The pulleys and belts are not installed.

Yeah I am excited. I am clearing out a spot in our guest room to set it up.

Do you know or could find out real quick what the diameter of the diode housing is?

Thanks

ok great

ok, one more question how high up is the first ring. Sorry I am being so pesky.

ok thanks I will leave you alone for now maybe

I have been thinking about air assist and I came up with this. It is a rough draft. What you don't see if the lip that pushes air across the fins in the diode housing. The hole in the back is 3mm for mounting.

So I thought "Man it would be cool to cut this out on a laser" I came up with a plan that would be cut out of 1/8 material.

Could you tell me what is the max size of the possible cutting and how thick balsa can it cut through and because i am not the only person going to use it is it possible to just put in a piece of 6mm depron or foamboard(after cutting balsa) and do both cutting through and cutting part of the way

Thanks In Advance

It seem that the laser isn't included in the part list what would the parts for the laser be and is there anything else not included in part list I will be using the laser for 3mm balsa and also 6mm foamboard
Thanks In advance

At this stage I am still building mine. @Robert Hummel might have a better real world idea as to what it can cut. I know that the power of the laser "Watts" does matter and the wavelength "mine is 445nm 2w blue diode but will run at 1.5w". It etch wood but to cut it you ether have to do very slow passes or multiple passes. When dealing with a low watts laser diode the problem is scorching of the material as it is not as powerful as a 40w or higher co2 laser so the material surrounding the target cut zone builds up heat and scorches or burns also.
Another factor is the absorption spectrum of the target material. A 40w laser can cut clear acrylic like it is not there but the surface might not even get hot with a 1.5w laser so the darker the material the better the absorption rate.

The parts list is more of a suggested list. There are 3 things not listed

1. Laser diode - E-bay is where most people get theirs.
2. Laser Housing - E-bay
3. Laser Housing plate. - I lucked out on this one. Maybe coming soon to openbuild?

I will be putting my build list together and posting it once I get all my parts together.

I got a little package in the mail today.
In my mind I know how small these parts are but you just don't grasp it until you well grasp it

Anyway they look great. Cant wait to get the rest of the parts to build it all.
Thanks @Robert Hummel

do you where i can get a Laser Housing plate is it possible to use this http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__37418__Arduino_MEGA_ProtoShield_V3_Expansion_Board.html as a Laser Housing plate


What would be a good size laser for cutting through 3mm balsa and can also cut through Foamboard and also do indents in the foamboard(the foamboard has a paper covering i just want to cut just up to the 2nd paper for the indents) i know this is certainly hard but is it possible. since it's not too expensive would it be possible to swap out the laser for when i want to cut balsa and when i want to cut out foam and what would be a good laser for balsa and for the foamboard(http://www.foamboards.com.au/store/store_foamboards/5mm-foam-board-sheet)

No need to change out the Laser. There is a Voltage adjustment on the LD2X and it will add life to the diode to run it at a lower power than it is rated for.

I am not sure if that protosheild is going to do the job. I will try to think up a simple solution.

Thanks now i have to choose a laser. What would be a good laser for me(if you don't know just tell me and i will ask somewhere else)

I ordered a 2W 445nm M140 Blue Laser Diode I just searched Ebay for the best price from a reputable vendor. I will be running it from 1.0 to 1.5 watts to save life on it.

@Wojtek sounds like you are wanting to build some RC planes with your laser.

How did you guess

You are asking almost the same questions I was.

Just for confirmation can the 2W 445nm M140 Blue Laser Diode cut through 3mm balsa or are just saying you will find out when you make it

I will be doing full test on the below materials and will be adding others as I get them. What I will be testing for is. Etching, cutting first layer "Foamboard", Cutting 50%, Cutting 100%.

1. Foam board Black
2. Foam board white
3. hobby ply .125
4. balsa .125

I tossed this together real quick. It wold make a good adapter for the laser holder to the Open Rail Gantry Plate.