I started my foray into understanding the K40 variant laser cutter I purchased several years ago but never did anything with (I couldn’t get the software to work).
Inside it I found this platform (and a honeycomb layer on top) - which was quite pleasing .The downside is that I found the X stepper uses a flat flex cable coupled with the end stop (at least I think it is, I can’t really make it out), the Y doesn’t appear to have an end stop. I’ve decided to get some end stops I can more easily put in the places I think they should go.
One suggestion I have is to upgrade the absolute crappy stock controller with a Smoothie board, or Ramps 1.4 controller. You will be glad you did.
The only available Smoothie Boards (the 5-axis ones) are way overkill. I missed the boat on those, maybe when there is another kickstarter for the next version. I looked around for something on Aliexpress and found a board called an MKS-SBASE which seems a bit better, so I have ordered and will be trying that.
The MKS Sbase is a clone of the smoothieboard, I have one on order right now.
I’ve got two MKS SBASE boards at the moment. I’ll be wiring up my k40 using a middleman board to keep the original wiring intact. Going to use the other for my MP CNC.
Just be careful when ordering the MKS Sbase board, there are two versions, one is a ramps 1.4 all in one, and the other is the smoothie compatible board. The smoothie one uses a 32 bit processor, vs the 8 bit on the ramps version .
@funinthefalls the ramps board is called MKS-BASE and the smoothie is MKS-SBASE. If you order from Makerbase (the guys who make the board) on aliexpress, you’ll be fine.
Some of the ebay sellers are naming it the same, that’s why I mentioned it.
I was able to find one that was only $59.00 It was a good price, just hoping it a quality board. I am looking forward to upgrading my K40 from Ramps to Smoothie and my Redsail LE400 from its proprietary late 90’s board. Stephane has created a great set of upgrade instructions for the K40, I will need to do some detective work to figure out the conections for my Redsail laser.
Where can I find a table like that? I don’t want light objects $206.00 powered one.
