Snap-together Manual Z-axis for cheap laser engravers

Snap-together version of https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5233648. Slight internal structural differences to accommodate other mounting options but otherwise much the same. Fits directly on Fokoos and Eleksmaker A3 laser machines. Accepts Neje laser modules directly and others with easily modified adapter plate. It will bind up if heavy-handed with the laser module M3 clamp screws... make them just snug enough to keep module in place, no more.

Please know that this is not the smoothest operating mechanism there is… but, in this case, it helps keep the laser at a constant height without a locking mechanism. My earlier version(s), with rods and bearings, could actually fall under their own weight at inopportune times. But it is “smooth enough” to allow easy and relatively precise height adjustment for focusing, etc. It has right at 9 complete turns of top to bottom adjustment… a range of 75mm total travel on the slide; i.e. about 8mm per turn of the knob.

And, again, as this Z-lift isn’t for continuous, high-speed operation and heavy loads, this is a case IMO where printed slides and threads make sense. As long as it doesn’t melt or get broken by a “heavy-handed” gorilla… maybe it’ll last as long as the machine it get installed on? Only time will tell…

Print Settings

Printer Brand:

Prusa

Printer:

I3 MK3S

Rafts:

No

Supports:

Yes

Resolution:

0.3mm / 0.2mm

Filament:

Sunlu PLA

Notes:

Support required is minimal... from the build plate only. Recently I've also started printing with a ridiculous number of perimeters (6!)... on the recommendation of various prominent YT'ers. Doesn't seem to hurt.

An observation about printed sliding surfaces… it helps if the mating surfaces are NOT printed at the same resolution and with layer lines running in the same direction. To test I printed two sliding mechanisms…printed vertically-oriented, the set hardly slides at all without considerable force applied, printed horizontally-oriented, that set slides better but feels a bit “sticky”… but mismatch either set and it is “just right”.

For the “threaded” parts – the leadscrew and carriage – I felt both needed to be printed oriented vertically to insure their cross-section is as round as possible. In this case, I found that if I printed one at 0.3mm layer height and the other at 0.2mm to “mismatch” the layers… I got smoother operating threads than if both were printed at the same resolution.

Category: Machine Tools