Modifications
I have made, and have a few ideas for, modifications to my laser cutter, and will describe them here in the hope that the information will be useful to others. Please note however that I cannot accept any liability for anything that might occur as a result of using this information. Use your own judgement and stay within the bounds of your own capabilities.
Air Assist & Fume Extraction
I've grouped air assist and fume extraction together because the way I see it, they're both about getting vapour/fumes away from where the work is being done and are therefore really a part of the same system. (read more.)
Beam Path
Ideally the beam should be moving entirely within the horizontal plane until it hits the mirror of the cutting head. This does not appear to be possible to achieve on my machine so I intend to make a few changes. (read more.)
Bed Size Increase
The stated dimensions are 210x205mm but I'd like, and think I can get, more. (read more.)
CNC & Mach 3
In addition to the laser cutter I have a micro mill that I wanted to convert to CNC using Mach 3. Then I discovered that I could do the same conversion on my laser cutter. (read more.)
Pin-Bed
My laser cutter came with a metal honeycomb panel on which to cut things but I plan to replace it with a pin-bed. (read more.)
Power Indicator
The fact that the power control knob turns through 10 rotations is convenient for recording settings in terms of the number of turns. However it's a nuisance in terms of not being able to tell where it's set just by looking at it. (read more.)