Table modification

[dgtaylor45]

I have ordered my parts. They should be here next week. In order to speed the process I went ahead and started removing parts so that I could begin installation and noticed a couple of things.

On mine, the y axis movement toward the front of the case is limited by a type of tubing placed around the shaft the bearings ride on. It looks like I can remove about 25mm of the tubing without having any clearance problems with the case and the laser is still inside the frame.

On the rear of the y axis, the exhaust vent extends inside the case just a little farther than the clamping device on the table. It looks like I can cut it back about 10mm and still have clearance for everything including the switches included with the kit.

My questions are, will it cause any problems with the new controller (I ordered the upgrade kit which includes the AWC608 controller), and is the extra effort worth the approximately 35mm of cutting area?

Those of you who use your regularly, how many times have you needed the extra 35mm on the y axis?

I did not see anything I could do to the x axis to increase cutting area.

Thanks



Never mind. I see in the post: "Thanks LightObject - K40 DSP Upgrade Completed", that his table is like mine and he removed some of the tubing for a little extra working area. I am going to go ahead and make the modifications while waiting on the parts.

I had read a lot of the posts, but somehow missed that one. It has a lot of good information in it.

[natsterrr]

I did both these mods on mine and it works fine. If you don't, one day you will need to do a job that is just beyond the standard limits and kick yourself for not maximizing the work area from the initial set up.

[dgtaylor45]

Thanks, I am doing the modifications now.

I have removed some of the vent, and some of the tubing that limits the forward movement.

So far I have about 9 1/4 inches on the y axis and about 13 on the x.

I know it is not all usable since you have to account for room to start and stop, but I am hoping that if I can increase the y axis another 1/2 inch then I can do an full size sheet of letter paper (8 1/2 by 11).

I am doing it a little at a time, then reinstalling the x and y axis frame and moving everything slowly by hand to check for any binding or to see if anything is hitting something. It does look like I should be able to get the other 1/2 inch of travel so the y axis would have 9 3/4 inches (minus the room it takes to start and stop).

It currently has a mechanical home switch on the x axis, so I don't think i will lose much when replacing it with the switch in the kit.

The parts are supposed to arrive Monday. Looking forward to the build.