Modification of a low-cost 40W laser cutter
For fast prototyping and development purposes we have purchased an ECPUR NEW3020 low-cost 40W CO2 laser cutter/engraver but without Moshi control electronics, saving on the cost. We have installed a custom control electronics and introduced a number of small fixes to improve the performance, usefulness and safety of operation.
The following parts were installed/supplies with the laser cutter on our order:
- Fully assembled laser cutter without control electronics, but including MYJG40W power supply.
- Water pump
- Extractor fan
We have chosen to install Planet CNC control electronics due to extremely good support and reasonable pricing. While it is no open-source it does significantly speed up the development process and operates more reliably. However the same modification process applies to installing some other controller, for example open source LAOS controller.
Additionally the following parts were used:
- 20L canister with distilled water for cooling
- Airbrush compressor 2.8bar (40PSI) - 13 l/min
The lack of proper documentation and some corner-cutting in assembly and design of the laser cutter required the following modifications:
- Design of a new front plate
- Controller installation
- Cutting bed replacement with HEX grid and hight adjusted
- Installation of interlock safety switched
- Modification of air suction intake
We will detail all the modifications and create instructions for performing them shortly.
