LaserUser.com Forum (formerly RDWorksLab)

I started sketching and looking at options for a DIY 1/4 sheet Laser a while ago as I have been well and truly suffering the small bed size of my 200x300mm bed. Great for most of what I need but for some of my personal stuff including R/C Planes being able to drop in 1200mm long balsa sheets and larger sheets of foam would be more than handy. So 600x1200 or 2'x4' makes sense for lots of reasons be they commercial or not.

Then randomly today but I more than suspect Google (Big Brother) is watching my every move this Youtube channel popped into my sugguested ones to watch. I haven't viewed ANY Laser related videos in months but I have been looking at Laser suppliers so I am being watched

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ72zD ... qV7qAbNH7Q

and the website

http://furtherfabrication.com/new-blog/ ... ild-series

This one is well worth a look and a follow as he has already built and is using his first one. Mine is a project for next year at this stage due to other things on my plate already but bits of this project will be in the mix for sure.

I have been following him as well- was happy to see a new episode as it had been a while. He is not using it yet tho? If I were to build a machine I would probably use his approach with alum extrusions as I have a lot of experience and stock in several sizes. If you are shooting for a 2x4 bed I would advise building 4-6 inches larger as it will make things easier and probably not much more expensive. My bed is 900x1300 and will *just* take a 3x4 foot panel and that has worked well as I cut sheets into 32x48" pieces which are easy to store and handle.

Like in all things bigger faster is ALWAYS better At some point space overrides that statement and the number of jobs at that size decreases or gets farmed out to others with the really serious gear. We have within the near area both Waterjet and a Metal capable Laser businesses who work fairly cheap.

I do like the idea of the short gantry as it more or less removes the need to drive it from both sides of the axis. Providing you do the gantry management and use one gauge up to allow for the length and voltage drop it makes a lot of sense. Nema 17's seem a little underdone to me and I would think 23's are better suited.

On Bed size 'nominal' 2'x4' means space to trim or cut a sheet to that in my mind so 1-2" of extra so you can take out any manual cuts. Even though we are a metric country a lot of panel stock still comes in at a metricated imperial 1220x2440mm.

BTW new video went up last night too - gantry and belt fitting.

I thought the the gantry was always driven from both sides [by the same motor]. I have been experimenting with bending plastic boxes which I engrave the bend lines to get a nice crisp bend, meaning you scan in both X and Y where the gantry is moving back and forth [as quickly as possible] there is a lot of inertia.

Here you go we were both wrong Two steppers for the gantry. In that case I also rescind my earlier statement about Nema 23's large 17's should do it fine. Will be interesting to see if he goes powered bed and adds an additional reduction or not to help it drive and hold position without loading the motor as much.

I have two motors for my Z- constant problems. Most gantries I have seen have a cross shaft with timing belts at both ends that are powered by one motor. The Shenhui I bought for my daughter has a [bike] chain drive for the the four leadscrews driven by one large motor for the Z, which I really like. It also has a very different pan under the blade bed which is the best exhaust solution I have seen and a drawer to catch the larger debris [and small parts], and I would definitely make use of if I were to build a new [much larger] laser. Hmmmm.

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The Current installment of this series and of use to all Laser owners a triple PC fan cooler module Better than just a simple box and submersible pump maybe not up to a hot Aussie summer with heavy use.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s3_X3Kpvsk

Episode 8 of the series is up. More or less finished https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRPvDmAqN10

Also available now for $15 Build Guide, Manual and CAD model. https://www.furtherfabrication.com/reso ... gory=Y1200 along with a set for the baby brother 400mm version.

Have you downloaded them yet? Gotta be $15 worth of info there, and then you can review them for us. Please and thank you.

I did drop the few pennies for the file but I haven't had a chance to unpack the zip files for a look until today.

The combined download for all three packs is 120Mb but they are saved in multiple formats so a wide range of CAD software will open them including Fusion 360 they were originally made in.

There is a handful of STL files already exported from Fusion ready to slice and print but even for those without a 3D printer getting them made by a service won't be that expensive.

The PDF Manual (63 pages) and Parts lists and purchase links (included in Libre and Excel formats) are really well written and easy step by step to follow in particular if you combine them with the videos.

Also included is a bunch of controller settings screen grabs which will make life easier at the commissioning stage.

The Fusion 360 Rendering I made is with the top and front panels removed for visibility of the insides of the model. The zoomed in section shows a couple of 3D printed bits and some of the hardware needed and where it goes which will make assembly even easier.

A really great job