops in order to find anyone who would get our faceshields to Verbania.

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Both face shields, and the PET plastic sheets which they are made from are in short supply right now. This project will let you build a face shield from any thin translucent plastic, even a bread bag, by spreading the plastic tightly with a 3D printed part.

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