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This might be a dumb question but I will go ahead and ask anyway. It is regarding the acrylic parts for the 2.x laser (specifically the XY Mechanism and Z lift - found at http://www.buildlog.net/cnc_laser/kits.html). In a drawing it says to use 6mm acrylic. Where would I be able to find 6mm acrylic in the US? Does it have to be a special kind of acrylic (I have used acrylic before and as it is quite brittle, I am wondering if there is a special kind of acrylic that should be used)? And lastly would 1/4" acrylic work just as well or does it specifically have to be 6mm? I know its a small difference (6mm vs 6.35mm - but before I waste expensive materials I would like to ask someone who has done this before or knows its not a crucial dimension).

If anyone could help, I would be extremely grateful!

Matt

Hello,

Coming across this DIY laser engraver is better than sliced bread!! I own a business working with wood and would like to engrave the product. I built my share of computers, so I think i could handle this, I hope.. But for my product, I need to fit through a pass through door, The maximum width would be 3 inches.. The bed would have to be adjustable. Is this possible?

Whats the production time for 2.x laser kits ?

-A

MathewOwen wrote:Does it have to be a special kind of acrylic (I have used acrylic before and as it is quite brittle, I am wondering if there is a special kind of acrylic that should be used)? And lastly would 1/4" acrylic work just as well or does it specifically have to be 6mm? I know its a small difference (6mm vs 6.35mm - but before I waste expensive materials I would like to ask someone who has done this before or knows its not a crucial dimension).

Offhand I'm only able to think of one place that uses 6mm acrylic in the laser -- the bridge where the primary mirror is mounted. That thickness isn't going to matter there. The door is 1/8". There is "high impact" Acrylic, but it's not necessary.

Acrylic isn't manufactured to thicknesses so precise that 6mm vs 1/4" is going to matter. However, I think they are aiming for metric sizes, even if some suppliers (like Tap Plastics) refuse to speak to you in anything but English units.

jacobsultd wrote: But for my product, I need to fit through a pass through door, The maximum width would be 3 inches.. The bed would have to be adjustable. Is this possible?

You could pass material in the front very easily (still placing it on the adjustable bed) but due to the way the gantry is designed you could not pass material in the side and it's unlikely you could pass material clear through the machine front-to-back.

If you do open the front to put in oversized materials I would redesign the front panel so you can still retain most of it when the passthru is open, to protect the beam path and to keep up the effectiveness of the smoke removal.

Hi Ben,

Thanks for response.. I noticed I made a slight error and meant "3 inches in height", but I guessing I would be okay.. I was thinking about the possible redesign of the front panel to allow product to fit through. How far does the bed travel?

-A

jacobsultd wrote:I noticed I made a slight error and meant "3 inches in height", but I guessing I would be okay.. I was thinking about the possible redesign of the front panel to allow product to fit through. How far does the bed travel?

If you go to the top page you can get all the mechanical drawings and work it out exactly, but it's more than 3", probably 4-4.5" in the stock configuration. The screws that lift the bed in the front are only about 13.5" apart, so that would be your limit if you modified the front panel.

You could increase both by changing the lift geometry: A longer loop belt for the lift at the bottom would let you spread the leadscrews out. And you could build a modified table that was smaller but would go lower. You could build the whole laser *taller* as well.

(If you don't use a bed at all for maximum clearance you probably get up to about 6" max object size.)

BenJackson wrote:Offhand I'm only able to think of one place that uses 6mm acrylic in the laser -- the bridge where the primary mirror is mounted. That thickness isn't going to matter there. The door is 1/8". There is "high impact" Acrylic, but it's not necessary.
Acrylic isn't manufactured to thicknesses so precise that 6mm vs 1/4" is going to matter. However, I think they are aiming for metric sizes, even if some suppliers (like Tap Plastics) refuse to speak to you in anything but English units.

Ben, thank you for your reply! I appreciate it very much! OK, so if it is not a critical difference then I will go ahead and cut 1/4" black acrylic.

Are there others interested in having these pieces cut out? I have access to a laser cutter this upcoming weekend and can do a larger batch if others need these pieces too. These pieces were for sale through Bart (I guess he doesn't do it anymore?) he charged $70 (2x 35 for both laser cut kits). I assume I could manage to get within $50 (materials + shipping costs, laser usage, packaging and US shipping -international shipping might be more).

Otherwise I could also arrange a trade. If anyone else has components needed (sometimes orders are larger tan necessary - so maybe someone is interested in splitting materials). Basically what it comes down to is I would love to build this laser cutter. If anyone else is doing the same we might as well team up!

Please let me know,

Mathew

MathewOwen wrote:

BenJackson wrote:Offhand I'm only able to think of one place that uses 6mm acrylic in the laser -- the bridge where the primary mirror is mounted. That thickness isn't going to matter there. The door is 1/8". There is "high impact" Acrylic, but it's not necessary.
Acrylic isn't manufactured to thicknesses so precise that 6mm vs 1/4" is going to matter. However, I think they are aiming for metric sizes, even if some suppliers (like Tap Plastics) refuse to speak to you in anything but English units.

Ben, thank you for your reply! I appreciate it very much! OK, so if it is not a critical difference then I will go ahead and cut 1/4" black acrylic.

Are there others interested in having these pieces cut out? I have access to a laser cutter this upcoming weekend and can do a larger batch if others need these pieces too. These pieces were for sale through Bart (I guess he doesn't do it anymore?) he charged $70 (2x 35 for both laser cut kits). I assume I could manage to get within $50 (materials + shipping costs, laser usage, packaging and US shipping -international shipping might be more).

Otherwise I could also arrange a trade. If anyone else has components needed (sometimes orders are larger tan necessary - so maybe someone is interested in splitting materials). Basically what it comes down to is I would love to build this laser cutter. If anyone else is doing the same we might as well team up!

Please let me know,

Mathew

Mathew,

I would be interested, I already have the metal parts from Bart, and I planned on 3d printing the rest of the parts; however, my 3d printer still has not arrived, and that has been almost 2 months now. Which parts are you cutting, the rest of the parts normally included in the parts kit?

Chris

I hope to have my plastic parts done sometime next week, but others feel free to step in and help meet the demand for printed and or laser cut sets.

@ Matthew,

I would also be interested in buying a set of plastics from you. My cnc controller popped blue smoke shortly after beginning the laser build. Put me down for a set.

Jason