Printable View
Hello everyone,
do anyone know if mounting one of those chinese CO2 laser tube in a vertical position could be an issue? Would the water flow be OK?
I am in need of engraving a large panel so I want to mount the mirrors and the tube on my CNC machine and I was thinkin to put it underneath the machine and pointing it upwards, but I am concerned about the water flow since I never saw one of those tubes mounted like that.
anyone tried that?
Thanks for your help
Don't see how water flow would be an issue. You will just have to figure out how to align the tube and focus the beam
What about trapping air bubbles? i dont see why not could be mounted like you say, but if its not a typical practice, there could be something there.
that is exactly my concern: that all air bubbles will end up on the top of the tube. there must be a reason why its never mounted like that. I searched on the net and could not find a single machine that use this solution so... I think in the end I will just mount it horizontal
Hi Gianluca, I had the same thoughts as you regarding mounting the tube vertically. I have seen it done somewhere on youtube (can't remember where though).
I think one of the issues would be leverage of the tube on the mounting points unless you secured the entire length to protect the tube. Then if you supported the entire tube, you are putting quite a bit of strain on your gantry (I'm assuming you are thinking of mounting the tube so that it can aim directly into the lens?) with the very rapid movements typically required of a laser cutter (don't know if Moment of Inertia is the right term for the issue I am thinking about).
I am going to incorporate a laser on my non-existant CNC router and it will be horizontal unless the technology changes before I get done.
Clayt
As the previous poster said, keeping the tube from moving will be your biggest issue.