Hello Everyone i am completely new here. Have a huge cnc machine that im currently fixing up and converting. It has a monster bed on it and looks like it would be a perfect candidate for a laser attachment.
Found here (my entire build log):
http://cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=103291It features a 3hp high speed spindle. After reading about lasers and looking into it i stumbled across this website and i'm very happy! I've already printed out a PDF i found on here about how to make your own laser! Very cool, im tempted to do it but would like to purchase a Chinese laser off Ebay from love-happyshopping (to just jump in and get my feet wet). I purchased my high speed spindle from him and the transaction was flawless. It only took 3 days to ship it from hong kong to Seattle, and the quality of the product was superb. I saw the 40-60 watt lasers range from 150-250 dollars, and the power supplies go from 200-300 dollars.
Tonight im going to read as much of this forum i can and look into everyone elses build logs so i can really suck up as much info as possible.
i would like to fabricate and mount the laser to the gantry. This way i can either use the machine for a laser cutter or a mill. The laser can be easily mounted on the gantry 80"+ wide. I have 2 options when it comes to my "z axis". I can mount it on the side of where the spindle is and use my current servo driven axis, or the opposite side also has a large faceplate with a follow carriage that is a part of the front carriage. I could easily buy a very small Z axis and mount the optics to the rear of the machine on the new mini z axis.
Well i will read more and more. Hopefully tonight i will be up to date on the "laser lingo".
Glad to be a part of this forum, hopefully i can offer my help to others.
Thanks!
Diyengineer
Software:
Solidworks 2010
Mastercam X4
Mach 3