Tool For Removing Lens Retaining Ring

[Vicki Lalicker]

Hello. I am searching for the tool that is used to remove the retaining ring inside the tube that is holding the lens in place. I cannot loosen it with fingernails as described in some videos. It has two small pinholes in it where some sort of tool apparently fits in to unscrew the ring. Does anybody have a link to this tool? Or any suggestions on how to remove the ring without damaging the lens? I appreciate your feedback.

PS: I have seen the ThinkLaser video where a toolkit was provided with the laser. (Laser Machine Maintenance: Mirrors, Lenses & More (2018)) That is where is saw the 'tool' I am describing. I like the tool to hold the lens also and am searching for that as well.

[Josh Creswell]

Hello. I am searching for the tool that is used to remove the retaining ring inside the tube that is holding the lens in place. I cannot loosen it with fingernails as described in some videos. It has two small pinholes in it where some sort of tool apparently fits in to unscrew the ring. Does anybody have a link to this tool? Or any suggestions on how to remove the ring without damaging the lens? I appreciate your feedback.

PS: I have seen the ThinkLaser video where a toolkit was provided with the laser. (Laser Machine Maintenance: Mirrors, Lenses & More (2018)) That is where is saw the 'tool' I am describing. I like the tool to hold the lens also and am searching for that as well.

Probably not the best thing to use, but I just use a small Phillips head screw driver to do it. You could cut one out of acrylic if ya want to.

[Doug Fisher]

I bought a pair of needle nose pliers with curved/bent tips from Harbor Freight. The two tips opened just wide enough to fit into the two divots in the ring. Take your tube with you to the store to confirm things before purchasing.

[Pete Cyr]

I made a tool to remove my lens as shown in the attached pdf. The tool that came with my laser was a flat piece of sheet metal that was the diameter of the barrel. My re-designed tool prevents scratching the lens because the diameter of the tool is only a few mils under the diameter of the barrel and can not contact the lens due to the design.

Boss 1630 lens removal tool.pdf

If you don't have a lathe and mill or a 3D printer you could perhaps make on of these from a piece of electrical conduit or thin wall pipe if you can find some slightly smaller than the diameter of the barrel your lens sits in. A file and some patience is the only tooling you will need.

[Gene Uselman]

You might look at snap-ring pliers- usually cheap and come with a variety of tips for different holes and angles.

[Vicki Lalicker]

Thank you, everyone, for your input. I appreciate the assistance. I am very concerned about something sharp getting near the lens, so the idea of something that fits just inside with no chance of touching the lens sounds ideal. Thanks for the pdf and all suggestions.

I'm surprised some sort of specialized tool isn't readily available. Might be a good project for an entrepreneur to design, fabricate and sell (and patent) a tool.

[Eric Adams]

For what it's worth, my (used machine) came with a putty knife that had blue painter's tape wrapped around the metal blade. The sides of the knife were filed/ground down so the putty knife fit inside the tube. Works very well, and you may already have the knife and tools laying around to fabricate your own.

[Gene Uselman]

Eric- that works fine for the retainers with slots in them- Vicki's has holes instead of slots. I could develop a design that could be made on the laser if I had all the particulars of the size of the holes and the measurement across them. I have several lens tubes and retainers but they all use the slots.

[Bill Northup]

This is what I use for removing the lens
//www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01J51FYAA/ ... UTF8&psc=1
Works well

[Judd Stapleton]

I found this from Cloudray. https://www.cloudraylaser.com/products/ ... c-e-series