I’m still in the process of getting my machine set up and this was the next step in the process. I made a magnetic mount for the 7w JTech laser that I bought with the Onefinity. This is a three piece mount. It has the mount that attaches to the laser itself, the 80mm spindle mounting bracket, and a side mounting bracket.
The laser can attach to the front bracket when in use and to the side bracket when not in use. That way, I don’t have to disconnect any wires to get the laser out of the way when it’s not in use. Each mounting piece has four magnets and four alignment keys/holes to keep things in place. The side mounting bracket is attached to the spindle mount with some double sided adhesive that came with the laser kit.
The brackets were cut out of some scrap 1/2" HDPE that I got from a local small business for free. The magnets are from the local hardware store. This is version 1 of the design so I’ll see if I need to make any mods after I get some use in.
This machine opens up a whole new level for me and my mind is blown by the precision and ease with which I could make something like this. The software used was VCarve Pro.
What I forgot to take into account is that the Z axis moves. Specifically, down from the home position. After your response, I went and checked clearance through the full Z travel. The laser would have definitely hit the Y rail when the spindle was at zero on the X-axis (during the last inch and a half of lower Z travel). Thank you for saving me some heartache.
So, with that…v2 Let me introduce the v2 side mount! Ha, it’s just the v1 mount flipped upside down. I actually checked all the travel and have plenty of clearance. I’ll get out and mess around with the machine in a bit to see if I need to make an actual v2. At the very least, I think I’ll move the side mount down a little lower on the spindle mount. I do need to get some better double sided tape because I can already see that the stuff that came with the laser is cheap stuff. I think I’ll need to switch from CA glue to epoxy for the magnets as well. I already had one pop out. Things don’t like to stick to HDPE apparently.
