Looking at pulling the trigger on a K40 again… I always do this… I research and procrastinate until I talk myself out of buying it. It’s not like I need any other hobbies but I keep coming back as I started out my engineering career working with lasers and have designed control systems for several commercial laser cutting machines using multiple CO2 lasers upwards of 2000 watts. …But that was a long time ago. Still, $350. for a CO2 laser cutting engraving system? Wow. Sounds like fun!
I was initially concerned about the motion control system but still plan on buying one eventually along with a Cohesion 3D board.
One of my other concerns has been z-axis adjustment. There doesn’t appear to be any on most of the systems. However, I have seen a few systems (K40 type but more expensive) that advertise an “up and down” table in the unit. I’ve attached a picture of the up and down table as seen in those listings. Does anyone have any feedback, pictures, drawings or any other information on this table? Thanks.
Looks like a standard k40 to me although there is a knob under the gantry to the right, not sure what that is. Anyway you would end up taking that bed out and replacing it as the adjustable clamp is awful.
I don’t plan on buying the unit with the up and down table… It’s too expensive for me. I’m not sure the lightobject z table is right for me either. I don’t really need anything fancy and a manually operated z-axis would be fine for what I want. I’m just looking for ideas or alternatives.
I just used this for some time then I got the LO table. I got tired of constantly leveling this table.
These bolts go into a T nut that is embedded in the wood base.
There’s lot’s of options for DIY z-tables. It can even be manual seeing as how it’s going to be in a set position for cutting/engraving. Here’s what I did for under ten bucks, prior to this I was using a lab jack as @3D_Laser stated … https://www.thingiverse.com/make:301581
@Madyn3D_CNC_LLC What size belt did you use for the printed adjustable z axis design? All I have is a length of belt, so I would need to order a loop of belt I imagine. Didn’t see that in the instructions. Thanks.
I used a T5 belt (6mm width, 5mm pitch) and just attached it together with an extra belt tensioner from a 3D printer. To be fair, the design could definitely use some strength to it, but it works as long as it’s not abused too badly.
