Anyone familiar with the Lasersaur project? I’d like a large format (900x1200) 120-130W laser. I was thinking of using the Lasersaur project to build the frame & mechanicals and use a Smoothie board for the controller and LaserWeb for the software. Or is there an easier way to get a big bad laser with Smoothie control? I thought of buying another Chinese laser - a bigger boy and then doing the same Smoothie conversion I’m doing with the K40 but I figure that’ll end up costing more and likely taking just as long. I will also add the 7" travel motorized Z-axis which with the 2" of nozzle adjustment the Lasersaur specs, would give me 9" of vertical adjustment - more if I drop the bottom and put that on some sort of manual lift.
With 130W I should be able to cut 1/2" or better ply. with a 900x1200 bed there’s some serious real estate on the bed and if I alter the plans to add a pass-through slot I could probably easily accommodate 2inch x 4foot x infinite (well about 1/2 as long as my basement anyway) material.
My recommendation is : Get a chinese laser ( signsgtech is better quality that most chinese laeser, for not much more cost ), import it by sea, install a smoothieboard in it. I’m currently in a remote fablab doing this as a service, I’m taking pics and will document it.
Definitely the best cost/capabilities ratio, by far, of any option ( inscluding DIY ).
You can email me at wolf.arthur at http://gmail.com if you want more info.
@Arthur_Wolf That seems to be the consensus so far. Get a 100 or so with the big bed size and then upgrade to the controller (Smoothie) I want and when the tube goes, bump that to 130W then. There are a couple of ebay dealers who ship from CA (already imported I guess). I’ll take a look at those and see what your lead looks like too.
