Z table. Mesh or honeycomb? Adjustable Z table: manual or motorized? What do you use?
I had mesh, went to LO table. Manual clamp table waiting for a build.
Honeycomb. Manual on my K40, powered on my 50 and 60W lasers.
Halfblade and half pin ,3 years so far and small stuff add metal fly wire on top,sitting on 3mm steel plate .all removed and sprayed with liquid oven cleaner weekly
I have currently a manual z table, but it is just a workarround. The top is a metal plate with rectangular holes. I have a honeycomb that I lay on top and tape it if needed. I want a motorised one as I had seen it in hackaday, I already cut a hole to the button of my laser to have more place for a higher z table. To engrave bigger things like a chest.
Cutting hole Video
https://youtu.be/dCD0nsWNDhkhttp://hackaday.io
Manual Z table with a primary honeycomb bed and a secondary steel mesh bed. The steel mesh offers lower a profile and allows for locking things down with magnets, but sucks for cutting.
Has anyone tried a “wire” bed, i.e. winding wire back and forth between posts across the workspace? If one were to try that, I wonder what type of wire would stand up well to the laser.
@Joel_Brondos I haven’t tied it but I I have seen people using those types of beds. Pretty much any type of metal wire will hold up against these lasers.
@Joel_Brondos I would guess that most any wire would likely work ok, as your not going to get much burn on metal at this power.
I think the challenge would be to get the wire level and tight.
Another approach is to make a clamping bed that holds the edges. Another user came up with this idea and built a proto. This design would work for all but materials that cannot be clamped. I like the idea because its focal point is fixed for all materials. For engraving its stable for cutting the pieces fall to the bottom. I mostly do engraving and cutting so this is a simple approach that requires no adjustment other than at install.
Its in my queue to build and I have a SU design that is untested and parts laying under my desk ;).