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-   -   Questions about laser crosshair. (http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3990)

Regnar Thu 17 January 2013 23:20

Questions about laser crosshair.
 
Dmoore, I was looking for your build thread but couldnt find it. I was wondering about your laser crosshairs.

How did you power them?
How well did they hold up under the router?
Is the dust bad on them( ie. effect their performance)

The only think different I was thinking about doing is mounting them to they Y car instead of the Z axis. What do you think. Thanks for the input.

Here is a photo for others to see what I am talking about. By the way the lasers only cost 3.90 a piece with free shipping here. http://dx.com/p/red-laser-module-foc...-16mm-5mw-5928

http://www.dealextreme.com/customerp...d06a97d16b.jpg

KenC Fri 18 January 2013 00:53

I use a laser cross-hair, with a different arrangement. I got lazy & just wire it to a 9V battery via a on/off switch. both double-sided taped to the car. :)

Gerald D Fri 18 January 2013 06:36

Dmoore was banned - his thread

Regnar Fri 18 January 2013 07:53

Ken would you do it again?

Gerald I knew the name sounded fimiliar. His user name is the same on the Dx website where I was able to get the photo from. Photo description was Cnc Router Mechmate.;)

MetalHead Fri 18 January 2013 11:48

What about this one?

http://dx.com/p/red-laser-module-foc...-16mm-5mw-5942

Gerald D Fri 18 January 2013 12:42

In the photo at the top of this thread, there are two separate line lasers.

A single crosshair laser, mounted to the side of the spindle, will not make a steady crosshair directly under the spindle axis, because differences in the z-height will project a moving crosshair.

smreish Fri 18 January 2013 14:41

If you would like to use one 'x' laser only, you can position it in the y-car and use your tool offsets in Mach to always reference that offset. This allowed be to bolt a little block of Delrin just under the Spring Hold down bracket for the z-motor and wire directly into the button station on the y-car. Power for the laser was provided by the 5v tap on my Antek power supply which was a 500va 56v 5v and 12v additional tap unit.
The laser + the auto zero function makes for a very easy to use machine.
...i'm looking for a picture now :)

Looks something like the post here:
http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showt...hair#post42311
But mine was hidden under car.

danilom Fri 18 January 2013 17:22

By all means mount it at a fixed height , cross hair or line laser does not matter. Because if you mount it to Z axis it will loose focus as you go up or down :)

learned the hard way...

Regnar Sun 20 January 2013 19:11

Ok guys well I bought both types it only sent me back 12 dollars. My goal is to make it useful and not have it look "home" made. I know it doesnt really matter but my Dust F:rolleyes:oot looks home made and it erks me evertime I look at it.

KenC Sun 20 January 2013 21:28

Quote:
Originally Posted by Regnar View Post
My goal is to make it useful and not have it look "home" made....
Its a matter of preference.... You can also spend another 12 dollars to house the battery in a professional looking casing, an expensive looking on/off button & classy looking laser holding brackets...

BTW, your dust shoe doesn't look home made to my eye. :)

sailfl Mon 21 January 2013 04:01

Russell

I am not sure why you needed two lasers. I only used one and it worked fine. Also if you painted your dust foot it would look less home made. You whole machine looks professional.

Others

With regards to out of focus. I adjusted the focus so that it was fine at most heights that I use. I have stopped using but I think once I get the spindle finished I will add it back and start using it. I have a laser like Russell has. I power mine from the machine and turn it on with mist control and a button on my Contour ShuttelPro 2.

danilom Mon 21 January 2013 07:19

two lasers if you use line lasers so they can create a cross, but the single crosshair is easier if you have a dust foot as its offset

Regnar Mon 21 January 2013 08:56

Ken, thanks for the kind words. I have all the material to make it look better just havent as it works and just dont have the time right now.

Nils, The reason for the two lasers is you dont have to use offsets to get the Zero location. Just move the spindle over the top of the work and go. As of last night though I was able to create a button to Zero the X and Y Axis in LinuxCNC. I not a Mach user but slowly thinking it might be time to pick up Windows XP.

sailfl Mon 21 January 2013 16:25

Russell,

Thanks for your reasoning for two lasers.

KenC Tue 22 January 2013 02:31

Russel,
I also didn't have much time when I jury jig the laser diode for proof of concept; and some how it stay as it is now
My philosophy is it's greener to the world to put the device to good use as soon as possible... BTW, I'm use to the ugly set up after a few while :)

With my offset Laser diode, I zero my table X-Y position before I power up the stepper motors; I can now say certainly that the limit switches are redundant in my set up...

LinuxCNC (A.K.A EMC2) is more fun than Mach3. No doubt Mach3 has more bells & whistle in it & much easier for 1st timers in setting up, but I'm tempting to revert my plasma table to LinuxCNC once I'm familiar with all the do's & don't of plasma table operation... still climbing the learning curve.

Surfcnc Wed 23 January 2013 03:08

Russell

How about just using a green dot laser.
A dot jogged along an axis "is" a line and aligning a corner to a single point is also pretty simple.
I personally am a bit over the red line lasers after staring at one for days on end doing machine alignments on a surfboard shaping machine.
I find the reflected red light very annoying, which I feel translates into damage to the eye over the long term.
Green light is more visible to the human eye so you actually don't need as much power to see the point and you see it more easily giving a lower exposure time.

The cheaper line lasers have a rather wobbly focus ring.
If you do use one, focus it up, then superglue the thing as the line will move heaps just from that slop in the focus ring.

cheers
Ross


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