You heard it! Time for some updates: when I last posted I finished with converting a 3D printer to a relatively conventional laser engraver, and had plans to turn it into an Etch-A-Sketch laser engraver. That is, you could control the engraver with knobs like you would an Etch-A-Sketch. It was completed! Although this second transformation was a bit of a pain--the rotary encoders in the Raspberry Pi were unstable and the low wattage of the laser module I used required it to move realllllllllly slow, it was still a lot of fun. See below for some of my work engraved in "Etch-A-Sketch" mode instead of being engraved using computer-generated commands (which is more conventional):
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| My most successful piece with the Etch-A-Sketch laser engraver. It says "Hippo" with a picture of a Hippo I tried to sketch on a hard book cover. It looks like a cow from Minecraft. |
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| After a long night of debugging, I engraved "Overrated" into a piece of balsa wood. |
When I get around to it, I will publish the source code in python for the Etch-A-Sketch laser engraver. I'll also probably post a demo to YouTube. I don't think there is that big of a rush to do this as my exact type of setup is already a bit obsolete, with some of the necessary modifications made on my 3D printer not being around anymore.
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Despite my struggles with unconventional modifications, I highly recommend turning any broken 3D printer into a laser engraver. Because (in my opinion) the most likely part to break in a printer is the extruder (the part that spits out plastic), the printer may not have control over the necessary and complicated instrumentation, heating equipment, or motors for printing. However, In a laser engraver these parts are irrelevant. All you need is a functioning cooling fan port in the motherboard (where the laser gets its power from), a functioning motor that controls the position of the extruder, and you should be good to go! It is a great way to give an otherwise broken machine a second life. Laser modules that can be attached to the printer are very cheap off Banggood, if you get one of them with a quality pair of safety glasses it can be a lot of fun!
Expect a much longer post in the very near future about some of the other work I've done with the engraver over my summer break and since I returned home. Thanks for making it this far!
