Great info, thank you. It is extremely frustrating when things move around in the middle of a burn. Agreed on the rubber plugs, they are worthless junk.
Thanks Uv inspired me to try 3d printing a clamp system that slides onto the corrigat6ed plate and has 3mm bolts securing the clamp in place . Ill post some pix when finished.
Great video - I've been frustrated with this issue, as I'm doing a project that needs repeated laser processing of identical parts. And those silicone plugs are indeed nearly useless! For those w/o a milling machine: If you are comfortable issuing G-code commands directly from the workspace terminal, you could put the Al extrusion on the CNC workbed, true it up and clamp it using the CNC bed clamps, then use the CNC spindle with an end-mill or engraving bit, then drive the head to roughly where you want the first hole, drive the bit down .25mm or so to mark the spot, then raise it, drive in x or y (depending on how you've laid it out) by the distance between holes in the laser bed, and repeat. Then remove the part and take it to the drill press, or just use a hand drill, to finish the holes, which are now placed very accurately. And if you have a table saw with a carbide blade, you can easily cut down the "wings" of the Al L-bracket - no need for an end mill. Extruded Al like that cuts easily on a table saw w/ carbide blade.
Snapmaker are a weird mix of sky high build quality with occasional baffling lapses in attention to design detail like those ludicrous rubber hold-downs! The other one that really bothers me is the positioning of the bed actuator rails. Surely they should be right at the edges of the bed, then all the space between them could be used for much thicker bed stiffening trusses while reducing the overall bed height? Your fences look good, but how about permanently fastening them together to hold a perfect right-angle? That way set-up could be a simple two-point alignment plus there would be more flexibility in using the mounting holes since you'd not need bolts at both ends of the two legs.
@@whatcouldgowrong7914 If you have a single right-angle fence it only needs two bolts basically anywhere on the two legs of the fence with no need for them to be in line. Also you can have many bolt holes on the fence with only two in use at a time. This should be enough flexibility to offer a variety of alternate positions on the bed.
@@john_hind Correct but I just used what I had lying around :) It can always improve or change when it no longer fits my needs. The video was just to inspire others to try other work holding :)
I've found the four finned anodized extrusion strips are all quite cupped. They rock like a bugger on a machinist's ref plate. Probably because of the extrusion stresses being altered when they drilled them & milled the clearance pocket around each hole. I can see the work surface just is not flat & i believe outside the range of auto focus on my 1.6W laser.
My issue is 1.5mm basswood warping midburn. I’ve been exploring using M1.4 bolts and nuts with what would sorta look like a money clip with a hole through the area near the bend (passes through two surfaces) in the metal. You put the bolt through and the nut on the bottom. The nut rides down in the bed’s channel. When you tighten the bolt, it rises to the top of the channel but can’t go further due to hitting the bottom of the clip. At that time the bolt starts to rotate in the channel and locks into the walls. The spring of the clip clamps down the material in a very low profile.
Incredible ideas!! Thanks for sharing and keep up the great work. Love the ideas for the cnc clamps that are turned sideways as well.
Great info, thank you. It is extremely frustrating when things move around in the middle of a burn. Agreed on the rubber plugs, they are worthless junk.
Thanks Uv inspired me to try 3d printing a clamp system that
slides onto the corrigat6ed plate and has 3mm bolts securing the clamp in place .
Ill post some pix when finished.
Great video - I've been frustrated with this issue, as I'm doing a project that needs repeated laser processing of identical parts. And those silicone plugs are indeed nearly useless! For those w/o a milling machine: If you are comfortable issuing G-code commands directly from the workspace terminal, you could put the Al extrusion on the CNC workbed, true it up and clamp it using the CNC bed clamps, then use the CNC spindle with an end-mill or engraving bit, then drive the head to roughly where you want the first hole, drive the bit down .25mm or so to mark the spot, then raise it, drive in x or y (depending on how you've laid it out) by the distance between holes in the laser bed, and repeat. Then remove the part and take it to the drill press, or just use a hand drill, to finish the holes, which are now placed very accurately. And if you have a table saw with a carbide blade, you can easily cut down the "wings" of the Al L-bracket - no need for an end mill. Extruded Al like that cuts easily on a table saw w/ carbide blade.
"I like overkill..." Love it!!!
Snapmaker are a weird mix of sky high build quality with occasional baffling lapses in attention to design detail like those ludicrous rubber hold-downs! The other one that really bothers me is the positioning of the bed actuator rails. Surely they should be right at the edges of the bed, then all the space between them could be used for much thicker bed stiffening trusses while reducing the overall bed height?
Your fences look good, but how about permanently fastening them together to hold a perfect right-angle? That way set-up could be a simple two-point alignment plus there would be more flexibility in using the mounting holes since you'd not need bolts at both ends of the two legs.
I did consider doing it but seemed impractical when I factored in the weird bolt spacing
@@whatcouldgowrong7914 If you have a single right-angle fence it only needs two bolts basically anywhere on the two legs of the fence with no need for them to be in line. Also you can have many bolt holes on the fence with only two in use at a time. This should be enough flexibility to offer a variety of alternate positions on the bed.
@@john_hind Correct but I just used what I had lying around :) It can always improve or change when it no longer fits my needs. The video was just to inspire others to try other work holding :)
@@whatcouldgowrong7914 Mission accomplished in my case! Thank you!
I've found the four finned anodized extrusion strips are all quite cupped. They rock like a bugger on a machinist's ref plate. Probably because of the extrusion stresses being altered when they drilled them & milled the clearance pocket around each hole. I can see the work surface just is not flat & i believe outside the range of auto focus on my 1.6W laser.
Wow. I have just started using my laser and never checked.Even screwed down they do not flatten? What did you do?
I just use the cnc waist board and then use the clamps, if i need to burn through i put the aluminum ontop the cnc board
My issue is 1.5mm basswood warping midburn. I’ve been exploring using M1.4 bolts and nuts with what would sorta look like a money clip with a hole through the area near the bend (passes through two surfaces) in the metal. You put the bolt through and the nut on the bottom. The nut rides down in the bed’s channel. When you tighten the bolt, it rises to the top of the channel but can’t go further due to hitting the bottom of the clip. At that time the bolt starts to rotate in the channel and locks into the walls. The spring of the clip clamps down the material in a very low profile.