Simple CNC fume extractor for LASER cutting

thingiverse

This is a simple design I came up with to extract smoke and fumes on my budget-friendly Chinese CNC machine when laser cutting. Basically, it consists of a small collector that fits under the z-carriage (with a holder that can be glued onto the collector) and a couple of parts to adapt a PC fan to fit standard plastic hoses. The collector, once glued onto the holder, should fit snugly into the bottom of the z-carriage as shown in the photo. It's designed to be removable for when the CNC is used for routing. The z-carriage on my CNC appears to have a common design, so hopefully this will work on many CNC machines. However, the OpenSCAD file is included here, so the design can be modified if needed. I've included a photo of the fan and the label on it, so you can see what type is required for this project. The inlet and outlet parts I glued onto the fan. From the outlet, I attached a 32mm plastic aquarium hose, with the end going out of a nearby window. Between the inlet and the collector, I used a bit of 20mm rubbery plastic plumbing hose. Despite the design not being optimized for aerodynamic properties, it does remove most of the smell of smoke away through the window. It's not perfect though as draughts can result in smoke not getting sucked away. Probably I'll get around that by making a shield to go around the front and sides of the laser to help ensure smoke and fumes get into the collector. Also, if you're interested, you can read my blog-post about this project at the link below. https://cncmakerzone.co.uk/a-simple-laser-extractor-project