Laser Head TRIALS for laser etching

thingiverse

This is my first attempt to build a laser etching head that i can attach to my 3D printer..and laser etch things with it. The idea is to use the low power laser modules that I bought vial amazon ( 10 for 2.50Eur) - thus 25 cents each, to combine these together into a focused beam which will be powerful enough to burn things. Each module is rated at 35mWatts so with 10 I get 350mW at the point where they all converge. I chose a focal length of 5cm (50mm) and created the holder for all ten laser modules using maths... this created a holder where the laser modules are all held in approximately the correct position. (these cheap laser modules do not always have the beam coming out the exact center - some are way off). So that each individual laser module could be focused to a point, I build a jig with a target, and adjusted the laser focus ( done by twisting the casing at the back of the module, so that each module focused perfectly at the 50mm point. Then I fitted the modules to the mount and temporarily wired them all together. Now to align all the lasers on one spot. Part 2 will be a temporary mount to hold the assembly, while I adjust each lase and glue it in place (files will be uploaded when I get it designed and printed/ Part 3 will be fitting it to my FlashForge Finder below the existing print head. including a mounting that fits to the nozzle to hold the structue in place accurately. Part 4 will be a G-code edit procedure to ensure the extruder is off, and the hieght is adjusted correctly for burning - this will be a manual hack... Part 5 will be a more automated script to do the hack. Part 6 - showing it working ( if it works at all). Wish me luck. 3D-Reid