Torch laser cross-hair mount

Post by **bauer** » Fri Jan 09, 2015 8:08 pm

For those of you that own (or have a buddy that owns) a 3D printer, I made a mount that holds a set of laser diodes, 9v battery, and micro on/off switch. I have it mounted on my Thermal Dynamics SL100SV machine torch to generate a set of cross-hairs for precise placement of the torch head.

The 2 diodes hole and torch hole have slots and holes to allow a #6 (1.25") machine screws to be placed through to tighten those items down.

Screen Shot 2015-01-09 at 8.00.35 PM.png

The laser diodes are cheap on amazon/ebay.

The various hole diameters used are:
laser-diodes: 0.5"
switch: 0.25"
torch: 1.406"

I have it published on Tinkercad (https://tinkercad.com/things/7t1o1756q7Z) so you can easily modify the mounts to fit your particular needs.

It won't allow me to upload the 3D STL file, so you'll need to download it from Tinkercad above.

Alone.JPG

Mounted.JPG

Post by **tnbndr** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 10:22 am

Nice project. Now I need a 3D printer.

kb3gun · Post by **kb3gun** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 11:30 am

Thanks for the file. Made one yesterday. Any brand of laser diodes you'd suggest? Lots to choose from on ebay.

laser-mt.jpg

Fits the machine torch on my Hypertherm PM45 like a glove.
Thanks again!
-Bill

cbassjr · Post by **cbassjr** » Sun Jan 18, 2015 11:06 pm

kb3gun wrote:Thanks for the file. Made one yesterday. Any brand of laser diodes you'd suggest? Lots to choose from on ebay.

laser-mt.jpg
Fits the machine torch on my Hypertherm PM45 like a glove.
Thanks again!
-Bill

Looks like you have a 3d printer. How much to make me one???

kb3gun · Post by **kb3gun** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 1:35 pm

Sorry. Made it at work with some material that was about to expire. I can't make any more.
If you go to the site of the file, there is an option to have it made for you.

Craig · Post by **Craig** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 2:25 pm

Nice setup Brad made one for myself.
http://www.plasmaspider.com/viewtopic.p ... lit=+laser

The only thing I would add is something to cover your wires. I use heat shrink tubing but aluminum tape or other materials will also work.
On my first laser setup, a spark burned through one of the wires in about 3 months.

Craig Johnson

gamble · Post by **gamble** » Mon Jan 19, 2015 5:27 pm

Very cool. I bought a laser from someone is it normal for the lines to move depending on torch height? I'd like something that stays the same. I spent more time adjusting it than it was worth.

beefy · Post by **beefy** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 1:55 pm

gamble wrote:Very cool. I bought a laser from someone is it normal for the lines to move depending on torch height? I'd like something that stays the same. I spent more time adjusting it than it was worth.

Assuming the laser beam is not curved

that indicates the beam is not parallel with the z-axis travel.

Keith

Post by **bauer** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 3:09 pm

cbassjr wrote:
kb3gun wrote:Thanks for the file. Made one yesterday. Any brand of laser diodes you'd suggest? Lots to choose from on ebay.

laser-mt.jpg
Fits the machine torch on my Hypertherm PM45 like a glove.
Thanks again!
-Bill
Looks like you have a 3d printer. How much to make me one???

I guess I could make you one if you haven't found somebody. How's $30 delivered? I have probably 10 filament colors but I don't remember off-hand which ones. Typical ones.

Brad

Post by **mdwalker** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 3:35 pm

Brad, I would be interested also if you are interested in selling some. Does $30 include the lasers?

Thanks,
Danny

gamble · Post by **gamble** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 4:08 pm

I'm really wanting to weld the one i had made to my torch holder, but if it's just a hair off it's going to be a waste of time. anyone have any good ideas on how to tackle this one?

cbassjr · Post by **cbassjr** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 5:38 pm

bauer wrote:
cbassjr wrote:
kb3gun wrote:Thanks for the file. Made one yesterday. Any brand of laser diodes you'd suggest? Lots to choose from on ebay.

laser-mt.jpg
Fits the machine torch on my Hypertherm PM45 like a glove.
Thanks again!
-Bill
Looks like you have a 3d printer. How much to make me one???
I guess I could make you one if you haven't found somebody. How's $30 delivered? I have probably 10 filament colors but I don't remember off-hand which ones. Typical ones.

Brad

Works for me pm me your address info and I'll cut and send you a check if that is okay.

Post by **bauer** » Tue Jan 20, 2015 6:21 pm

mdwalker wrote:Brad, I would be interested also if you are interested in selling some. Does $30 include the lasers?

Thanks,
Danny

I was thinking just the mount. You'd be responsible for the battery, switch, wiring, and lasers. You can get a laser line diode on Ebay for under $4 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/650nm-5mW-Red-L ... 0982108805).

I have Light Blue, Yellow, Purple, Orange, Black, Red, White, Dark Blue, Green, and Pink filaments (plastic) on-hand.

Thanks,
Brad

kb3gun · Post by **kb3gun** » Fri Feb 06, 2015 4:23 pm

You can get a laser line diode on Ebay for under $4 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/650nm-5mW-Red-L ... 0982108805).
Thanks,
Brad[/quote]

Are you guys just connecting these 4.5v diodes in series to power them with a 9v battery?

WyoGreen · Post by **WyoGreen** » Fri Feb 06, 2015 10:13 pm

I purchased a pack of 5 cheap laser line diodes off Ebay. 2 were bad right from the start. The other 3 had either the + or the - wire shorted to the laser case. When you insert a + short and a - short into a metal holder, things don't work so good. They'd probably be fine in a plastic holder. So cheap laser diodes are just that, cheap Chinese junk. I've since done a little research, the voltage needed to run a diode depends on the color. A red diode needs 3.3 volts. A white diode needs 5 volts. (If I remember right). So if you use a single red diode on say a 5 volt supply, you need a dropping resister in series with it to drop the voltage to 3.3 volts. You can put two diodes in series, so in the case of 2 red diodes, you'd need 6.6 volts across them. Don't use a wall plug power supply on the diodes, they are usually way off voltage and are rarely regulated. A power supply out of an old computer is regulated, and will give you 3.3, 5, and 12 volts.
I've got 2 better laser line diodes on the way from an American company (probably still made in China, although they say American made on their web site.) Plenty of other projects to keep me busy until they arrive, then I'll continue on with this project.

Steve

_Ogre · Post by **_Ogre** » Sat Feb 07, 2015 3:18 pm

i use the 5 volt leads on the pc power supply and it works well
the thing nice about using the pc power supply is that you can trigger it with the aux outputs on bladerunner
while i've never had a bad laser out of the box, i have gone thru 5 of them in 18 months
i bought 2 for the initial test and then bought a lot of 10 for $29 with free shipping
at $2.90 each i'm not going to complain about them not being robust enough

Post by **bauer** » Sun Feb 08, 2015 7:16 pm

kb3gun wrote:Are you guys just connecting these 4.5v diodes in series to power them with a 9v battery?

Yes, that's all I'm doing. Works fine with no trouble

Brad

Torch laser cross-hair mount

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