The tots are asleep (for now) so I figured I would get a start on my build log.
First a couple of thanks:
Bart - for setting up the excellent virtual space for talking about these things
LightObject/Marco - a valuable resource for the DIY laser community and very responsive to his customers
Liberty4Ever - For the kick to start my own project
After buying/building/using several CNC set-ups, I have developed a motto that if you are going to go for it, go as large as you can. Generally you can always do the smaller projects on the larger machines, but not the other way around. I know there are exceptions to this rule, but most days of the week you can't beat a large working envelope. To this end, my plans are to use a custom modified XLE X-Y stage from LightObject to provide a working envelope of 900x600 (this is now a standard configuration), a 80W Reci laser and the DSP to control it w/ a 2.X type structure and skins. This was about as large as I could go in my shop and still be able to walk around.
I have a Mitsumi order in for the structure right now. I beefed up to 25mm square extrusion, both for strength and for a $2/m lower cost
The stage is very nice, it will greatly reduce the time on alignment and getting everything running smoothly. Mine made the journey from China directly, it was well packed and went together with minimal trouble.
- The Box
- Lots of Packing
Included in the package were lots of extra bolts and the hex wrenches needed for assembly. After assembly, measuring corner to corner there is less than .5mm difference. To get the X aligned I pulled out some 1-2-3 blocks to make sure that the left and the right sides of the X slide were in alignment.
- Left Side
- Right side
- Right Side.jpg (45.32 KiB) Viewed 12702 times
I did run into one snag during the assembly of my y motor mount. It looks like they drilled the mount about 4mm off, this meant that when I had used all the adjustment for the belt tension, there was still quite a bit of slack in the system. I knocked out a quick shim to regain the ability to tension the belt and all is well. I did not even have to buy longer bolts, there were longer spares in the package of extra bolts.
- loose belt not happy
- The Shim
- Much Better
For others looking at this set up, I would recommend it, it is stout and smooth. When designing, you can plan on the X dimension being about 10" wider than your working envelope and your Y about 5" larger. For me, it got a large portion of the mechanics finished in quick order and got me closer to an operating machine that much faster. I am guessing that there would be at least 20-30 hrs of fabrication for me to do it along with the design work and the oh S&*^!t moments. It was a good trade off for me.
I got some surplus cable guide and built some simple mounts to get it on the X & Y axis, wired up the limit switches and steppers and fired up the DSP. I used some excess shielded 4 wire mic cable and shielded limit switch wire from my CNC router, I figure where possible I will shield long runs where I can.
I am connected using the IP connection and I must say the DSP is a pleasure to use. With a little tweaking, I am getting 700mm/s travel in both directions and things sound pretty smooth. Note: The LaserCad 6.27 password is 608. I won't really be able to assess the travel quality until the laser is hooked up and I send some test raster patterns printed.
Next steps will be to build the frame and get the laser/cooling system/ventilation system ordered.
Stay tuned!
Paul