DIY CO2 Laser Cutter. Building From Scratch

Thanks for watching! I will post the links to the files for this project once I have completed it. Let me know if you have any suggestions on what I should do with the laser first! I am very excited for the possibilities that laser cutting will bring to my projects.

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[imdaboythatwheheryeah]

Small tip, you may run into dimensional issues when using your laser, since your belts aren't running in parallel to the extrusions. So the dimensional deviations become higher, the more your laser head moves to the edges of the frame. Just something you might want to look in to, when debugging later on.

[ThantiK]

Just a heads up - you _really_ don't want the belts to be on an angled path like you have them shown at 4:35 -- the tension changes, and thus you'll get weird artifacts there and inaccuracy as you get near the edges. You want that belt to be parallel to the travel axis in order to maintain tension equally across all range of travel. Additionally at 5:05 -- you can use the motor bracket as the tensioner.

Regardless; can't wait for the release - I have a K40 I'd love to transplant into a larger frame to gain a better working area.

[mikecrafczyk]

I don't know what the American equivalent of "occupational health and safety" is, but the glasses that cover the eyes are probably not that expensive

[Blueyedevil]

One more thing you might consider in the future.
I have a bit of experience with CO2 laser cutters myself. For the cutting head / focusing lens I would recommend you upgrade in the future to a bigger head that can hold a 20mm lens. At the same focal length a 20mm lens will have a smaller "spot size" compared to a 18 or 12mm lens (done tests myself with 18 and 20mm). This can improve your cutting speed and help you get better details while engraving.

[drdd]

in just 2 videos your editing and voiceover has gotten significantly better, keep it up!

[CallmeSam]

Love the tube mount, the adjustment mechanism especially!

[christosxithalis]

Why do people overcomplicate things so much? I build my co2 laser cutter 5 years ago with parts i bought exclusively from AliExpress, the only thing i had to custom made was the plywood enclosure. I'm not against using custom made parts it's just some people may think they are necessary when in fact every component is readily available and at a bargain price.

[Mogalize]

In your next video, could you also include a purchased part list? Tube, mirrors, lenses, control board etc.? Thanks!

[Damian-Church-NZ]

I just found a company here in NZ called the aluminum extrusion company and they have the extrusions and fittings for almost half the price as aliexpres so a 20x40 at 1200mm is 35nzd.
Just helps a bit with the cost of ya build ✌

[GigaVids]

i really like your design and im looking to build a co2 laser myself but a common design feature i see on production machines is a synchronized belt system for the Y steppers, or using one stepper with double output, the thought is if those steppers shift you get a laser beam changing angle dramatically very fast if a motor dies or becomes out of sync. my thought was to just copy how they did the Y on the ender 5 to solve this .

[BrainSlugs]

It looks like you have some belt deflection going on, I would either raise the belt tensioner, or lower the mounting point on your gantry. Eliminating deflection will give you more accuracy, and keep the amount of movement constant (per rotation of the stepper motor) over the whole range of the bed.

[MichielR]

Great video Michael! Super cool project, excited to follow it!

[Duraltia]

@01:00 Already a good head start - I don't think I've ever seen a more appropriate demonstration for the need of safety goggles than with this display 🤔

[forrestallison]

I have a junky But big diode laser that I've been considering doing something similar with, this is helpful thank you

[ingmarm]

Very similar to my never ending 50W build.. I'll get around to finishing it one day, maybe I'll start again with your design ;-)

[jeffpara]

Did you ever do a followup video for this - as well as the files? I saw in your latest video you were using the laser cutter. Thanks and subscribed!

[dronefootage]

this looks really nice, it's so clean, the whole thing.

[JinKee]

Seeing it open framed like that scares me deep in my bones and eyeballs.

[TeAwsomeCo]

why did you have your sla printed part in water/alcohol when you were UV curing?

[rsk]

big ups from another pro safety squinter.