Co2-Laser on Craig Andera

Moving and Setting Up the Gweike M3

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I bought a new laser, the Gweike M3. It came in a crate, and the only way to its final room in the basement was under a low deck, down a ramp, and through a wall.

June 1, 2026: the laser had arrived, and now the hard part. It's a 1200W CNC fiber laser cutter, engraver, welder and cleaner, plus a 80W CO2 laser, in one machine. The shipping weight is 1000 pounds (450 kg). My initial reaction: "OMG, it's huge."

It came off a box truck on the liftgate. The crate proclaims it "The World's First 6-in-1."

It spent its first night in the driveway under a tarp.

I spent two days preparing the path in. I modeled the area under the deck in CAD to make sure I could clear the low overhead, and it looked like I'd just barely make it. I built a ramp, since the stairs are one of the harder parts of getting stuff into the shop.

The boards have stringers on the underside, like a stair, so they don't slide.

The platform at the bottom, under the deck, covers the steps down to the shop door, so the laser can roll straight in.

June 5: uncrating complete. I realized that it has wheels. I'd planned to move it across the lawn on a dolly, but that wasn't necessary.

The laser on its pallet, on the driveway.

If you don't have a forklift but move heavy things, get a toe jack (the blue thing here). It's the secret weapon in machinery relocation, as it can sneak in under a gap as small as about half an inch. You can easily use a long crowbar to lift most things that far. It's slow, since you sometimes run out of travel, so you jack it up, rest the thing on blocks (which are called "cribbing"), and block up the jack.

As it turned out, I didn't even really need the toe jack: it's "light" enough that I could have just used the crowbar to get it high enough to slide a block in or out, which is what I wound up doing for the trip down.

Into the basement (June 6 to 13, 2026)

June 6: phase one complete. No casualties. Pushing it across plywood to the deck stairs. A brother and a friend are very helpful, especially as they are both younger than me.

A line across the lawn, with the laser at the far end.

The other end of that line: a puller strapped to a tree at the far side of the yard.

Taking it apart (June 9, 2026)

The machine wasn't going to fit through the door as delivered, so before it went inside I stripped off everything that added height or weight. The CO2 laser tube, which is glass, came out first.

The control panel's buttons, disconnected from behind.

The lid came off too, which meant unhooking its safety interlock switches.

June 9: inside! And one room away from where it needs to be. Better yet, the remainder of the work can be done in air conditioning. Note that we had to pull off the top and tip it on its side to get through the door.

June 11: in the final room.

Still not a ton of clearance, even after cutting into the wall.

The view from the other side.

The gantry sliding under the cut header, with about a finger's width to spare.

June 13: final orientation.

June 14: back together, with the lid and panels on, and the control console unpacked and waiting for its cables.

First cuts and ventilation

The sample cut board that comes with the machine. I believe it was cut on this very one.

I think I already figured out the first upgrade I want.

June 14: success! The kerf is so tight that the piece sits in the cutout on its own. It didn't fall out when the cutout was complete.

June 16: I tried a quarter-inch steel square, target size 25 mm. The measured dimension was 24.870 mm.

And the other direction, 24.941 mm. I didn't adjust for kerf, so the error is roughly the thickness of a piece of paper.

Ventilation. It's also a CO2 laser, which can cut wood and acrylic, much of which smokes a lot more, since the material is being burned and not just melted. It exits out the back, hence the long run, because that's where it needs to be in order not to get blocked by snow in the winter.

The exhaust opening in the wall.

My other lasers are on Fiber Laser Setup and CO2 Laser Setup.

Hunter Ranch Sign

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Most weeks, I volunteer at Nova Lab's "Metal Monday", helping people to learn about or do metalworking. People drop in with all sorts of projects and ideas, and it's always fun to talk to them about it. One of them was this sign:

The guy made it for a friend to thank him for letting him use his ranch to hunt on. It's about 4' by 3'.

Laser Engraved Covalent Spirits Coasters

Sat, 20 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Slate coasters, laser engraved with the logo of Covalent Spirits, the distillery run by a friend of ours. I made them in December 2025. Their Orange Vodka is excellent.

Here's a set of four on the bed of the laser.

Laser cut "gingerbread" houses

Sat, 13 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

It was laser day in December 2025. My wife wanted a couple of coasters made, and my daughter wanted some cardboard cut into shapes for "gingerbread" houses. Here's one of the houses.

Laser Engraved FRC Coasters

Sat, 13 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

My wife wanted a couple of coasters made. The coasters are slate, engraved with robotics team logos. Here's one with the FIRST logo, in the laser.

And one with the gear-and-lightbulb logo of our team, FRC 8592.

CO2 Laser Setup

Sun, 19 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

In October 2025 I got a new Gweike CO2 laser cutter and needed somewhere to put it.

The table (October 2025)

Fast, cheap… The laser cutter is still shrink-wrapped in the background, and the table is upside down, 2x4 legs sticking up from a plywood top, with a caster waiting to go on.

And good enough. Here's the laser on its finished rolling table, lid open, with the packing foam and exhaust fittings on the floor below.

The exhaust

I needed a 150 mm to 4" vacuum hose adapter. Oh noes, wherever will I get one? I printed it.

Christmas Ornaments

Thu, 26 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I always make an ornament for my wife out of a leftover bit of a prior year's Christmas tree. I'm still a few years behind, but I keep making them whenever I can catch up.

Turned

A purple-lacquered body with a turned spalted-wood cap and finial.

And three from earlier years, dyed red, purple and green and marked 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Cut

An ornament cut from a piece of our Christmas tree, in this case from 2015. My wife's Chinese astrological sign is the ox, hence the cow shape.

Laser cut

In December 2024 I caught up by two years. Laser cut and engraved, of course.

The rectangle on the left is engraved with a family selfie from 2018. The ring-shaped ornament on the right is dated 2019.

Nova Labs Sign

Fri, 13 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This greets people every time they walk into Nova Labs, as it sits just inside the main entrance. Amusingly, it was only ever meant to be a prototype. I laser cut it from hardboard, spray painted the pieces, and screwed it together using 3D-printed standoffs. It's been there for several years, waiting for me to make the "final" version out of metal. Maybe some day.

Here's the prototype just after I finished it in December 2024, laid out on the floor: the black gear with the orange light bulb, and the layered orange, black and white lettering, held together with standoffs.