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Our Laser Rotary Attachment just got better! Read all about it in this article.  

Just a quick heads up. As we are physically moving to new home, we will not be able to fulfill any new orders from August 9th to August 26th. Apologies for any inconvenience this might have caused.

I've been using RDWorks to send jobs to my Laser machines for many years. Fortunately there's a new game in town and it's software called Lightburn. It's not free, but it was created from scratch and incorporates many features that RDWorks was lacking as well as addressing many of it's bugs and translation issues. One great feature it has is camera support. Why would you want a camera in your laser engraver other than remote monitoring? Well as it stands you can actually take a screenshot of what's on your laser bed and align your cut lines or engravings perfectly. Everything is mapped precisely. For example you have coaster you want to engrave. Just throw in laser bed, take snapshot and move your artwork to align with the image. In my case I needed it cut pieces of paper that already had artwork printed on them via regular printer. Lightburn sells camera modules on their website. It's a module based on OV5648 5 megapixel image sensor. These boards available elsewhere too. But just getting one is not enough, you have to mount it somehow to your laser machine (preferably to the cover so it can see full bed). There are several enclosures/mounts available on Thingieverse, but to be honest they are not great. So I've decided to design one from scratch and offer it in my online store. This enclosure fits 62 mm x 9 mm camera module and should work with any lens. Camera module attaches with three M2 x 3mm screws and cover just snaps on securely. Enclosure is mounted to the top of your laser cover with double sided tape on a swivel mount. All hardware is included (other than actual camera module). Camera is so small and light that it can also be used on 3D printers. I plan to add adapter for it as well...

Boss Laser Mirror Alignment Tools Last week we've launched new product in our store under slogan "No More Tape!". It's set of mirror alignment jigs similar to the one we've developed few years back for eBay 50W laser machine. This tool-set was custom designed for Boss Laser Generation V machines. It allows to align 1st and 2nd mirrors as well as CO2 tube. Concept is simple. Specially designed 3D printed brackets fit onto mirror holder. Brackets/jigs have slot where you insert disposable target indicator (a piece of cardstock with engraved/printed cross-hairs) and test fire laser to see where exactly it burns the target. No more messy sticky painter's tape that not just a pain in the butt to use but also nearly impossible to see where beam hits in relations to the actual mirror location. Targets cam be discarded and replaced with freshly made ones as template and settings is included. Or if desired you can order a refill at our store. We sent out several alignment tools to beta testers (thank you so much!) and it seems there was an issue with 3rd mirror tool on some machines. Because tool was designed to clip on the side of laser head that also houses 3rd mirror) it didn't fit if this head was mounted lower than usual. After some headbanging I redesigned 3rd mirror alignment tool to fit ALL (I hope) machines, as long as big hole opening is around 20.5 mm (I think all Gen V machines have same mount). New design is two piece part that requires some minor assembly (on our end). Because of this and more expensive material (PETG had to be used to due to it's flexibility) I had to increase price slightly for a full set (both mirror jigs and set of paper targets).To those of you who placed an order that was already shipped, please let us know if you have issues with fitting of the 3rd mirror tool. Orders that haven't been shipped yet, will be upgraded to new mount at no extra charge. Big Move In other news we are moving to a new home and office in New Jersey. Move will start in following weeks, during which we will not be able to fulfill orders , so if you need something (alignment tool, focal gauge, chiller cable or PiBurn rotary) please order ASAP.    

Our office will be closed for holiday between June 29th and July 14th. Any orders placed will be fulfilled once we reopened. Have a great summer!

Did you know that March 14th is unofficial Pi Day? 3.14 get it? :) To honor this geometric holiday we are offering a ONE DAY 10% OFF discount on our PiBurn Rotary Attachment, that's available for pre-order! Use coupon code "PIDAY19" at checkout! Use coupon code "PIDAY19" at checkout!

Been working on this little tool for several weeks and finally it's ready for the world! What is Ramp Focal Gauge? It's a simple tool for finding out optimal focal distance from tip of your laser engraver to the material. It takes "ramp test" method to a new level. After you place it correct under your laser nozzle, and load template into machine's memory, it will burn a clear markings on the replaceable temple that will show where your best focal distance is from the tip of the nozzle. No calipers, rulers or anything else required, just your eyes! Takes minutes to use so you can quickly identify best settings, especially when you change lenses. Gauge works best with Boss lasers because of the "knife blade" table, to which it fits securely. But it will work on any other service as well, just make sure you align it well. Works with auto and manual focusing lasers! I spent a lot of time on writing detailed manual and filming video instructions guide! You can find this product in our store.

I'm so excited to have my product on Kickstarter! Finally after almost a year in making and testing I decided to share it with the world. https://youtu.be/BwlDKpVpV_I What's PiBurn you might ask? Well it's add-on device for Laser Engraver machines that allows to engrave various cylindrical objects. It's powered by a motor and connected to laser machine's controller. Controller tells it rotate slightly as laser beam passes over it burning image one line at a time. I really need your support to fulfill my funding goal and start making these devices! Please consider supporting me on Kickstarter and please do share it with your friends on Social Media! I'd really appreciate any help! :) Here's direct link to Kickstarter Project

brick verb cause (a smartphone or other electronic device) to become completely unable to function, typically on a permanent basis. "installing an unofficial OS voids the warranty and may brick the phone" Lately I've been working on a custom "arduino clone" board that uses SMD version of ATMega328p microprocessor. This is what it looks like, magnified.      It really is a tiny IC, size of small fingernail, yet it's same (internally) as processor used in Arduino UNO and many of it's clones. However I've managed to "brick" quite a few of these in the process of developing board. Chips appeared to be completely dead, not accepting ISP programming or showing any signs of life. It is not physically damaged, no. Something caused it's internal settings to lock. Fortunately there's a way to bring these chips back to life with high voltage parallel programming. Easiest way to do this is with Arduino add-on HV Rescue shield sold on mightyohm.com. Unfortunately it is meant for standard thru the hole DIP (dual in-row pins) packaged chips. I spent few days trying to find a solution for SMD package (TQFP type) and din't find one. Only solution seems to be is to desolder chip from the board using hot air, put it in junk pile and after cleaning pads solder new one in it's place. These chips are not expensive so it's not a huge deal, but still it's a waste. So eventually a solution was found. There's a Zero Insertion Force sockets (ZIF) made for TQFP microchips! These go for under $25 on eBay (just search for TQFP to DIP ZIF adapter). Just put your microprocessor on the special pad and close lid to engage contacts. On the bottom there are 28 standard 0.1" headers that can be plugged into breadboard OR into HV Rescue shield! There's only two modifications you'll need to do. When assembling HV Rescue shield instead of 28 IC socket, solder two 14 pin female headers.  Keep in mind that you will not be able to insert regular DIP chip there anymore, but it's easy to make an adapter for it with piece of perf board, male headers and some solder. If you get same socket as I did, it will have it's bottom row of pins wider than standard ATMega328p chip. Not a problem, just solder male header rows in between. Another thing to consider is that for some strange reason MightyOhm's sketch for the shield did not work for me, however alternative one did! In some cases I had to run program several times, but I resurrected every single bricked ATmega chip I had! Also I realized that I can pre-program microprocessors with Bootloader and set fuses without soldering! That greatly sped up assembly process. Of course you will still need to desolder bricked SMD chips with hot air, and then solder them back, and yes I do realize that I spent about $50 to rescue few $3 microprocessors, but added bonus of being able to pre-program bootloader is worth it for me. Final warning, chip might get stuck in the adapter's cover. I only realized I had extra one there after I looked at this picture :) Woops!