Anyone who makes the first attempts with the 40W China Laser will quickly realise that the existing table is not usable. It cannot be adjusted in height. If a higher workpiece is placed on the table, the laser beam can no longer be focused. The workpiece is too close to the lens. This cannot be adjusted on the machine. Therefore, only a height adjustment of the table is possible to adjust the focusing.
Therefore I decided to build an adjustable table myself. The existing table can be removed from the unit with a few screws and disposed of.
What should it be able to do, the new table?
I would like to install the table in the housing without making any major changes to the unit. The height should be adjustable at one point and the other 3 feet should move to the same position at the same time. As far as possible, only parts that can be found in DIY stores or ordered on the Internet should be used.
it can go off:
First of all, I made a sketch of how the table could look and fulfilled all my requirements.
On paper it works. Nothing forgotten? or even a faulty design? That remains to be seen.
Thanks to the magnetic feet, the table can be installed in the laser housing without having to drill a hole. It can also be moved in the housing at any time if the exact position is not yet known.
The 4 threaded spindles are connected to each other with a toothed belt via the toothed belt pulleys. If the master thread is turned, the other 3 slave rods should move in exactly the same way. The toothed belt pulleys
are locked with a nut so that the rod and not only the pulley rotates. A threaded sleeve must be installed in the corner pieces. If the 4 rods rotate, the thread will move the table up or down. The exact height of the rods depends on the minimum focus setting of the laser and will be about 5cm below the lens. This has to be adjusted in advance.rüfen.
The components:
- 4 magnetic feet
- Aluminium profile
- Corner mouldings
- Expanded metal (as support for the laser workpiece)
- Threaded rod or bolts and nuts
- Toothed belt pulley
- Toothed belt (I will order this later as I do not yet know the exact length)
The visit to the DIY store:
Seek and you shall find. Once you have the construction plan in your head, take a stroll through the aisles of the DIY store and see if there is anything suitable on the shelves.
The table is built:
The first thing I do is to fit the threaded sleeves into the corner profiles. The threaded sleeves fit into the corner piece as if they had been specially built for it. The aluminium profiles are shortened to the desired length. Now the corner profiles can be put on the aluminium rails. The basic frame is in place and you can continue with the adjustable feet. The chrome steel screws are pushed through the magnet from below. Then the toothed belt wheels are screwed onto the thread and locked with a nut. Update: The lock nut was removed and the impeller was secured with Loktite. This gives me about 1 cm more height adjustment.
Installation in the laser cutter
The first attempt to fit the new table into the housing is not so easy. The magnets have such an enormous force of attraction that they can hardly be pushed. A small cardboard box underneath the magnet tames its attraction a little. Maybe I built the table a little too narrow. But I wanted to use the largest possible surface for it.
