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Modding the Chinese K40 Laser Engraver, Part 5:
As I said, I wasn't real happy with the crappy honeycomb table I bought. I may still use it later, but for the time being
I figured I'd throw something together. I rooted through my stacks of material and found a couple partial sticks of
1/2" square steel tubing, long enough to do the job.
The Portaband does a good job of slicing 'em off, but not so good at mitering. The Doall saw does a better job
of mitering, but for some reason that saw's table has a slot for a mitering gage about 8" away from the blade,
and on the inboard edge. So it's really only good for mitering pieces between 12" and 15-1/2" long.
But no matter, I have other options. I could have bolted down one of the other vises with a swivel base, but it
was easy enough to just clamp each pair of bars together and stick 'em in the vise with a 45-degree angle plate.
A few minutes work, a bit of deburring, and a perfect mitered joint.
A little care and a handful of clamps and I got the frame tacked together with the TIG.
I finished that off by carefully TIG welding the seams with a 1/16" tungsten and no filler rod.
I had a sheet of perforated steel, but I wanted a little more of an open mesh to it. I had some expanded metal but
it was rusty, and I didn't feel like spending an hour hunched over the sandblaster. So a quick trip to Homey-D
got me a chunk of shiny new fine-mesh expanded metal. It was already 12" wide, so I just needed to slice off
a chunk slightly less than 14" long to fit the frame.
Then, with a little care, it was a simple matter of carefully clamping and TIGging the mesh to the frame.
This time with a 1/8" tungsten but still no filler, except on a couple spots on the cut edges where the strips got a bit thin.
And there you have it. The table portion of my new table so far.
I wanted the raised, solid edges so that fixtures or stops can be butted up fairly solidly to them, and I wanted a
steel mesh so I can use magnets for clamping.
Next up, we need some legs!
All text, photos and graphics Copyright 1998- 2019, Doc's Machine & Airsmith Services. All Rights Reserved.
Information contained in these pages is for reference and entertainment purposes only. Our methods are not always the best,
quickest, safest, or even the correct ones. It's up to you to know how to use your own machines and tools.
Keep your fingers away from the spinny blades o' death and you should be all right.
Modding the Chinese K40 Laser Engraver, Part 5:
As I said, I wasn't real happy with the crappy honeycomb table I bought. I may still use it later, but for the time being
I figured I'd throw something together. I rooted through my stacks of material and found a couple partial sticks of
1/2" square steel tubing, long enough to do the job.
The Portaband does a good job of slicing 'em off, but not so good at mitering. The Doall saw does a better job
of mitering, but for some reason that saw's table has a slot for a mitering gage about 8" away from the blade,
and on the inboard edge. So it's really only good for mitering pieces between 12" and 15-1/2" long.
But no matter, I have other options. I could have bolted down one of the other vises with a swivel base, but it
was easy enough to just clamp each pair of bars together and stick 'em in the vise with a 45-degree angle plate.
A few minutes work, a bit of deburring, and a perfect mitered joint.
A little care and a handful of clamps and I got the frame tacked together with the TIG.
I finished that off by carefully TIG welding the seams with a 1/16" tungsten and no filler rod.
I had a sheet of perforated steel, but I wanted a little more of an open mesh to it. I had some expanded metal but
it was rusty, and I didn't feel like spending an hour hunched over the sandblaster. So a quick trip to Homey-D
got me a chunk of shiny new fine-mesh expanded metal. It was already 12" wide, so I just needed to slice off
a chunk slightly less than 14" long to fit the frame.
Then, with a little care, it was a simple matter of carefully clamping and TIGging the mesh to the frame.
This time with a 1/8" tungsten but still no filler, except on a couple spots on the cut edges where the strips got a bit thin.
And there you have it. The table portion of my new table so far.
I wanted the raised, solid edges so that fixtures or stops can be butted up fairly solidly to them, and I wanted a
steel mesh so I can use magnets for clamping.
Next up, we need some legs!
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All text, photos and graphics Copyright 1998- 2019, Doc's Machine & Airsmith Services. All Rights Reserved.
Information contained in these pages is for reference and entertainment purposes only. Our methods are not always the best,
quickest, safest, or even the correct ones. It's up to you to know how to use your own machines and tools.
Keep your fingers away from the spinny blades o' death and you should be all right.