A Home Made Laser Cutter for 700$

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Owen with his laser cutter

While some decent lasers are out there for under USD 400, they tend to be a little small. What if you wanted something a little nicer but didnā€™t want to jump to the USD 2000 category? The answer for [Owen Schafer] was to build it with parts he had lying around and a few strategic purchases.

While he was initially planning on using a diode laser, doing anything more than engraving is tricky. He purchased a cheap 40W CO2 laser tube, but it meant that he needed water cooling, mirrors, and more complex stuff that a diode doesnā€™t need. The frame is aluminum extrusion held together with 3d printed plates. Given there was a powerful laser bouncing around with mirrors, a plywood box formed the enclosure. The stepper controller is an Arduino Mega running the Marlaser firmware. However, [Owen] admits perhaps a laser cutter-specific driver board would have been better as he spent many hours trying to get the Arduino to do what he wanted. Air ventilation is a tube with a fan that vents out a nearby window. Water cooling is just a bucket of water with a pump in it. A simple nylon hose connected to an air compressor with a maximum airflow valve provides an air assist while cutting. Finally, weā€™re happy to report that [Owen] bought safety glasses specific to his laser to protect his eyes and researched how to ground the high voltages generated.

We particularly loved seeing all of [Owenā€™s] test cuts. He proudly displayed his boxes, sharks, and lamp shades like anyone with their new laser cutter is wont to do. If youā€™re looking to upgrade your laser, thereā€™s an add-on for detecting materials optically or a relatively cheap laser bed you can throw in your laser.

Video after the break.



from Blog ā€“ Hackaday https://ift.tt/BgmS01z

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