K40 Laser Head Plate

thingiverse

++Design for air assist for this plate available in my Things++ ++File provided does not have the 40k engraving on it++ ++Meant to be cut from 3mm Acrylic or other 3mm material++ I've had my K40 for a few months now, and the entire time I have been battling alignment issues. I could get the spread from the upper left/lower left to the upper right/lower right to acceptable levels, at about 2-2.5mm of drift from one another. I had recently replaced the caster wheels on the machine with elevator bolts and some nuts to allow me to level the machine, and I had decently leveled the gantry and ensured it was squared with an electronic micrometer. But STILL could not solve for the drift. Today I got squirrely and took my X axis apart to parts and noticed there was a subtle bend that was hard to notice while standing over the machine, but it clear once I had it in my hand. I then went to my PC upstairs I design my projects on, and got to work. This is simple design that is basically the standard plate, to be cut from 3mm acrylic, and have more spacing to adjust the plate itself. While mine has some Warhammer 40k heraldry and what not on it, I have uploaded the design without them. This simple, 5 minute run plate COMPLETELY eliminated my drift I was having, and while the drift I had was ok and passable, the mirror being squared and perfectly level and on top of one another greatly improves cut quality, and the sloping you will see in cuts made by a machine that the beam is not centered and aligned properly. Also in the design I included to reference points to use in aiding squaring the laser head with mirror 2. I used a laser level, and a dowel to make sure mine was fine. But if you don't have access to either of those, you can just as easily remove the last mirror and stick a pen through, the entrance hole is lower than the mirror hole, but if you use your imagination and ingenuity, you can get it done. Design note,as the standard plate from China is about 2mm, and the design calls for 3mm acrylic, the engraving section of the build where the last mirror goes is there so you can engrave roughly 1 mm of material away. While I can't tell you exactly where to set your machine, I can tell you my k40 took away ~.7 of the .76 I needed removed at 2 passes of 20% at 200mm/s. Also be sure to check the measurements on any attachments you may use, as the plate itself is sized slightly larger than the stock plate, to maintain rigidity and space to place any bubble level or whatnot. ++Blessed be the Omnissiah++