Hello. I have an eBay K40 laser which I’m starting to get the hang of. I bought this: https://www.adafruit.com/products/1058?&main_page=product_info&products_id=1058 which makes a laser cross-hair. I figured it would be great for helping alignment for parts and stuff… but for the life of me I cannot figure out how to wire it somehow so it has electricity without requiring a battery (or 3). I don’t mind buying/running extra wires and a couple extra components as needed, I just don’t know what I need or how to hook it all up. My goal is to add a click-on/click-off switch (as similar as possible to the laser on/off button, not the test button which only works while you hold it) to the “control panel”. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Red wire to the +5 on your power supply black to negative. Toggle switch to turn it on and off.
Problem with a single laser that projects a cross is that because you have to project from the side, not directly inline with the main beam, the position will move with the height of work piece. The designs that have been discussed here that use two single line lasers solve this issue.
I would welcome suggestions of a good way to add a focal depth indicator to an alignment setup. Perhaps a different coloured laser from another angle?
I saw somewhere where somebody used two “dot” lasers instead of lines. When they overlapped, that indicated both aimed position and surface focal depth.
A dot laser added to an existing two-line crosshair at 45 degrees would probably work ok.
Thank you for the information. As for the depth indicator, I do not need that right now as my machine does not have an adjustable Z-height, but I will keep that in mind for future upgrades.
I replaced the laser enable switch with a dpdt keyswitch. I turn mine clockwise for the cutting laser and counterclockwise for a laser sight that swings down into the beam path on a rotational actuator. Was a pain to align initially but works well now.