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Adapting existing laser with home built gantry

PostPosted: Tue Feb 11, 2014 2:55 am
by Rocky
Hey guys.

Got a question about the gantry.

I currently have a FSlaser hobby laser. Its a piece of crap. It sticks and binds. For its whole life (2 years) I could only
cut in a 6x6in area, or else it would bind. And now it wont even do that. I have gone through every fix they have sent me
and nothing works.

So, do you think it would be possible to build my own rails for the y axis (the only axis that sticks)?

I looked the machine over and it looks like I should be able to get the mounting onto a plate that would secure to
the makerslide.

But I have never done something like this before so I wanted to get your opinions on whether this would be easy, or if I
am going to run into problems.

Re: Adapting existing laser with home built gantry

PostPosted: Tue Feb 11, 2014 2:06 pm
by cvoinescu
It really depends on whether you are "mechanically inclined" or not. Some people can whip up accurate linear motion systems out of empty tin cans and discarded ping-pong balls; some people can't follow directions to assemble Ikea furniture. You'll probably need to make a few parts to adapt the MakerSlide to the rest of the laser. You may need to drill holes and cut metal to make brackets, or design parts for 3D printing -- it all depends on what you feel more comfortable doing, what tools and equipment you have access to, and what exactly you're replacing in the laser.

Re: Adapting existing laser with home built gantry

PostPosted: Tue Feb 11, 2014 8:40 pm
by TLHarrell
You may also come check out the forum at http://fslusers.freeforums.org/ where we deal more specifically with FSL machines.

Which model of laser do you have? Gen4 hobby?

Re: Adapting existing laser with home built gantry

PostPosted: Tue Mar 18, 2014 2:43 am
by goldbuy02
Example states that a lot of the people was over small business owner.