Laser tube level & Clamps

Mon Mar 04, 2019

Post by Mike Audleman » Mon May 08, 2017 3:04 pm

Here is my completed retro-fit for my China Blue/White 50(40)w:

Mike Audleman laser tube clamp.jpg

I will get on the last changes tonight and get the STLs uploaded to thingiverse.

My old tube mounts that came with the machine:
Image

As you can see, they are clunky at best and are not able to adjust at all in the up/down direction. Only laterally. AND if you are magic enough to be able to get to the darn screws UNDER and BEHIND the tube with an unknown elven magic wand. I couldn't align the tube correctly. I could align it using the mirrors. But thats not the correct way IMHO.

There are other solutions out there. I suppose many work. I couldn't get myself to buy the $25 mounts out there. Not when I can and enjoy making stuff myself. Most other mounts suffer the same irksome fault that really irritates me on mirrors. THREE freaking screws to adjust TWO axis. Seriously. Who thought that was a good idea? (Bet you can guess what one of my upcoming projects is already, can't you?)

Anyway, my mounts solved those problems for ME. If its useful to you, well, thats just gravy on the taters. I wanted mounts I could easily remove/replace the tube with. I wanted mounts I could freely adjust both laterally and vertically. And I wanted mounts that had TWO screws, one for up/down, one for left/right. And I didn't want to go buying a bunch of custom or special order hardware to do it. My mount does all those things. IDK if it will fit your machine. I designed and made them to fit the Blue/White machine. If you let me know they fit yours, then I can add that to the description on them. For now, it will say they are for the Blue/White.

[EDITED FOR BREVITY- THESE LINKS WORK AS OF 3.4.19- GDU]

Here is an image folder with the install steps:
http://www.ipernity.com/doc/wolfie/album/974382

Ok, I published the STLs for printing:
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2305604

Sat Mar 21, 2020

Gene,

What size tube did you make this for? I'm not in love with my current saddle mounts, but I have an 80mm and the pic looks like a 50mm.

Dave V

Sat Mar 21, 2020

This post was from the forum before it suffered the "big crash".
The original post was from Mike Audleman in May 2017 and reposted by Gene a year ago.

Sat Mar 21, 2020

Dave Vigness wrote: Sat Mar 21, 2020 Gene,

What size tube did you make this for? I'm not in love with my current saddle mounts, but I have an 80mm and the pic looks like a 50mm.

Dave V

I'd go to Thingiverse and see if the dimensions will fit your tube.

Lots of good stuff on Thingiverse. I had a friend print one like this for me and my 50W tube. But I haven't had to change the tube yet (!), so I haven't installed the new brackets yet.

Sat Mar 21, 2020

3D printing is still in the universe that laser cutters were several months ago. I know nothing. I have no way to check, or at least I don't know what I'm looking at, to see if it's for 50mm or 80mm. But if you said you printed it for your 50W, then that almost guarantee's it's a 50mm. 'Enlarging' it to 80mm is way beyond my comprehension of 3D right now.

Sat Mar 21, 2020

In the description 50mm

Summary
This is a mounting system for a 40/50w 50mm diameter CO2 Glass Laser Tube to fit a China Blue/White Ebay 50w (really 40w) Laser CNC Engraving cutting machine.

As a design it has a lot of parts so I would be more likely to look for an alternate or use this as a first up project to do some learning with 3D Cad. Also think about how few times after the initial setup you will need to adjust the Laser Body itself? KISS Shims for vertical adjustment under the tube mount and a slotted trench of some sort for Lateral movement with lock screws and a firm holder for the tube with some sort of Rubber to avoid breaking it.

Edit Very much a roughy below. Took the good idea from the above design using tube for the rubber mount part. Needs chamfers and some niceties but 80mm diameter with 8mm fastners/holes 10-15 minutes work.

Sat Mar 21, 2020

You know, it's the simple things that slip right by... yeah... 50mm tube.

My current has some nice aluminum saddles for the 80mm tube... and some thin straps over. A sever difference in materials / workmanship. My lateral adjustment is literally loosen the screws in the feet and nudge it one way or the other.

I've made some contact with a few local 3D guys, so I should be able to come up with something. Thanks for the pic / idea.