K3020 Laser Air Assist

thingiverse

On the newer K3020 clone of these 40w laser's the front wall is farther forward and the X-End bracket will hit it before the homing switch is reached. Also, at the head, the cable chain will come into contact with the back wall so I had to push the cable chain farther forward and shortened and modified the X-End bracket as well as the carriage mounting bracket. The laser holder fits a 12mmx30mm laser module and I used one with a cross pattern lens. After printing the laser holder, it will be slightly undersized so I warmed up the part with a hot air gun and pressed the laser module into the holder. Alternatively, you could file it out for a snug fit and use some glue; I used a dab of hot glue once the focus on the laser modules lens was adjusted to keep it from rotating and going out of focus. I also modified the carriage mount for a single side-mounted laser module. The original setup was designed to mount two laser modules for a cross-dot configuration, but using the cross X-Lens version I didn't need that. The Tab file is optional, but if you want a Y-Axis cable chain then it gets glued to the side of the X-End mount. This was done in two parts just for easier printing and it's plenty solid after being solvent welded to the other piece. The other end of the Y-Axis cable chain is attached to the bottom of the cabinet with some double-sided adhesive mounting tape as it doesn't take much stress. This gives a nice smooth running location for the air line and laser module power wiring. I also modified the air tubing hole on the carriage mount to just pass the flexible silicone tubing I used for the air line, acting as a strain relief. It loops down to the barbed fitting on the air assist nozzle. I used the air assist head from LightObject because it's so cheap! Just note that these machines have a 12mm diameter focal lens and the LightObject air assist head uses an 18mm, but there is a design for an adapter ring so I printed one of those and re-used my 12mm stock lens with great success.