SiXYLaser

Hello everyone.
Been a viewer of this forum for a long time but figured I'd register so that I could share some info about SiXYLaser, a project that I'm working on. (Simple CoreXY Laser)

I'd appreciate any kind of comment; Do you see something I can improve, have I done something bad with the design etc?

Background
Purchased a diode laser engraver that used alu-profiles and wheels for ~$350, but was never quite satisfied with the output quality since the profiles weren't of very high quality and had large tolerances on them apparently.
So I decided to create this project to be able to make a cheaper alternative of higher output quality, and larger working area than the engraver I had purchased. And will share the design for free so others can build one themselves too.
It was also going to use the linear shafts as structural support, eliminating the need of alu-profiles all together.

For the last year I have been working on what hopefully will be a cheap laser engraver/cutter with a working area the user can decide themselves how large it should be, and can be easily rebuilt to a different size.
It can both engrave and cut suitable materials for diode lasers, like 3mm laserply using a 2500mW module.
So far I have printed, built and tested 3 iterations; Increasing stability of gantry, decreasing part count (both vitamins and printed parts), decreasing printed volume of plastic and improving output quality each time.

The parts are the same on both left and right side of the machine, and the Y-axis carriages and upper idler mounts are made of identical parts both upper and lower part.

For the first time I'm now sharing a preview of SiXYLaser that will later be available with printed parts as a download on Thingiverse.

Here are some of the specifications:
Working area: ~390x380mm using 500mm shafts (user can use whatever length of shafts he/she wants to)
Laser module: Any 33x33 module should work fine (the cheap chinese ones are usually of this dimension) but can also be adapted to difference sizes.
Controller: Eleksmaker board with GRBL 0.9i CoreXY version running on the Nano with optiboot or similar small bootloader.
Air assist: Yes fully compatible with the air assist for diode lasers i released a while ago here [www.thingiverse.com]

So what are left before a release:
Try adding endstops to the design
Try to add ancher points for cable chains
Add fillets and chamfers to all areas possible to avoid users cutting themselves on sharp prints.
Improve the "legs" of the gantry to be more stable and easier to mount.









Edited 8 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/2017 04:58AM by Paw85.