K40 Xtreeem mechanical upgrade kit
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 มิ.ย. 2022
- My promise to send a set of mechanical upgrade parts to Cloudray has now been done. I cannot indicate IF, WHEN or at what COST, that kit will be available . In the meantime I have manufactured a batch of 17 kits that are now available for those keen to modify their machines. The dxf files for this kit are already available at the laseruser.com website and this video shows the manufacturing process for those parts. My goal was to modify an existing very basic K40 and transform it to a small format "big" machine. I am extremely pleased with the outcome and it has genuinely been accepted as an equal member of my ever increasing laser machine harem.
If you visit the laseruser.com website you may be able to learn more about a separate venture that has been inspired by my K40 Xtreeem project. but it is not something I am personally involved with.
For the spring specification go to the springmasters .com website and search for part C6607010 - วิทยาศาสตร์และเทคโนโลยี
Excellent engineering as usual. Nice video!
i wish there was a kit like this available for a blue and grey machine. makes me want a K40
Not right video but I have just finished making my mk2 lightweight head and have instantly stripped the threads as soon as I went to install the mirror mount and springs I decided I would have enough room to redo it as m4 instead of m3 and again it has instantly stripped the threads when I went to put it together is there anything I can do to fix this I was going to try use the low temp brazing rods refil the holes re drill and tap or remake the part but was there any better option to fix them and what can I do to ensure I get a better thread cut in as they are made for adjusting I don’t want to have the issue of stripping threads come back to bite me again
i have the kit from cloud ray and it is a good bit of kit to replace the stock board.
and with lightburn it is so much better to use.
If you have the two stepper drivers as part of that Cloudray kit then then the mechanical upgrade is about 1/3 of that cost and really transforms the machine performance....not just the flexibility that Lightburn or RD works gives you. I hope these videos have inspired you to push your machine even further.
Best wishes
Russ
@@SarbarMultimedia hi Russ yes i have the cloudray full kit installed into the K40 got that for my birthday last year.
i have been getting bits to get a bigger bed area and have it height adjustable.
like have a mill and lathe etc to help make bits.
as for your videos they are the best as you get very in depth with them and explain loads.
without your videos i am sure many would be pulling their hair out.
thanks for the great videos.
best wishes Russ keep them videos coming i and many will be watching them.
Regards Martin
can you give the link to the cloud ray kit in question Thanks jeff@@dmcarpman
J'aimerais bien avoir ce kit ♥️🙂merci pour vos vidéos russ
I am going to do this. I wish the kit was available in the US right now.
Hi Thomas
Thank you for your interest. It was great fun to redesign the machine to what it could have been with a little more thought. And I'm really happy with the results I got. I also enjoyed creating the first 20 kits to help early adopters. Unfortunately they all sold out in about 3 weeks and I have no idea making another batch. Instead, I provided all the designs to Cloudray about 6 months ago as it was a project they motivated me to pursue. The main purpose was to promote sales of their K40 digital upgrade kit, I'm sure they never considered a 90% redesign of the machine. They seemed keen on selling mechanical kits, but I haven't seen the kit on their website yet. You might want to ask their sales manager suki@cloudray.com a question because if enough people bother her, maybe something will happen.
Best Wishes Russ
ps DXF files for the mechanical kit items are available at laseruser.com/k40-xtreeem-project-files/ I do have some lightweight heads available (long and short ) if you wish to contact me on the form available at this website
Hi Russ. At the end, you mentioned running the tube up to 40-45C, instead of 18-19C and NOT affecting the LIFE of the tube. I was told that above the recommended operating temp, you start to convert the gasses inside the tube to some non-lasing form and the tube slowly loses its max power capability, rendering it useless much more quickly than if you kept the temp at ~18C.
Did I miss some further study on the operating temp issue? I have been panicking with keeping fresh ice packs in my 5 gallon bucket (cooling my 40W K40 tube) and stopping when I ran out of packs and went above about 22-24C. Not necessary? Hoping you have happy news on this front. Thanks!
Also, thanks for all the great videos over the years. I am also old, fat and ugly and love tinkering with lasers, so we have a little in common. :-) I added air on a cable chain, a new blower, an ammeter, my own 3D printed laser mount design, a Cohesion 3D board with LightBurn and extra switches to run the board, air and light separately. Great starter machine for tinkerers.
Best,
Peter
Hi Peter
There are so many experts around that pass on their own experience rather than the facts. It took a long time to piece together how the pysics of a tube works because you will not find it clearly described anywhere. Here is the basic way that a laser tube functions and you need to reference the diagrams in this video to undestand the next bit
laseruser.com/the-concise-rdworks-learning-lab-04/
The temperature in the ionization tube will be VERY high, so it matters little whether the cooling water is cold at 15C or just or comfortably warm at 40C . That small difference will do little to affect the rate of heat transfer to the water in the water jacket. It will certainly have no effect on the stability of the gas mixture .There is no physics process other than the over excited nitrogen atoms that is capable of causing the DISSOCIATION (breakdown) of the carbon dioxide. As I describe in the video, provided you stay within the manufacturers safe current limits the level of dissociation will be very low and there are mechanisms now built into tubeds to repair most of the dissociation that happens. For example, examine your tube when not running. Most central ionization tubes these days have a distinct pink hue to them. This is an atomically thin layer of gold within the tube that acts as a catalyst to recombine the free oxygen at to the carbon momoxide molecule to create new carbon dioxide. Additionally there are more tubes that now have an 80mm diameter outer glass tube, This creates a bigger gas reservoir ie more CO2 can be stored to increase tube life. Despite these design improvements tubes will still eventally run out of CO2, BUT the tube will NOT get weaker and weaker as your expert opinion advises. No, just like an ink printer cartridge the will be no loss of performance unti the last 1% of CO2 becomes insufficient to create full power. NOW the power will decrease over a few weeks as that 1% drops futher into it "nearly dead" condition.
The makers of industrial chillers recommend a temprature setting of about 19C. Why this number I have no idea. It just causes serious problems for some applications like photo engraving. The shock that the mirrors receive as as refrigerated cold water hits them at maybe 5C or less , causes the mirrors to distort slightly. This distortion affects the perfection of photon reflections between mirrors, resulting in as much as a10% instantaneous drop of power resulting in light and dark engraving bands.
The lesson here is to make any changes to water temperature very slow. Maybe put your water reservoir into a second bigger cotainer that you can fill with cool tap water. When your resevoir water gets to say 25C, just replace the warm tapwater with new cold water. This will ensure a gentle slow temperature changes to your distilled water reservoir.
This whole laser technology is riddled with myths and lack of factual knowledge, so always be skepical and do your own research and find your own methods.
Best wishes
Russ
@@SarbarMultimedia Wonderful reply. Thank you very much. Yes, there is further research ahead, but the science behind the extended safe temperature range seems sound (and probably the reason why most tubes aren't dropping off like flies even though most people don't have chillers to maintain strict temperature control).
I like your idea of using tap water in a surrounding bucket. This would mean I can safely decrease my distilled water container size a bit, since it will bathe in a larger pool (thin walls would help). I usually run 3-4 gallons in a 5 gallon bucket, so I'll cogitate and figure out a system that is similar or slightly larger in overall size (but still fits in the cart under my laser).
@@PeterC3400
hi Peter
Your last words "under my laser" were interesting. The pump you are using has a very small "head" capability. ie its pressure capality is low and although the pump may deliver say 5 l/min, it can only do so if there is zero back pressure. The further your pump is below your tube the greater the back pressure on the pump The will come a point, say 6 feet above the pump when the back pressure of water head balances the pressure capability of the punp and the flow will be zero.. On that basis the closer you can raise your reservoir to the height of the tube, the greater flow rate (and better cooling) you can force through the tube.
Best wishes
Russ
@@SarbarMultimedia Good thought about pumping height. I don't know how many liters per minute are required for adequate cooling of a cheapie K40 40W tube (really only 30W, and I set 18mA as my 100% setting in Cohesion config).
When I powered on recently, after a lengthy hiatus from using it, I saw distinct and rapid burbling in the ends of the tube as the water displaced the air. I lift the downstream end of the entire K40 chassis up until the tube is 45 degrees or higher, so all the bubbles find their way out.
The pump SEEMS adequate to move the heat along and out with sufficient purpose and determination. I see my in-line flow spinner rotating quickly enough to provide me with the 'warm fuzzies' about tube cooling. Quantitatively, however, I have no numbers to justify my comfort.
My laser sits on a cheap metal tool cart with a bottom shelf where the 5 gallon bucket sits with the fish pump in the bottom. The pump height is about 76cm (~29-30 inches).
It is VERY convenient for the laser to live on top of a rolling cart, with the bucket, exhaust hose storage, air pump (suspended from bungie cord for sound), scrap box, tools and a squirt bottle (for those inglorious moments of conflagration) on the shelf below. Perhaps I should consider a stronger pump.
The laser appears happy. So far so good. But a man falling off a 16 story building can also rightly say "so far, so good" for the first 15 floors. ;-)
@@PeterC3400
Hi Peter
Take a close look at your pump and it will probably have a model number on it somwhere. I'm sure you will find a specification of head/flow on-line somewhere. If you want to buy a bigger pump you must know what you have to start with.. If you want to check the head pressure then get a piece of tube say 10 feet tall and see how high the water can be forced up the tube.
Best wishes
Russ
Great work of engineering!!
By any chance, Can I be lucky enough to try part of your work?
If possible, I want to get long and short version of light weight head mounts.
Could you let me know how I complete the payment?
Thanks always,
Hi
My apologies for the late reply. I read your comment on my phone and upon return to the office I completely forgot about you.
Contact me privately with this contact form and I will send you data .
forms.zohopublic.eu/ndeavorlimited/form/K40XtreeemLaserCutterContactRussSadler/formperma/k2Cn0QN5ChpazfTMAUw25lZ-FKpjZa96TQWHjv3ntOg
I am currently out of stock with the long heads but have just received a batch of laser cut blanks and will be back in stock in a couple of days
Best wishes
Russ
Very interesting, how much would one of these kits cost?
Hi Clint
My mechanical kit is £109 plus shipping. If you are interested , visit the laseruser.com website where there is a contact form that you can send .
Best wishes
Russ
@@SarbarMultimedia Did i miss all 17 of these kits?
@@jonwebb9261
Sadly Jon YES, I shipped the last one yesterday. That must seem like choosing the correct lottery numbers and forgetting to buy a ticket!!!
I am hopeful that Cloudray will be servicing people like you. I sent drawings to them over 3 months ago and they seemed entusiastic about the project. After all, they kicked me off to do this redesign. Can I suggest that you send an email to suki at cloudray (you tube wont allow email addresss) so add a com on the end . She is the sales manager and if she gets enough enquiries it may help stimulate life into their project.
Best wishes
Russ
@@SarbarMultimedia that's unfortunate but thank you for the reply and suggestion! Is there any update on the project of building a k40 from scratch with the upgraded parts like you mentioned in your video? This seems like a great idea
@@jonwebb9261
Hi Jon
I think its a good idea also but not a project that I'm involved with. Gareth at this website will be able to advise if anything is happening. try this laseruser.com/contact/
Best wishes
Russ
Are you going to offer this kit again?
Hi Bryan
Sorry for the late reply.
Thank you for your interest. It was great fun to redesign the machine to what it could have been with a little more thought. And I'm really happy with the results I got. I also enjoyed creating the first 20 kits to help early adopters. Unfortunately they all sold out in about 3 weeks and I have no thoughts about making another batch. Instead, I provided all the designs to Cloudray about 9 months ago as it was a project they motivated me to pursue. The main purpose was to promote sales of their K40 digital upgrade kit, I'm sure they never considered a 90% mechanical redesign of the machine. They seemed keen on selling mechanical kits, but I haven't seen the kit on their website yet. You might want to ask their sales manager suki@cloudray.com a question because if enough people bother her, maybe something will happen.
DXF files for the mechanical kit items are available at laseruser.com/k40-xtreeem-project-files/ I do have some lightweight heads available (long and short )
which are the most complex parts to make. . They are £39 each including postage.
Best wishes
Russ
17:30 Must be a local supplier, in bulk those are peanuts.
This is terrible! I just got my K40 sorted out, totally re wired, cohesion 3d control board, motorised Z table, works very well (providing I keep the speed down) ... now it looks like I have to start again!
BIG hug......I bet you had great fun upgrading your little beast, and as you say, it works well, so don't envy the different approach that I took. I started with a lot of big machine experience and I wanted to replicate that big machine capability is a small format case. My goals were speed, lens flexibility. and portability. Be proud of your achievement because success is a relative term determined by the goal you set yourself
Best wishes
Russ
Hi, My name is Charon. Can we have a talking about business collaboration request？
Hi Charon
Thanks for your message. As you will know from my videos I an old and retired from engineering many years ago. I my passion for learning and engineering is as strong as ever but the motivation for earning money has long ceased. I worked and saved hard for a comfortable retirement and I am very fortunate that (although not rich) I can now enjoy life with no financial pressures. 6 years ago, I had a message similar to yours from Cloudray who were just a young and growing business. I rejected their profit share business proposition because I no longer wanted any financial complications in my very stable tax situation. I have since developed a very friendly rather than a business relationship with Cloudray and with no financial exchange, we both benefit from the technical relationship.
Thus any sort of business collaboration is not possible, however, should you require any technical assistance I am always ready to help
Best wishes
Russ.