Take K40 apart

After adding an air assist nozzle I see I have a bit more interference with the exhaust extractor. Since the extractor already was interferring with the cutting area(albeit very little) I thought I’d shorten it so I would no long have collisions. When I tried to remove it to cut it, I found the main carriage assembly wont come out because…the exhaust extractor blocks it from sliding back far enough to tip out the carriage.
So the question is how does one dissassemble the K40 mechanics so you can do mods? I’m supposedly a mechanic/fab/machinist so am I missing the obvious or what?

OK, more investigation revealed that I needed to spring the enclosure an 1/8". So 2 screw drivers and I was able to pop the carriage up past the top lip and its apart. I was careful to pry only at the ends of the carriage so it did not bend or flex. Chalk it up to precision manufacturing.

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On my K40 I didn’t take the motion frame out. I marked it’s location, removed the 4 screws and lifted it enough to get the air exhaust duct out. I cut a couple inches off the duct with an angle grinder, filed edges smooth and reversed the process. Motion frame and mirrors were close enough to call it good.

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I just removed my internal exhaust extractor.

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Just to confirm, I guess my machine is the so called 3rd gen as its just like NedMan says, It was no big deal to spring the case to get the frame out. By out I mean still connected with the cables but lifted out in the front edge which allows you to either move it over the standoffs holding the work area or alternatively you can remove the standoffs as you start by removing the work area plate to make removing the carriage bolts easier. Either way its not coming out without a little help from two screw drivers etc.

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As I recall the only thing necessary to remove the whole motion frame gantry from mine is to slide the x axis forwards (or maybe backwards) to line it up with the door better. I pulled out the exhaust funnel and (after minor modifications) reinstalled it from the outside so I don’t have to remove the gantry again if I ever want to do anything else to the exhaust.

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