Acrylic cross-hair bracket for hobby laser
7
Likes
87
Downloads
1125
Views
Published on February 18, 2013
Description
This bracket allows cheap cross-hair guide upgrade to hobby lasers such as those sold by FSE, using two cheap line lasers available from places like DealExtreme for less than $4 US each. This design is derived for the one posted by Glenn Langton on his website at glennlangton.blogspot.com/2011/08/laser-cutter-cross-hair-guide-for-under.html.
Instructions
This version of Glenn's original uses two new line lasers rather than reusing the one spot laser (modified with a line grating), and discards the original aluminum bracket as well . As described on Glenn's site, you will need to cut into the wiring for the guide laser; just follow his instructions.
After cutting, assembling the pieces using acrylic welding solvent, the lasers are attached using a single zip-tie on each laser. Two thickness of material are used, .220" for the main pieces and .091" for the cradle pieces that hold the lasers in position. In the USA, both are available at Home Depot, for example. An alternate version is also provded in the .svg file that allows the whole thing to be held together with zip-ties and does not use the .091" cradle pieces. I used that version for the proto-type while waiting for the acrylic weld solvent to arrive. That version works fine but is little kludgey looking.
As Glenn also shows you will need to cover up most of the aperture to get a fine line. I used Gorilla brand duck tape which is incredibly strong and sticks well, and used an exacto knife to trim off the edges. Screw holes are under-sized so that you can self-thread 2.5 mm screws. I used hex-heads. The design also includes a piece which eliminates the nuts which makes it easier to install.
I hope you find this useful.
After cutting, assembling the pieces using acrylic welding solvent, the lasers are attached using a single zip-tie on each laser. Two thickness of material are used, .220" for the main pieces and .091" for the cradle pieces that hold the lasers in position. In the USA, both are available at Home Depot, for example. An alternate version is also provded in the .svg file that allows the whole thing to be held together with zip-ties and does not use the .091" cradle pieces. I used that version for the proto-type while waiting for the acrylic weld solvent to arrive. That version works fine but is little kludgey looking.
As Glenn also shows you will need to cover up most of the aperture to get a fine line. I used Gorilla brand duck tape which is incredibly strong and sticks well, and used an exacto knife to trim off the edges. Screw holes are under-sized so that you can self-thread 2.5 mm screws. I used hex-heads. The design also includes a piece which eliminates the nuts which makes it easier to install.
I hope you find this useful.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
License
Acrylic cross-hair bracket for hobby laser by esmith289 is licensed under the Attribution - Creative Commons license.
What laser cutter do you have there?
It's is a Full Spectrum Laser 40w Hobby Laser. I should have mentioned, settings for the .22" pieces were: 100% power, 30% speed, and 40% current and 2 passes. Same setting for the .09" but one pass