> And scanning with an X-Y plotter.... And a single pixel pickup...=20
> 600mm /0.5mm =3D 1200 passes... at even 1 ms per pixel that's like
> 24 minutes of scanning...
>=20
> your application must be... Interesting :-)

Well, that's two of us who think it might be ;-)

It's part of an idea suggested a while back about burning cutting
patterns onto wood with a laser, primarily for fine bandsawing or
scrollsawing

The universal method presently is to print out the pattern and stick
the paper to the wood with contact adhesive. Cut the wood and
then remove the paper. It's quick, but glueing is a bit invasive and
can cause staining, plus you've got more sanding

The idea I'm trying is to scan the pattern, store the image, and then
play it back through a burner. Either that or have two X-Y tables,
one for reading, one for burning, just like you'd copy a CD, with
no intermediate storage. Although it's very easy to store a file so
not adding an SRAM would be short-sighted

I've tried it non-mechanically and it's certainly very doable, if slow.
For what I have set up here that's mostly due to the burning speed
of the laser. I am considering a small router with a fine bit to do
the drawing, pretty much a basic 2D CNC, but of course you'd
have to make sure any routing is done outside the line and that
would take s/w a little smarter than simple lines. Plus the size of the
bit (1.8mm I think is the smallest commonest carbide) limits the
resolution, but you'd pick the right jobs to use it on

Woodworkers are a mellow laid-back bunch. Even if a scan and
burn took an hour, that time can be spent on many other things in
the workshop, especially once you have the first item to work on

Joe
--=20
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