Hi,
For my machine I want to begin with a 40watt laser tube but the machine will have place for 40watt , 60 watt or 80 watt at a later point.
Now I'm looking to buy my laser head since first thing I want to fully make is my X axis.
Therefore I found the following offer by cnccoletech
http://www.ebay.de/itm/CO2-Laser-Head-M ... 230d0c8a2cMy machine will have a cuttable area of aprox 48" by 24" running on precision ball bearing rails. I can machine my delrin parts on a high precision cnc machine, so alignment should be doable.
Now I read here and there that 48x24" is quite big so its better to have good quality optics and mirror mounts with fine thread pitch.
So here are my questions now:
1) The mirror mount supports mirrors of 20,25 and 30 mm (I think I have to choose on order). What would be best for me ? I personally think I would be best off with 25mm? Any advise ?
2) The mirrors are SI Coated gold. For 40Watt thats certainly not a problem, but will this withstand 80watt also at a later point ?
3) For lens I think best option for general usage is 50.8mm focal distance ? I do plan on cutting too however, but I will hardly cut anything thicker then 5mm (1/5") and materials are acrylic and plywood/mdf. I still have to ask cnccoletech what diameter the lens has because probably thats also important ?
4) The lens is probably ZnSe based. Is this ok for 80 watts ? (it certainly is for 40 watts)
Kind regards,
Bart