It’s been a few weeks since I got the laser engraver, and everything I ordered has arrived. Some things turned out differently than expected, as is often the case. In the first post about this device you can read what was planned. Ultimately, the following was implemented:

• Enclosure with smoke extraction and lighting*
• LONGER honeycomb plate*
• Air pump as air assist*
• Limit switches*
• Quick adjustment of the Z-axis

I didn’t install the cable chains:
After the enclosure and base made of OSB-reinforced chipboard had been properly installed, I noticed that the cable chains would not have had any room to roll out. Instead, I used Velcro cable ties to guide the cables. This works well, nothing drags or sags. In the meantime, some things have already been engraved and cut.

Endstops

It was surprisingly easy: I used LaserGRBL to check whether the latest firmware was flashed, which was the case. Then I mounted the purchased end stop PCBs on the 3D-printed brackets, extended and sleeved the cables and simply plugged them into the designated sockets on the mainboard, nothing else.

AtomStack Studio was able to reference immediately without any problems and the LEDs on the boards also light up when triggered. It first moves to the limit switches and then almost perfectly to the 0.0 position marked on the axes. Very good, I had imagined it to be more complex.

Enclosure and Air Assist

Not bad at all for the price. The fan is acceptably quiet and provides good airflow. The lighting is nice and bright. You can’t ask for more than that; I don’t really have anything to complain about. It was also super easy to assemble, and despite the simple design, the whole thing is surprisingly stable.

The air compressor wasn’t cheap, but you can tell:
Good build quality, vibration-isolated, and made of metal. It’s also tolerably quiet and very finely adjustable. I would buy it again.

The 3D-printed part for the laser head needed a little work, but then it fit well and works exactly as expected. No more smoke residue!

Current status

The notebook and compressor are located outside due to the smoke. I did not specifically seal the enclosure at the bottom of the plate, but no smoke escapes nonetheless.

Der Beitrag Upgrades for the AtomStack A5 Pro erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.

For my birthday today, I received a laser engraver/cutter, among other gifts. It is used but in good condition and complete, ideal for beginners. I’ve often toyed with the idea of getting something like this, but the areas of application are very limited – especially if you already own one or more 3D printers. Now I’ll probably have to deal with the topic head-on.

It’s an A5 Pro from AtomStack* with the following technical specifications:

Receive today and start using immediately?

Of course not. First, I looked around for a control option and revived a long-forgotten Lenovo ThinkPad X201 (8 GB instead of 4 GB RAM, Samsung SATA SSD, new thermal paste, Windows 11 Pro 25H2 installed). Once that was done, the laser was set up on a trial basis to test its capabilities:

It quickly became clear that something had to be done about the smoke.

Planned upgrades and modifications

I ordered the following parts:

• An inexpensive enclosure with suction and lighting*
• LONGER honeycomb pattern plate* measuring 440 x 440 mm, 22 mm high
• Air pump as air assist in a set*
• 10 x 20 mm cable chains* made of ABS
• Limit switches*

Until everything arrives, I’ll print more upgrades (in black PETG*):

• Air Assist (Thingiverse)
• End stops (Thingiverse)
• Dragging chain mounts (Thingiverse)
• Quick adjustment of the Z-axis (Thingiverse)

I will create mounting options for the laser and the honeycomb plate myself as soon as I have all the components and can take measurements. The whole thing will most likely be built onto a carrier plate, with the option of removing the housing quickly and easily.

Apart from that, the power-hungry components all run on 12 volts DC, which brings to mind the idea of using a central, powerful (Meanwell?) switching power supply instead of three different smaller ones. For 5 volts USB, then possibly a DC-DC step-down converter – that would make two power supplies in total, one for the ThinkPad and one for everything else.

Hardware / Firmware

In this case, it is convenient that AtomStack uses a standard motherboard that can do much more than the supplied firmware allows. At the moment, I don’t plan to expand anything except the end stops – but it would be possible by flashing a different firmware.

This board is installed:

Once all components have been delivered or printed, we will continue.

Der Beitrag A new toy arrives erschien zuerst auf flohs blog.