Joe Walmer
10-24-2015, 10:34 PM
I bought a k40 off ebay to take the tube and psu and try to make it work on my GCC mercury laser as the RF tube needs refilled. I got it new in 2003 and it worked for about 10 years till it was low. It still cuts only at about 30% power. As soon a I know that project works I will have a k40 body I can gut and make into a real laser.
I have some parts from the openbuilds part store V wheels, v rails, and open rail converters so I plan on remaking the entire xy system from scratch. I will take out the entire xy system and sell it on ebay along with the moshidraw controller. I will replace that with my smoothieboard controller I already bought. It will be strictly a cutting machine as all I do is cut 3mm acrylic. So a flatbed machine is actually ideal for me, I don't need a z table at all.
With that said I plan on doing a few things different than any other k40 upgrade I have found yet. First off I will take out the middle divider that separates the 2 compartments. This should give me a lot more room and let me have something like a 24"x14" This will allow me to make 4 of the products i make all in one go with room to spare vs not even one of the products with the original 200x300. I will mount most of the electronics outside the case and slowly put them back in one at a time where they fit and don't interfere.
I see how much room there is from the bottom of the laser to the laser level and its a lot. I may actually take the lasertube and mount it directly below where it is at now inside the cutting area of the machine. This would let me build the xy rails from 20x20 openrail and have the honeycomb table right above that so the piece you cut will be 40mm from the bottom of the machine maybe 60mm actually with the y rail in place. This makes more sense when you see my original train of thought that brought me to this other than trying to figure out how to raise the whole xy system. This will also allow me to put all the electronics where the laser tube is now letting me have the entire 800mm width of the machine for a cutting area!
I plan on putting in 2 laser tubes. Even if I have to cut out the floor to the laser tube chamber (not the floor to the machine) and raise the first one up a bit (which I don't think I will have to do). Why 2 tubes? for me it makes sense as I cut things in pairs and they are always spaced the same distance apart. So how does this thing work?
Basically I have 2 identical laser heads. The first is the Master head its the same head the laser came with then the slave head is spaced 6 inches down and it has the mirror raised up like a periscope 40mm or whatever it is to catch the second laser beam. Basically making it a ganged laser and ensuring the 2 matched pieces are exactly the same. This is how they cut parts for aircraft carriers so they are the same. I can use a Destaco toggle clamp or just use my Epilog laser to cut different length connectors that lock the heads an exact distance apart.
So sound pretty crazy or what? Ill just keep buying k40 lasers to steal the tubes from and work on the next chassis. In the end I will probably settle for a 18x12 setup and use the rest of the space to fit everything into the machine. Things like the water cooling radiator I plan on putting in the front of the machine and that is where the air intake will come from. Ill get a tube reservoir and mount it to the outside of the machine for looks and to save space and I already have a mini pump a clone of a mcp50 its very small and could be mounted anywhere. I plan on putting my exhaust in the bottom of the laser so it pulls it right from under the vector table.
I also have a few watercooling blocks for old cpu's way back on Pentium 4 times and I plan on putting it on the bottom of the smoothieboard controller to cool the stepper drivers so they cant overheat.
I have looked and looked and haven't found anyone that repaced the xy rail system in one of these If anyone knows of any I would love a link.
I have some parts from the openbuilds part store V wheels, v rails, and open rail converters so I plan on remaking the entire xy system from scratch. I will take out the entire xy system and sell it on ebay along with the moshidraw controller. I will replace that with my smoothieboard controller I already bought. It will be strictly a cutting machine as all I do is cut 3mm acrylic. So a flatbed machine is actually ideal for me, I don't need a z table at all.
With that said I plan on doing a few things different than any other k40 upgrade I have found yet. First off I will take out the middle divider that separates the 2 compartments. This should give me a lot more room and let me have something like a 24"x14" This will allow me to make 4 of the products i make all in one go with room to spare vs not even one of the products with the original 200x300. I will mount most of the electronics outside the case and slowly put them back in one at a time where they fit and don't interfere.
I see how much room there is from the bottom of the laser to the laser level and its a lot. I may actually take the lasertube and mount it directly below where it is at now inside the cutting area of the machine. This would let me build the xy rails from 20x20 openrail and have the honeycomb table right above that so the piece you cut will be 40mm from the bottom of the machine maybe 60mm actually with the y rail in place. This makes more sense when you see my original train of thought that brought me to this other than trying to figure out how to raise the whole xy system. This will also allow me to put all the electronics where the laser tube is now letting me have the entire 800mm width of the machine for a cutting area!
I plan on putting in 2 laser tubes. Even if I have to cut out the floor to the laser tube chamber (not the floor to the machine) and raise the first one up a bit (which I don't think I will have to do). Why 2 tubes? for me it makes sense as I cut things in pairs and they are always spaced the same distance apart. So how does this thing work?
Basically I have 2 identical laser heads. The first is the Master head its the same head the laser came with then the slave head is spaced 6 inches down and it has the mirror raised up like a periscope 40mm or whatever it is to catch the second laser beam. Basically making it a ganged laser and ensuring the 2 matched pieces are exactly the same. This is how they cut parts for aircraft carriers so they are the same. I can use a Destaco toggle clamp or just use my Epilog laser to cut different length connectors that lock the heads an exact distance apart.
So sound pretty crazy or what? Ill just keep buying k40 lasers to steal the tubes from and work on the next chassis. In the end I will probably settle for a 18x12 setup and use the rest of the space to fit everything into the machine. Things like the water cooling radiator I plan on putting in the front of the machine and that is where the air intake will come from. Ill get a tube reservoir and mount it to the outside of the machine for looks and to save space and I already have a mini pump a clone of a mcp50 its very small and could be mounted anywhere. I plan on putting my exhaust in the bottom of the laser so it pulls it right from under the vector table.
I also have a few watercooling blocks for old cpu's way back on Pentium 4 times and I plan on putting it on the bottom of the smoothieboard controller to cool the stepper drivers so they cant overheat.
I have looked and looked and haven't found anyone that repaced the xy rail system in one of these If anyone knows of any I would love a link.