Does anyone make laser head extension tubes?

[Andrew Parry]

Does anyone make laser head extension tubes or longer tubes for either the China Red/Black or even the C-Series head if I decided to go that route?

The reason is that I've been using the drop down front / back (sorry, I can't remember you call that) so I can put larger sheets of material through the machine, but to be able to do that I have to lower the Z-axis, but then the material is too far away from the head.

I made a very DIY extension tube (see photo attached) that works surprisingly well, but I'd like something more robust.



Thanks,

Andy

[Gene Uselman]

I just asked about the lense tube in your red dot [line] thread. I think it would be very doable- all the nozzles I have are threaded the same [ I have kind of a nozzle fetish- several people use this machine and I 'tune' the nozzles with shims so that they all are 7mm focus distance for ease of use. Do you have a small lathe?

P.S.- just got some fittings in the post with the correct male thread for the nozzles- [ M22x1.0 Male Thread] but have not found any with the same female thread. These are adapters mostly from the Metric thread to a US thread size.
https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Aerator- ... B07VNRCLHV

These could be soldered [they are brass] to a tube iffffffff you could find a female M22x1.0 adaptor.

[Doug Fisher]

If you find a reasonably priced source, please post a link!

[Gene Uselman]

Cloudray has a straight tube with internal threads on each end [25mm] that could be easily shortened to one inch on one end and if two of my threaded fittings were ground off and soldered [or epoxied] to produce two male threads... bang- Bobs your uncle.

.

Lens tube CR.jpg

[Andrew Parry]

Thanks for the reply. I'm about to install the C series head so I have more options. The tube it comes with is considerably longer that the one that the Red/Black China version has, so I 'might' be OK.

Andy

I just asked about the lense tube in your red dot [line] thread. I think it would be very doable- all the nozzles I have are threaded the same [ I have kind of a nozzle fetish- several people use this machine and I 'tune' the nozzles with shims so that they all are 7mm focus distance for ease of use. Do you have a small lathe?

P.S.- just got some fittings in the post with the correct male thread for the nozzles- [ M22x1.0 Male Thread] but have not found any with the same female thread. These are adapters mostly from the Metric thread to a US thread size.
https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Aerator- ... B07VNRCLHV

These could be soldered [they are brass] to a tube iffffffff you could find a female M22x1.0 adaptor.

[Andrew Parry]

Thanks for the reply.

Cloudray has a straight tube with internal threads on each end [25mm] that could be easily shortened to one inch on one end and if two of my threaded fittings were ground off and soldered [or epoxied] to produce two male threads... bang- Bobs your uncle.

.Lens tube CR.jpg

[Andrew Parry]

I did look for quite some time and couldn't find any.
It's another one of those times when I could do with a lathe, but I have no where to put it or the time to learn how to use it!
I think the Series C type head is the way to go. It's just got more options. If looks pretty inexpensive from Cloudray, but then by the time you add taxes and shipping costs it's not so cheap. I just think when it's installed it'll be less hassle in the long run.

If you find a reasonably priced source, please post a link!

[Cad Jones]

I had the exact same problem, esp. with pass thru, and when using my rotary. Amazingly you only need about an inch to get below front bar.

I didn't want to mess with the head, so found this to convert from smaller 18mm tube, to larger standard 20mm.
This allows me to lower my nozzle by 1.5 inches.
I was gyped, is now $2 cheaper.

https://www.cloudraylaser.com/products/ ... 5c86&_ss=r

Then I added a normal 20mm nozzle with 90° air assist tube.

I also used a 20mm meniscus lens w/50.8mm focus inside the larger 20mm area prior to screwing in the M22 nozzle. This allows me 5mm focus below the nozzle hole.

In the pic you can see that the nozzle is below the front bar, and then add another 5mm gap for focus to top edge of material.

You can also see in my pic where I can replace my rotary wheels with some 3D printed holder I designed for baseballs or pencils.

Works great for me, hope this helps,

Cad

[Gene Uselman]

I would like to add that there are 24mm and 25mm lens tubes, the tube I posted is 25mm . The threads are all the same- the difference is when you insert the tube into the cutting head body and try to tighten it.