K40 Laser Cutter Air Assist Nozzle with Laser Diode Mounts

thingiverse

This is an Air Assist nozzle for the K40 Laser cutter which has 2 mount points for 6mm laser diodes. The diodes are mounted on articulated mounts which attach to the nozzle by means of an M3x10 screw through the nozzle and the diode mount. I'm using zip-ties to secure the laser diodes to the mounts for testing. I'll be drawing power from the LED lighting strip connector, through a 5V power regulator (3.3V would be better) with the laser diodes running whenever the LED lighting is on. The use for this is to set a workpiece in the clamp on the standard bed, test-fire the laser, cutter, and then adjust the mounts for the laser diodes until both red spots overlap on the burn mark the laser cutter has just made. This gives you both a visible indication of where the cutter will be cutting next, but also allows you to know when the workpiece is at the focal point of the laser - the initial calibration above will target both red dots so they overlap when the surface of the workpiece is at the distance from the laser head that it's meant to be. The air feed is via the hole in the side of the nozzle halfway between the diode mounts - this is sized to take standard 6mm aquarium air hose fittings.