Yay Laser arrived in one peace today! 3 quick questions…
1: Anyone know the ID/OD of the water tubing as the 2 feet it came with wont reach my bucket, so want to order some more and can find my calipers!
2: Do i need to use a distilled water for cooling the laser, or is out the tap fine?
3: is there a chart of recommended speeds and powers for different materials floating about?
Use distilled water and devise a system with a lid to keep it clean. It is also a good Idea to add a flow sensor switch in line with the “laser on” pushbutton so if the water flow stops the laser will not fire!
@Joe_Keneally Thanks Joe, will get some distilled water and look into flow switch once I have worked out the fitting sizes.
8mm ID tubing. 1/4" should work too.
Thanks Alex.
#3, no chart that I am aware of, although if you check the Materials & Settings section of this group you will find tests people have done & uploaded images/settings used.
Would you guys say this information is a good start? At the end there is a table https://www.reddit.com/r/lasercutting/wiki/k40
@Ariel_Yahni_UniKpty the spoeds look too fast and power too low for the table at the end of that Reddit link. I’m usually in the 10-20mm/s speed range and 12-18ma power for most 1/8" cutting and half that speed and/or multiple passes for 1/4" wood stock.
Here’s a link to an Amazon flow switch. https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00AKVEGTU/ref=ya_st_dp_summary
@Jim_Hatch thanks Jim, any recommendation on attachments/fitting as that looks like its 20mm, and plumbing is not my strong suit!
@Jim_Hatch That is the one I have!!
I just took it to Home Depot with a piece of the hose and made up an adapter from the fittings in the plumbing aisle.
@Jim_Hatch unfortunately there are no hardware stores near me, so i have to order all that sort of jazz off the interwebs 
Ah. Let me see what the bits & pieces are. I’m traveling this week though so it’ll be a few days. @Joe_Keneally do you have a parts list for yours?
@Ariel_Yahni_UniKpty Looks good as a basis, but as Jim mentions, those speeds/power settings seem a bit off compared to my own experience. I tend to use 10mA power & 25mm/s & 2 passes for 1/8" (3mm) plywood & it usually does a pretty good job of it. 500mm/min that they suggest is about 8-9mm/s, which seems overly slow & likely to cause excess charring on the edges. I prefer to do extra passes to minimise the charring.
@Jim_Hatch Unfortunately I too took my parts to a big box hardware store to test fit stuff.
I need to order a switch I can get some info on this once the switch arrives