Laser machine “from YouTube” and its fatal flaw
Sometimes an IT specialist wants to start some kind of hobby. Switch. Unload your brain. Take a break from work in the evenings/weekends. For something non-IT. New. Interesting. What do you need to put your hands on. So that the result was not only on the screen. Material. Or maybe even for sale. Even if it’s not too expensive. Against the background of existing IT salaries.
A carbon dioxide laser CNC machine with a large working field on the floor of a plywood sheet has become such a hobby for me. Which I started building from crumble at the beginning of February 2022. How I came to this hobby, what I bought, what difficulties awaited, how I overcame them and whether I was able to overcome them all – in this article.
Everything developed rapidly. On February 5, something made me search YouTube for the phrase “co2 laser 40w”. And away we go… the weekend was lost.
Having peered ad nauseam at a heap of commercials from a number of channels, I understand life came to a clear understanding:
Everyone should have a laser machine.
It is inexpensive. And if you collect it yourself – it’s generally almost free. At the extreme, you can stretch the purchase of parts and assemble the machine slowly. Savor the joy of creativity.
Collecting it is easy. Especially if the hands are golden.
And how much money he will bring – do not count at all!
Bingo! I thought. And he transferred 5,000 rubles to a stranger.
Laser Bricks
It is worth clarifying that before ill-fated fateful day, I was not familiar with the machine tool industry from the word “no way.” Although in my country workshop there were already a couple of 3D printers. But I did not collect them by hand. And one did not even turn on from the moment of purchase.
Nevertheless. New knowledge from the videos claimed that I would succeed. You only need to buy a few parts mainly on AliExpress.
Pipe holders (2 pcs.); laser heads, holders, lenses, mirrors; controller; high voltage power supply; motor power supply; controller power supply; flow sensor; proximity sensors (2 pcs.); air valve; bearings (2 pcs.); motors (2 pcs.); motor drivers (2 pcs.); water pump; ring belt; Drive belt; fitting faucet for nozzle; pneumatic tube; pulley 60 teeth; pulleys 30 teeth (2 pcs.); pulleys 20 teeth (3 pcs.), rollers (4 pcs.), high-voltage wire, aluminum taps; lamellas (15 pieces); stepper motor holder; flexible cable channels (2 pcs.); carriages (3 pcs.); profile rails (3 pcs.); shaft polished; cut aluminum structural profile 6060 and 3060; t-nuts m4, m5, m6 (240 pcs.); screws and washers of different sizes.
Plus buy a set of adapter plates. To connect together all this stuff into a single structure. This is how my dream machine should turn out.
Secret Ingredient
The first 5k of my investment was spent on this set of adapter plates. There was some information included. Typical cutting of a structural profile. List of what to buy. The assembly instructions were those videos that I had already watched.
The information was sent to me immediately. The parcel left the next day. And when she got to me, it turned out to be inside. My joy knew no bounds (no sarcasm).
The set included:
Transition from the Y-axis carriages to the gantry.
Transition from portal to X-axis belt roller bearings.
End elements of the portal with bearings and tubes. Right end element – with fasteners for the Y-axis motor.
Fastening of inductive end sensors to the portal and the table.
Fasteners for toothed belts of the Y axis.
Change from profile to laser tube holder.
In general, this set turned out to be a lifesaver for me. Without him, I certainly would not have dared to fit into such a new hobby. Thanks a lot to its author.
But there were also some downsides. At least for me, a simple IT specialist. Without my workshop. And without golden skillful hands.
What was missing from the set:
Bearing holders inside the portal. The author assumed that the profile would be from CollectZavod. And provided two 3d models. For two types of profile 6060. Normal and lightweight. For self-printing of bearing shells.
Y-axis flexible cable channel holder. The author provided a 3d model for self-printing.
For the purchase of components, links were provided where to buy. Most of the details are from AliExpress. The rest is from local suppliers in the Russian Federation. Here I decided mischief cheat save. I had some experience with hieroglyphs. Found and ordered absolutely everything in China. on Taobao.
Why are machines so heavy?
Always amazed at the weight of CNC machines. Looking at sites with their descriptions. So what could be so hard…
The first package that arrived with the details of my machine weighed 32 kg. In it I packed everything long and metal. Structural profile, rails, shaft and some small things. The maximum length of the parcel parts is 2 meters.
For some reason, the second and third parcels arrived together. And they weighed a total of 35 kg.
Thus, the total weight of three parcels with parts from China amounted to no less than 67 kg.
What else did you save on and was it worth it?
The drawings of the author of the design suggested the use of profile 6060 for both the portal and the machine table.
I looked at it, looked … And I decided to assemble a table from a smaller profile, cheaper and easier. After all, it was “by eye” it was obvious that the author was re-mortgaged in the rigidity of the structure.
It shouldn’t have been done that way. As later acquired new experience. At least for my size table. With a width of two meters. I ended up having to buy the “correct” profile. And rebuild the table already from it.
Design nuances
I started assembling the machine from the portal. Here I had to cut the threads in the ends of the profile, somehow fix the shaft bearings inside the portal and screw the end elements of the set with M6 holes into the M8 thread. The first two tasks were adventurous.
I cut the thread for the first time. It’s good that you decided to practice first on cats on pipe holders. I planted a tap in the profile with a screwdriver … It was no longer possible to unscrew it back.
No big deal, I thought. Well … the tap will stick out at the back of the machine. It happens to everyone. But I decided to google. It turned out that my problem is not the worst. Usually taps break in holes. And then they suffer with their extraction. And me, a smartass, just should have greased the hole before cutting.
The lubricant helped to remove the tap from the pilot hole. And also cut all eight production threads.
I also had to tinker with the bearing retainers. The spacer models provided by the author of the set did not fit my profile. Since its internal structure was somewhat different from the profile of CollectZavod. Therefore, a familiar designer was given the task of designing suitable spacers for me.
The model is done. Spacers are printed on a polymer printer. And … sadness, sadness. Firstly, something was not guessed with the sizes.
And secondly, they turned out to be too fragile for such an application.
We changed our approach. Back to the constructor. New models. Already for the cutter. It’s good when a milling cutter was found near the dacha.
This time they are true to size.
But screwing the ends into the wrong thread went smoothly. By reaming the holes of the parts of the set from 6 to 8 mm. A screwdriver with a drill for 8 works wonders.
Something was going really simple
In parallel, he assembled other parts of the structure.
And the table was assembled on such tricky plates. Found in China.
Unfortunately, such plates did not bring special rigidity to the design. And with the assembly of the table, another problem came to light. Which was not expected. Where to put all this goodness?
Place for the machine, however
I am a happy owner of a large two-module “foreman” change house. Almost the size of a two-room Soviet apartment. The dream of any citizen of bygone years. No trick with the placement of the machine was expected and close. Until I got the table. And I didn’t understand that the sombrero, perhaps, was not according to Juan.
The month of May ended in thought. How best to place the machine. What can be thrown out of the change house. To somehow generally place the machine. And here another trouble came there was an unexpected joy. Job change. For some time, the fuss with the machine had to be postponed.
Here the summer has flown by
Later in the summer, I needed to distract myself with a (relatively) large construction site. Which not to live not to be had to be carried out precisely in the 2022 season. The story with the construction site ended already under the first snow.
That would have already returned to the machine. Pick up and start creating. But no. At the dacha, I meet one of the neighbors. Which deals with metal structures. Evenings and weekends. For the soul. Separate from the main work.
Metal structures of surprisingly regular geometry. “Really cut with a fiber laser?” I ask. And along with an affirmative answer, I get the contacts of the contractor. Who is ready to fulfill small orders. Which is a rarity in our world.
“There is a constructor. There is a manufacturer. Why not eliminate the already fatal flaw of this set of adapter plates? And do not come up with your own set of parts for the construction of a laser machine? ”, I asked myself then. And he couldn’t say “no” to himself.
Further in the blog “IT specialist. Maybe”:
The laser machine is no longer “from YouTube” – what can be invented in the design to deprive a home-made laser machine of a fatal flaw;
Components of a homemade laser machine – what does a homemade laser machine consist of, what parts should be chosen;
Assembling a laser machine in pictures – a manual for assembling a laser machine with your own hands, for those who are not used to assembling from a video;
FreeCAD Lessons – for those who dream of eliminating other people’s fatal flaws themselves.
For those interested. And those who do not want to wait for new articles:
Thanks to Albert for the cover of the article https://t.me/al_krupp.
