Here is a Link to My Amazon Recommendations;
]]>Why do you need to clean it often? When should you clean it and how do you clean it? Lets go over the reason "why" first. When particulates, oils and water from your air assist get onto your lens it creates hot spots which can severely damage your lens or change to strength and focal point of your lens. Cleaning it often will help avoid this from happening.
When should you clean it? I clean mine after large production runs (multiple products at one time), after every 5-8 smaller products depending on the material used and i ALWAYS clean it when changing from one medium to another, such as switching from Slate to Wood.
Now to the "how". Below i will outline a step by step guide to help you do it quickly:
If you are wanting to switch out the lens from say a 2" to a 4" lens, at step 8 you do this the same way as described. Make sure the new lens is clean before insertion. The only additional step is to use the Tip Removal tool to unscrew the tip and replace it with the correct one.
That's it, you are ready to rock! Total time is about 5 minutes and will save you from damaging your lens and possibly your product. I will provide some Amazon Affiliate links below where you can purchase the items mentioned above!
]]>First and foremost, why do we need to clean our fans? There are two main reasons, one being to improve the performance of your exhaust fan. The more carbon and resin that there is built up, the less debris, fumes and smoke it will remove. the other being safety, when all those particles build up inside your fan they create a pretty nasty fire hazard, especially when combined with the heat of the fan motor and electrical wires.
Now that the "Why's" are out of the way lets focus on the "How's". Keep in mind that you should be cleaning your fan once a month to keep it running smooth and avoid issues, personally i have two of them so i can switch them out to avoid delays in production and cause less wear and tear on the fans. Cleaning them takes about 15-20 minutes from start to finish and here is how:
Congrats, you are now ready to restart your machine and get back to work! Below i will include some Amazon Affiliate links to all of the products, including the fan, that i have suggested. As long as you routinely do a maintenance cleaning of your fan, you won't need to do a deep cleaning and your fan will last years.
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That's all there is too it. Make sure you clean off your lens every 10-15 pieces, Slate dust is hard on your laser lens and can easily cause scratches and burn spots.
Here is an Amazon Associate list of the products i use for this process. Enjoy!
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After being Honorably Discharged i didn't know what to do with my life. Everything i worked for and all of my future plans were gone. I had issues dealing with the loss of many friends that crept up on me now that i had no distractions, i was left alone to face my Demons. That's when i reconnected with a high school friend who took this broken Marine and gave me something to love again... her. She urged me to find a new passion in life and never pushed me when i felt low and for that i thank her. I rediscovered that old passion for craftsmanship and art, i even went to a trade school to learn Welding and Metal Fabrication just to add to my skill sets, after all, life is not but the pursuit of knowledge.
Soon after i married my wonderful Bride and created a new family of my own. We now have 5 kids... 5 feral little monsters that make each day interesting! I still needed to find an outlet to keep my mind at ease and give me a purpose, so one day while at the local hardware store, i walked past a cheap wood burning kit and it made me pause. I figured, why not, and picked it up and brought it home. I had no clue what to do with it but i had an old Wine Barrel and formed a crazy idea, hence the birth of Heavy Barrel Designs.
I started making some art projects for friends and family, even a few charity organizations that i was involved with. Next thing i knew, i was getting messages, phone calls and emails asking if i could make something and as the orders came in, this little hobby of mine started to grow. It was great but i could barely keep up and doing it all by hand was time consuming and getting increasingly more difficult. In stepped a dear friend and former Police Officer who i had known for years. As me and Chad sat in my garage, talking over a glass of Bourbon, he told me how he too was looking for a creative outlet. He suggested a partnership and the idea of us getting a Laser Engraver. What a great idea!
We have been partners now for about 3 years and have watched our business grow. We have done craft shows where we have been overwhelmed with love and support from fans of our products and we have done shows where we have sat there waiting for someone, anyone to stop by our booth, we learned what works and what doesn't and all along finding new ways to create and learn. We went from having a couple hundred followers on Social Media to thousands and now, i want to share my 30+ years of knowledge about all things "Craftsman" with you. Maybe you too will find your passion, maybe you can help keep these fleeting life skills from fading away with time. I will teach you the little tricks and tips I've picked up along the way and which tools you will need for the job as well as how to use them.
Lets have some fun!