Ok on the gantry laser, everyone talks about doing it, but to date, I haven't seen a diy version.
There are a few commercial versions, but they are ultra expensive and invariably use smaller (physically) RF lasers - which in turn tend to be air cooled. Only needing 24V to drive their inbuilt psus is a big plus too.
So, the chinese tube gantry laser is going to be long, has to drag it's water umbilical and probably either has it's psu on the gantry or has 25KV in the umbilical along with the water.
Ok, you can move the mass fast given a half decent servo system, but at what cost? I don't fancy a 100W reci laser rattling back and forth at +400mm/s if you want it to raster - even 50mm/s is fast enough!
Go for it I say, don't be a wimp - save yourself that extra mirror (or two if you mount it vertically
) and a bit of power loss.
Has anyone considered how wide a 100W gantry laser will be ? I'ts 1400mm + the x (or y) axis size
Unless it's mounted vertically - that would be a good idea
The only other option is a moving bed which needs to be double the size in each axis making your 8x4 an 8x16.
Personally, in the year I have used mine, other than an occasional wipe with a damp cloth and a quick vacuum, that sums up the maintenance and alignment
I haven't noticed it changing shape yet. That'll be the kybosh on my laser now then
I can see the desire to get a constant power across the bed, but perhaps not with a chinese laser - maybe they'll start doing cheap rf lasers soon?
Cheers
Neil