Hi All,
I’m interested in attaching a battery powered laser pointer to my spindle bracket for dry runs. I see posts on connecting an external powered laser but nothing about a battery powered one. Has anyone done this? Any recommendations on bracketry? Anyone found a good pointer for this? My thinking is that it’s simple to just manually turn it on when doing dry runs. Seems like a lot of work to wire it into a relay etc. etc. Am I missing something?
Thanks.
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Have you thought about using tape?
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I’m not a gun enthusiast but maybe something like this might work…and some modification to fit the spindle collet.
Maybe others could chime in on this idea too.
Mine is a bit unconventional, but works for me. I just used a laser made for rifles and knocked up an adjustable 3d printed mount. Note that this is offset from the collet and angled, so it is only accurate with the Z at its top limit, but that’s where the dry run moves it anyway. I aimed it in that position so I don’t have to deal with offsets in the controller. X,Y are actual values so I’m able to use the entire capacity in dry run mode.
This is the laser I’m using:
It works well and I’ve only needed to charge it once in the past year.
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Joe,
This is what I ordered from Amazon.
It works great…just added a couple of the clear O-rings on the shank and it slides up in the collet and stays in place without tightening it down.
It is in line with the center line of the router and only slightly longer than most of my bit lengths. I run about 1/2" above the mater surface for safety and the router turned off, of course.
It is possible I may have to replace the O-rings later but that shouldn’t be a bother.
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