His vent adapter is intriguing. Clever way to snug the back of the machine closer to a back wall. Efficient storage solution and custom blast gate.
That’s impressive!
That’s pretty slick. I’m not too sure about that mesh that he glued in place where the vent meets the wall. That will eventually need cleaning.
I really like that right angle vent adaptor for the machine!
I was interested in his comments about poplar as an easy cut wood.
Has anyone actually tried a set of different woods, different thicknesses?
To be able to cut 9mm would be brilliant, there are a lot of things that need that extra thickness.
I know they make right angle adapters for dryer vents, like this one, but I worry that they would mess up the flow too much. Something about too much turbulent flow—we need an engineer to weigh in on this.
I did like the tip about poplar plywood. Is that hard to find?
With that glued in place screen filling up with crud he will have a nightmare of insufficient airflow after a few months of use and obviously that table going up and down has really great value in itself, particularly if he had a passthrough slot. Probably cheaper to buy the parts than take the table apart and I can just imagine the fun of any repairs to the hydraulics
I bought 1/8" poplar plywood at Lowe’s. It engraves pretty well. That’s what I did that picture for my friend on.
Those standing desk legs are electromechanical. Regarding that screen, life with a laser is a learning experience. Debris will accumulate and slowly restrict exhaust airflow - just like I had to figure out when my machine started blowing smoke out of every crack in the case due to the exhaust fan grill face loading. He’s a bright guy, he’ll figure it out.
@cynd11, yeah, I have one of those for our dryer, but the seal between the telescoping pieces isn’t good enough to prevent smoke leaking when the exhaust is pushed. A booster downstream configuration would fix that - and that sharp right angle will reduce airflow and create turbulence.
I think that could be made negligible with enough CFM.
Closely emulating the glowforge design, I’d be interested in how it differs and how it performs for him.
That guy is really excited about the laser! We all know how that feels!
I’m also thinking that his need for the mesh is removed by his addition of the blast gate - which he didn’t think about until after he’d already put the mesh on
Very interesting about poplar too!
I love that table he created…another thing to put on the list of “if I ever have a shop”
Yeah that mesh was a bad idea. Everything else though was well designed.
Thinking about it there is a clear difference in strength between birch in five layers and poplar in three. To make the Baltic Birch label there are I believe rules about glue not being Bondo while that is not true about other plywoods. So something like Revolution Plywood that is mostly Poplar both has more (though not terrible) glue issues and it is definitely weaker than the pure oak or Baltic Birch plywood.
Most of the maple, cherry. and walnut plywood with actual wood inner layers are also usually poplar as well.
Wow, this was interesting. Where I come from, no one talks that fast! I love how he created the setup. I disagree with one thing he said…laserable supplies can be heavy! I’m looking at two stacks of wood, each close to a foot high. Quite heavy.
I was thinking perhaps they were worm gear and also thinking that keeping then even might be tricky. Again not necessarily at first but over time and the over time issues do not seem like something he thinks long about. Not uncommon with those who have not had that bite them, but one also ages a lot over that time also.
This product uses a poplar veneer core: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Columbia-Forest-Products-1-4-in-X-1-ft-x-1-ft-7-in-PureBond-Maple-Plywood-Project-Panel-10-pack-4735/312106043
It cuts and engraves very nicely.
I have used the maple, walnut, and birch from Columbia Forest Products. I did not care for the birch, but I love the maple and absolutely adore the walnut.
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