K40 Laser Cutter 5" Case Extension For Longer Replacement Tube

thingiverse

The original laser tube in my K40 laser lasted a whole year of daily use. My water pump for cooling failed and the water flow sensor did not disable the laser as it should have and I ruined my original laser tube. I ordered a replacement laser tube (true 40 watt) thinking that it was the same length as my original, but it was not. It was about 6 inches longer. Luckily the case has an opening, covered by a metal cover, that can be removed to allow for the tube to extend beyond the metal case. I looked online and found a rectangular metal case extension that costs near $40 with shipping. I felt certain that I could print my own and save money. I set out to locate some STL files on the internet on the off chance that someone else had already created one. I found a round design on this site that looked great and was just what I needed - only the designer had removed the files because other sites were selling his design. So, I decided to design my own. I fired up Fusion 360 and in about 30 minutes time I had designed this 5" tube extension with mounting flange and accompanying end cap. Printing on my Davinci Pro 1.0 took about 10 hours but it was well worth it. If you need a longer case extension you should be able to scale this design in one direction in your printing software. The only thing to be aware of is that the thickness of the flange will also change as you scale the tube's length up or down. An added benefit is that the high voltage connection for the laser tube is now outside of the metal case in the plastic case extension, reducing the chance of electrical arcing. Enjoy!