[buddydog]

I use cardboard for fixturing aircraft parts and the only way to make that work is cutting multiple sheets and gluing them together over a known good form. A jig saw wouldn't be accurate enough for my purposes. The 40w cheapie is dead on so works good. Cardboard is crappie to cut, smelly and flames up a lot.

I am wondering just how valuable the auto z set will be for hobby use? After using mine for a while I find I prefer the spacer tool. The one advantage the auto z would have maybe is safety possibly. Any time I am fiddling inside the case I remember when I first got my machine and unknown to me (at first) it was intermittently firing on it's own from time to time. I am just lucky I always respected the beam path with my fingers. By the way after using this thing I am not so afraid of it and the one interlock I hooked up is now disconnected. You do have to open it from time to time and it's a bit like a propeller on an airplane (except not near as dangerous) and you just have to always respect it. Just like my large metal lathe, I keep bulk quantities of chop sticks at the machine and any time I open the lid the first thing I do is grab one and that's what I move things around with if the power is on to the machine. Helps me to remember what I am doing. During alignment I always have a paper precede any reaching in to the beam area or I stuff a piece of aluminum up in the corner to block the beam entrance although I usually just turn the power off to make any adjustments. I am used to stopping at critical points, taking a breath and thinking before doing something I know could hurt me. Just like pausing at the end of the runway, looking for traffic,scanning controls and instruments and checking traffic again and THEN committing to going. With the CO2 I only have my regular glasses which will block the beam and I wear them all the time.

By the way if you use the K40case there is a hole in the bottom, I think the air entrance, and I have had it scorch a paper I left under it once. I fashioned a piece of sheet aluminum to be under there to catch parts and stop the beam. All aluminum should be dull in finish so it absorbs, not reflects.

The K40 25 watts is I think a lot different reflection and safety wise than say 200 watts.Still a good machine to develope good habits on.

[Retroplayer]

I use cardboard for fixturing aircraft parts and the only way to make that work is cutting multiple sheets and gluing them together over a known good form. A jig saw wouldn't be accurate enough for my purposes. The 40w cheapie is dead on so works good. Cardboard is crappie to cut, smelly and flames up a lot.

I am wondering just how valuable the auto z set will be for hobby use? After using mine for a while I find I prefer the spacer tool. The one advantage the auto z would have maybe is safety possibly. Any time I am fiddling inside the case I remember when I first got my machine and unknown to me (at first) it was intermittently firing on it's own from time to time. I am just lucky I always respected the beam path with my fingers. By the way after using this thing I am not so afraid of it and the one interlock I hooked up is now disconnected. You do have to open it from time to time and it's a bit like a propeller on an airplane (except not near as dangerous) and you just have to always respect it. Just like my large metal lathe, I keep bulk quantities of chop sticks at the machine and any time I open the lid the first thing I do is grab one and that's what I move things around with if the power is on to the machine. Helps me to remember what I am doing. During alignment I always have a paper precede any reaching in to the beam area or I stuff a piece of aluminum up in the corner to block the beam entrance although I usually just turn the power off to make any adjustments. I am used to stopping at critical points, taking a breath and thinking before doing something I know could hurt me. Just like pausing at the end of the runway, looking for traffic,scanning controls and instruments and checking traffic again and THEN committing to going. With the CO2 I only have my regular glasses which will block the beam and I wear them all the time.

By the way if you use the K40case there is a hole in the bottom, I think the air entrance, and I have had it scorch a paper I left under it once. I fashioned a piece of sheet aluminum to be under there to catch parts and stop the beam. All aluminum should be dull in finish so it absorbs, not reflects.

The K40 25 watts is I think a lot different reflection and safety wise than say 200 watts.Still a good machine to develop good habits on.

I can imagine. Not sure cardboard is something I expect to cut. It usually cuts so easily with a knife. But then I don't do anything thick or high precision with cardboard. I imagine that the bulk of what I will use the laser for is making control panels, cutting thin plywood for structural things, and the occasional engraving.

As for the auto Z thing. It is more just to see if it can be done and knowledge to store away for a bigger DIY build. Whenever I get a new toy, I always try to learn as much as I possibly can about it. Been disassembling, modifying, and breaking things since I was 8 years old. Hey, sometimes they even worked again after I put it back together! I mentioned in another thread how I had made a plasma cutter out of an old 5in B&W TV. I did that when I was about 13 years old. Looking back, I am lucky I didn't seriously injure myself with some of the experiments I tried.

Look at this way - I didn't "need" a laser cutter either, but I bought one. I am not sure if I can do it, but one project that lead up to buying a laser cutter is that a friend came to me asking about a project to honor her late husband who was a detective. She has a high resolution digital copy of his fingerprint and we came up with an idea to etch the fingerprint into a looking glass and edge-light it with UV LEDs. Then put the hole thing into a pretty stand. If I can't etch into the looking glass, I will etch into the black stand material dry-brush UV ink into the etch and just light it with UV so the fingerprint glows. It would be especially awesome if the etch was so shallow or so small you couldn't see it without looking through the glass.

(I get wrapped into some crazy projects for sure.)

[Retroplayer]

I am too lazy to draw up all the staple parts into 3D models, so I realize it may be hard to visualize what I am talking about. Patience, my friends. There will be photos of the actual assembly soon and it will make perfect sense.

I mentioned that the riskiest part was making sure that all the holes are lined up and at the same height for the rods. Well, I will be designing some jigs to help with that. Then I just place them inside the case on the floor and up against the wall and drill. This will ensure accurate hole placement. Another very useful purpose for a 3D printer or laser cutter!