Buildlog Title: MattyZee's mostly 2.x Laser Build
Builder: MattyZee
Member Since: 2011-03-03
Monday, June 4th 2012 - 2:58 AM
I finally got started building my 2.x Laser Cutter. Being in Australia i couldn't find any reasonably priced aluminium extrusion so i decided to make it a welded steel construction. That solved the problem of sourcing expensive aluminium and also gave me some flexibility in making a (imho) more aesthetically pleasing shape.
The following is a CAD model of the modified 2.x assembly.
The gantry and Y-drive is pretty much 2.x design. My frame is a little deeper than the 2.x design and allows me to use all 560mm of travel. I have also tried to maximise the X travel. This results in a final working area of ~525x430mm.
More on the frame to come...
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Monday, June 4th 2012 - 4:04 AM
Thanks Greg. I might be calling on you for some help getting Mach3 up and running later on.
This is the CAD model of the frame only.
I used my CNC wood router to make a jig that allowed me to tack weld the side of the frame together more easily. This corrected any error in angles when cutting the material to length. The slots go all the way through the MDF and allow both side to be tacked without removing it from the jig.
And here's the progress so far... Total cost of steel ~$30. So I'm pretty happy with that.
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Sunday, June 17th 2012 - 12:50 PM
Finally finished off a few last touches to the frame and got it powder coated last week.
I couldn't resist temporarily screwing on the y beams and gantry even though i will need to remove them.
This weekend, all I had time for was to make the aluminium tray that the electronics will mount to.
But i think its time to buy the last few big ticket items (laser tube & optics).
Unfortunatley I won't get any time over the next couple of weeks to do anymore on this due to work commitments.
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Friday, August 3rd 2012 - 1:14 PM
Progress has been a bit slow. Tonight I have assembled the X and Y axis. Hopefully this weekend I will have the motors wired up. Then onto the table and Z drive.
I am quite happy with how my frame has worked out. The motor and bearings look quite neat IMHO.
Here is the front idler for the Y axis. These photos make everything look like they are on a weird angle...but they aren't. I ended up machining them out of Aluminium on the Mechmate rather than buying 1/2" HDPE. I have a plastic chopping board that i will make the other brackets from that only need to be 1/4" thick.
Hopefully i'll have some more progress to show by the end of the weekend....
Oh, and this week i ordered my laser tube and optics
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Friday, August 3rd 2012 - 1:23 PM
baz wrote:Is there any chance you could share your CAD (3D) drawings so that I can have a look at how you have gone about it.
PM me your email address and i'll send you my CAD file for the frame. I will eventually post it here once i finalise my Z axis design.
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Glad to see you are up and running.
I will follow this with interest.
Greolt