Wish me luck!!!

[ThothLoki]

I just bought a co2 laser!!!!!!

Bought a K40 and plan to do a lot of upgrades. Gonna do the 12”x24” mod first so it becomes an actual usable size. Will need a new controller as well

[ggallant571]

Any thoughts on use? How is the baby?

[ThothLoki]

Any thoughts on use? How is the baby?

Hey George. What do you mean in use?

The baby is just fine! Turned 1 a few weeks ago and my oldest turns 11 in a few weeks

[Zax]

I miss my K40, makes these diode lasers seem like toys.

12" x 24" sounds like a great mod as size was really the only limitation.

Do you plan on a Grbl based controller or something else?

[ThothLoki]

Yeah. I still plan on a GRBL controller

It is hard to justify a rudia controller that costs more than the machine itself

[ThothLoki]

I miss my K40, makes these diode lasers seem like toys.

12" x 24" sounds like a great mod as size was really the only limitation.

Do you plan on a Grbl based controller or something else?

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3401855

[Zax]

That's genius. It's about time they changed the K40 design, it's been basically the same for well over 10 years (I got mine in 2008).

[ThothLoki]

LOL. If it ain’t broke……

So yeah. First thing first, I will do the safety updates then start sourcing the parts for the bed mod.
I need to pick a controller yet. The cohesion board looks nice but a bit pricey. You have a suggestion?

[Zax]

There was an alternative to the Cohesion that was also a drop in replacement but half the price, not sure if that's still available or what the current price is. If I remember it was an Australian supplier but they had a US reseller, I want to say it was called the mini-Grbl or something like that. I just used an Eleks controller and removed the connectors from the old board, more work but very cheap solution.

[ThothLoki]

There was an alternative to the Cohesion that was also a drop in replacement but half the price, not sure if that's still available or what the current price is. If I remember it was an Australian supplier but they had a US reseller, I want to say it was called the mini-Grbl or something like that. I just used an Eleks controller and removed the connectors from the old board, more work but very cheap solution.

I thought that too but one thing that gets me about the Eleksmaker boards is the inability to move your gantry by hand without installing a new board

[ThothLoki]

https://awesome.tech/product-category/laser-cutter-controllers/

Is it these boards?

[Zax]

I guess that's the newer version, and new higher price too.

If you are essentially putting a standard frame into the enclosure it would make more sense to use standard cables and an Eleks or Cronos board.

How do you adjust the focus (Z-axis)?

On my old K40 I installed a motor on the Z-bed so I could focus in T2Laser (that's where the Z-focus feature came from) but of course it had very limited XY size.

[ThothLoki]

I’m not 100% sure yet.
I need to really look at the build plate mod to see what my heights are.

I am thinking of cutting out the bottom so I can also install a rotary. I am taking the FSL Muse Core riser as an example

[kibodwin]

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3401855

Very nice, if I havd the time and energy to upgrade to this I would...!!!

also, good luck!!

=)