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Darkly Labs Emblaser User Manual

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Emblaser
-User Manual-
Revision 6.0

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Summary of Contents for Darkly Labs Emblaser

  • Page 1 Emblaser -User Manual- Revision 6.0...
  • Page 2 All information in this Manual is subject to change at any time without notice and is provided for convenience purposes only. Darkly Labs reserves the right to modify or revise the Manual in its sole discretion and at any time. You agree to be bound by...

  • Page 3: Table Of Contents

    Safety Checklist Starting Up Installation (Windows) Installation (OS X) Powering Up Connecting to the Emblaser (Windows) Connecting to the Emblaser (OS X) Running your first job: Setting the correct laser height Understanding the Laser Modes Running your first cutting job Advanced:...
  • Page 4 USER MANUAL PAGE iv Darkly Labs...

  • Page 5: Welcome To The Emblaser

    Welcome to the Emblaser This Manual is designed to start your journey with the Emblaser. Take the time to learn about your new machine by reading this manual carefully. USER MANUAL PAGE 1 Darkly Labs...

  • Page 6: General Specifications

    9mm 445 nm laser diode (Class 4) 5.6mm 445 nm laser diode (Class 4) Software Design & Toolpathing Vectric Cut2D-Laser Desktop 8 Machine Control Vectric Transfer (VTransfer) Ultimate GCode Sender GCode Interpreter GRBL 9g (custom) USER MANUAL PAGE 2 Darkly Labs...
  • Page 7 Layout REAR Control Panel POWER LASER FRONT Laser Carriage Laser Module Fan Shroud Power Indicator LED Laser Indicator LED Heatsink SIDE POWER LASER Lens Power Button Laser Enable Button Laser Shroud USER MANUAL PAGE 3 Darkly Labs...
  • Page 8 USER MANUAL PAGE 4 Darkly Labs...

  • Page 9: Safety

    Safety Safety Overview How can a laser injure me? What Precautions Should I Take? Important Health Warning Information Safety Checklist USER MANUAL PAGE 5 Darkly Labs...
  • Page 10 It is crucial that a competant adult is always in charge of the Emblaser and its operation. This individual is responsible for providing laser safety training to users and for ensuring that safe methods of work are always adhered to by users of the Emblaser.
  • Page 11 How can a laser injure me? The Emblaser uses a Class 4 laser to perform its cutting and engraving tasks. This class of laser can injure or affect the user in three main ways: Thermal Injury Unlike many light sources that dissipate their power rapidly with distance traveled, lasers produce a collimated (focused) beam that remains concentrated even over long distances.
  • Page 12 • Make it a habit to always wear appropriate protective eye-wear when using the Emblaser. • Make sure anyone in the vicinity is also wearing appropriate protective eye-wear. • If you change the laser diode in the Emblaser, ensure you have the correct protective eye-wear for the laser wavelength you will be using.
  • Page 13 The small percentage of the population (0.01%) that have blue-yellow colour blindness (tritanopia) may struggle to see the Emblaser’s laser beam at all, and may not realise they are being exposed although permanent damage is occurring. Tritanopic users must therefore be particularly careful.

  • Page 14: Safety Checklist

    • Is the material you are planning to cut / engrave safe to do so? • Do you have adequate ventilation? • Do you have a Fire Blanket within reach? • DO NOT USE THE EMBLASER ON REFLECTIVE MATERIALS Be vigilant with safety when using the Emblaser. USER MANUAL...

  • Page 15: Starting Up

    Starting Up Software Installation Powering Up Connecting Focusing USER MANUAL PAGE 11 Darkly Labs...

  • Page 16: Installation (Windows)

    Emblaser. VTransfer is the software that forms the link between Cut2D-Laser and your Emblaser. It not only allows you to seamlessly control the Emblaser within Cut2D-Laser, but also offers a number of useful features for running cutting / engraving jobs.
  • Page 17 Double click the ‘Transfer’ icon to start VTransfer. Select ‘File / Settings’ from the top menu bar. This will open up the settings window. Tick the ‘Auto Run’ and ‘Auto Home’ check-boxes. Press ‘OK’ VTransfer is now setup. USER MANUAL PAGE 13 Darkly Labs...

  • Page 18: Installation (Os X)

    Enter your registration and license details. Install ‘Ultimate GCode Sender’ In order communicate with the Emblaser, a program to send data to it is required. ‘Ultimate GCode Sender’ is the most common choice. Please see the section titled ‘Installing Ultimate GCode Sender’.

  • Page 19: Powering Up

    Do not power up your Emblaser yet. Run through the Safety Checklist before proceeding. Step 3. Press the ‘Power’ button to turn on the Emblaser. POWER LASER You will see the LED above the power button turn green and the fan on the laser unit will now be running.

  • Page 20: Connecting To The Emblaser (Windows)

    Please ensure the workspace is clear of obstacles. ‘Homing’ is the process used by CNC machines to determine their exact position. It needs to be performed whenever the Emblaser is first turned on or when the laser is moved by hand.
  • Page 21 Step 3. Set the laser unit height with the focus tool. This is done by placing the focus tool vertically onto the machine base and sliding the laser unit down until the heat-sink touches it. USER MANUAL PAGE 17 Darkly Labs...
  • Page 22 Be careful not to unscrew the lens too far or it will come out, along with the focus spring. Once complete, release the enable button. Step 7. Slide up the laser unit and re-fit the laser guard. USER MANUAL PAGE 18 Darkly Labs...

  • Page 23: Running Your First Job

    Running your first job: Setting the correct laser height Understanding the Laser Modes Running your first cutting job USER MANUAL PAGE 19 Darkly Labs...

  • Page 24: Setting The Correct Laser Height

    Carefully slide down the laser unit down until the laser shroud touches the focus tool Step 3. Slide out the focus tool being careful not to move the laser unit’s height. The laser height is now correctly set for your work piece. USER MANUAL PAGE 20 Darkly Labs...

  • Page 25: Understanding The Laser Modes

    Understanding the Laser Modes The Emblaser can have its laser in one of three different ‘modes’. Mode: Disabled The laser will always default to ‘disabled’ mode when first turned on. POWER LASER This mode is indicated by the Laser LED being off.

  • Page 26: Running Your First Cutting Job

    Running your first cutting job After assembling your Emblaser, it will be useful to run the ‘Calibration’ file. This will help ensure the machine is aligned and working correctly. Step 1. Run through the Safety Checklist before proceeding. Ensure you have your safety eyewear handy.
  • Page 27 Once the file loads, you will be presented with this screen. Step 4. In this project, all the toolpaths have already been created and are ready to send to the Emblaser. Click on the ‘Save Toolpath’ icon. Step 4 (cont).
  • Page 28 DO NOT CLICK ‘Save Toolpath(s) to File’ yet. Step 5. IMPORTANT: The following steps will result in your Emblaser starting the cutting job. Make sure you have placed your material in the workspace and set the correct laser height. For this example a piece of thick card or flat plywood will be suitable.
  • Page 29 Step 5 (cont). Once your job is completed, disable the laser by pressing the ‘Laser’ button once. POWER LASER Never leave the Emblaser unattended when it is running a job. USER MANUAL PAGE 25 Darkly Labs...
  • Page 30 USER MANUAL PAGE 26 Darkly Labs...

  • Page 31: Advanced

    Advanced: Changing the Maximum Laser Power Setting Swapping out a Laser Unit Updating Firmware USER MANUAL PAGE 27 Darkly Labs...
  • Page 32 1200 001111 2100 101101 3000 111111 1250 010000 2150 101110 1300 010001 2200 101111 Factory default setting is 1800mA 0 1 1 0 1 1 (off-on-on-off-on-on) ( 1 2 3 4 5 6 ) USER MANUAL PAGE 28 Darkly Labs...
  • Page 33 Unscrew and remove the set screw holding in the laser diode. Important: The laser diode will remain inside the heatsink because of friction. Be careful to not dislodge it. Step 4. Slide the laser unit up and off. USER MANUAL PAGE 29 Darkly Labs...
  • Page 34 If you have replaced the laser unit with one of a different power rating, you must adjust your maximum laser power settings before turning on your Emblaser. Failure to do this could result in permanent damage to your laser diode.
  • Page 35 Updating Firmware The Emblaser allows you to update the firmware on the two microprocessors as updates become available. This process can be performed via the USB connection and the update software package supplied by Darkly Labs. Choosing between the GRBL and Watchdog processors is via a jumper (JP2) on the main PCB.
  • Page 36 USER MANUAL PAGE 32 Darkly Labs...

  • Page 37: Maintenance

    Maintenance Lubrication Lens Cleaning USER MANUAL PAGE 33 Darkly Labs...
  • Page 38 5: Look through your lens once more to determine whether you have removed the debris. 6: Carefully screw the lens back into the laser unit being sure to include the focus spring. USER MANUAL PAGE 34 Darkly Labs...

  • Page 39: Appendices

    Appendices PCB specifications Workspace specifications Laser Modes Installing ‘Ultimate GCode Sender’ Connecting via ‘Ultimate GCode Sender’ Material Properties Table Basic GCode program for Emblaser Terms and Conditions USER MANUAL PAGE 35 Darkly Labs...
  • Page 40 Control Panel Extender Motor Microstepping Jumper Motor Driver Board Motor Connector Left Homing Switch Homing Switch Fan Socket Flat Flex Cable (FFC) Laser guard PCB connector Laser guard PCB connector (opposite side) Laser Socket Homing Switch USER MANUAL PAGE 36 Darkly Labs...
  • Page 41 It is rare that you will need to consider this position in your day-to-day working. Important: Directing the Emblaser to travel beyond these distances will cause it to hit its end stops. This will not damage the machine but will produce an awful noise and require re-homing.
  • Page 42 In this mode, the machine can move normally but the laser will not operate. Conditions that result in Emblaser disabled mode: • When first turned on, the Emblaser always defaults to disabled mode. • The enable button is pressed while laser is enabled.
  • Page 43 Ultimate GCode Sender is an open-source, multi-platform program for communicating with GRBL based controllers, similar to the Emblaser. Being multi-platform, it works on Windows, OSX and Linux platforms and provides a number of useful features for the more advanced user.
  • Page 44 Set ‘Firmware’ to GRBL. Step 5 (cont). Select ‘Settings / Sender Settings’ from the top menu bar. Set ‘Maximum command length’ to 255. Click the ‘Save and Close’ button. The Ultimate GCode Sender is now setup. USER MANUAL PAGE 40 Darkly Labs...

  • Page 45: Conecting Via Ultimate Gcode Sender

    Windows This is likely to be COM3 or higher. To find out, you can turn off your Emblaser and re-open the menu; the entry that disappears should be the Emblaser port. Turn on the Emblaser and select that serial port.

  • Page 46: Material Properties Table

    Polybutadiene butadiene Butadiene monomers, toxic (component of ABS) cyclic compounds Polychloroprene Chlorine hydrogen Potent, acidic irritant (Neoprene) chloride, polyene of mucous membranes, corrosive, toxic USER MANUAL PAGE 42 Darkly Labs...
  • Page 47 Acetate acetic acid irritant Styrenics Polystyrene (also a Styrene Styrene monomers, Irritant, toxic component of ABS) dimers, trimers, tetramers Table based on “Thermal Decomposition of Polymers - Craig L. Beyler and Marcelo M. Hirschler” USER MANUAL PAGE 43 Darkly Labs...

  • Page 48: Basic Gcode Program For Emblaser

    Basic GCode program for Emblaser A cutting file comprises a simple GCode program which instructs the Emblaser on exactly what to do. Cutting Example Here is a sample cutting file, which cuts a square shape with 100mm sides. ( Set the units to mm) ( Turn off the laser, just in case it was on from a previous program) G00 X0.000 Y0.000...

  • Page 49: Terms And Conditions

    As far as the law permits, Darkly Labs will not be liable for any loss or damage caused to property or persons arising from any cause whatsoever. The Goods must be constructed and used in strict adherence to the guidelines and instructions provided by the Manufacturer.

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