(WIP) Omtech 60W Blue Laser Mirror Replacement Parts

(WIP) – This is a work in progress, modify your laser at your own risk, I take no responsibility for damaged lasers or personal injury. There are known flaws with the system at current which I’ve listed below but it is not an exhaustive list and there may be more. The parts are functional and do work. I have been using them myself to good effect.

For any laser hobbyist out there, you may have heard the name Russ Sadler. I learnt a lot from Russ’s videos mainly around aligning your laser. When I followed his process I quickly came to the realisation that my laser didn’t have the ability to align correctly due to the inability to accurately move parts. I was lucky that it did have some movement but because of the looseness in the tolerances the angle of the mirror was always thrown out.

Laser Tube

From:

The laser tube on my machine was mounted on 3 spacers and a final clamp type arrangement. There was no datum it was working off on the laser cutter and there was quite a tolerance stack coming from 4 parts.

To:

The new design is a singular V block that extends so that it can be referenced against the back plate of the laser cutter frame. It holds the tube with a couple of cable ties.

Known Issues:

The hole spacing might be slightly off.

Do not over tighten the cable ties.

Mirror 1

From:

My mirror one was held with a circular bracket which ran on slots, but it was so loose that any work to center the laser would affect angle.

To:

An adapter is inserted to go from the original mounting to a four screw slot mounting. This should allow the mirror to move forwards and backwards with less impact on angle. The base references the same datum as the laser tube holders.

Known Issues:

Might need to re-arrange slots so the mirror moves axially rather than perpendicular to the laser tube similar to Russ’s setup.

Mirror 2

From:

The original angle iron I had, had so much slop in the holes it was impossible to adjust axially without completely throwing mirror angle off. It had very limited axial adjustment resulting in an impossible task of moving the laser once it was set parallel.

To:

The new setup uses an adapter to go from the metal work to a new set up. It has two slot bosses that are tight to the metal work. There is a X, Y and Z adjustment but at current it’s quite hard to use still

Known Issues:

There is a little flex in the printed parts which means the mirror has micro wobbles, doesn’t seem to affect laser but I didn’t like it.

It’s really hard to setup up without affecting mirror angles still.

It’s super hard to access all the screws for adjustment.

Mirror 3 (head)

From:

My original head was all metal and it could move up and down but there was a lot of play in the holes so angle again was really difficult to control. Further the lens fit into the body with a clamp, but it meant you couldn’t set up the laser alignment through the lens itself.

To:

The head closely resembles Russ’s design but in a 3D print. It’s more open and lightweight, replacing all the metal work bar the bracket that the belts attach to. It has much better movement to adjust up and down and has a hole on the adapter to route the air line. 

(IT IS IMPERTIAVE THAT A STEEL SCREW IS USED ON THE BACK BRACKET, THE SENSOR THAT STOPS THE HEAD REQUIRES MAGNETIC MATERIAL. SO NOT USE A STAINLESS STEEL SCREW THAT IS NON-MAGNETIC)

Known Issues:

Incorrect setup can cause the laser to overlap onto the plastic and melt it over time: The mirror must be screwed in such that the laser enters as centrally as possible.

The mirror and lens can heat up quite significantly, I used PLA to test with and over long periods it can start to deform. (BE VERY CAREFUL IF USING PLA)

The design is quite and raises the lens, resulting in the air line connector hitting the front left bed screw and getting very close to the front right. (BE CAREFUL RUNNING TO MAX LIMITS)