Laser Engraver (Carriage Mount)

thingiverse

This mount holds the following: -2 watt laser diode http://www.ebay.com/itm/2W-445nm-M-Type-M140-Blue-Laser-Diode-In-Copper-Module-W-Leads-/170955273487?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27cdba750f (Optics) http://www.ebay.com/itm/260684420819?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT -Laser diode driver http://www.ebay.com/itm/181657463022?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT -80mm PC fan The mounting holes are for two M3 screws, 30mm apart. They will hopefully screw into your extruder stepper. (It may not fit to your specific extruder setup) The mount obviously needs to be pulled tight against your extruder setup in order to get crisp precise results. The system runs directly off of my 12v PSU (with an added inline switch). I also use stripped stranded copper wire as a poor-man's heatsink for the diode. It works very well. "WOOD BURNER.ini" is the cura settings that I use when running the laser engraver. Safety Glasses to protect your retinas: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Laser-Protection-Goggles-Safety-Glasses-Green-Blue-405nm-445nm-450nm-532nm-/321674344590?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4ae548f88e NOTE: The diode driver can very quickly burn out the laser diode (in seconds) if the current/voltage is set too high. Use a multimeter to make sure the output voltage and current of the driver are not set too high. (4.25 volts and 1.8 amps is ideal for a 2 watt diode) Testing the current requires a load on the driver, such as the diode itself, so start at the lowest power output and work your way up while monitoring the multimeter. The chosen driver also features TTL (digital ON/OFF via PIN outputs) and PWM (digital "throttling" of the diode). But I am still searching for a free and effective software solution to generate g-code for this purpose. Using Cura and "Printing" as if it were 3d-printing has worked very well for black-and-white style images, but I have had difficulty getting good grayscale results so far.