Laser Y rotary axis for the LR3

Things You've Made
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The kids are back to school, and they said:
“Your kid needs a water bottle, and it must have his name on it”

Challenge accepted! :slight_smile: I had no choice but to engrave it on the bottle! :stuck_out_tongue:
And for this very purpose, I need an Y rotary axis, so…

I found this laser-cut model on printables/thingiverse
https://www.printables.com/fr/model/80341-laser-engraver-rotary-tool

It’s pretty simple, works with two motors I already have (and the LR3 is already configured for dual Y motors), no belts, no complicated things… perfect
I had to tweak it a little to adapt to the stock I had, it’s not perfect, but it wasn’t too hard to cut and assemble

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Setting up the rotary axis in LightBurn is pretty simple, you just need to measure the distance in mm a whole turn of the motor represents on your machine (32mm in my case for the LR3)

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After switching both Y plugs to the new motors, I setup everything roughly perpendicular and straight, and here’s the first test :slight_smile:

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Now I need some cool design and a few tests before engraving the real thing :slight_smile:

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Dang it @Fabien Now I’ve got something else added to the project list LOL

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Ha! this one is pretty quick so you can’t blame me too much :wink:
I got this done in roughly a half a day of work (working on this on and off for the past 3 days)

It’s a nice little addition that doesnt cost anything if, like me, you have spare motors lying around :slight_smile:

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LOL good deal. I don’t have any spare motors laying around but I did just make an order with @vicious1 last night. Going to message him now about adding 2 motors to it if he hasn’t packaged it already LOL

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Okay if you get some free time with it. Can you test how well the wrap works, like is there a noticeable seam from wrapping the design?

Lightburn needs to release that CAM beta already!!! Rotary axis seems to be a huge request again and if they are already doing it well, I wanna see how the CNC version does.

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Committed to engraving the real thing

After cleaning with IPA, this turned out pretty well.
It looks gorgeous with the slight shine of the aluminium

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It just ended up much narrower than expected so it’s not quite centered as I would have liked but that’s ok

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Looks great.

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Not tested yet, but this support is a bit wonky and there’s a ton of play/slip
I tried to make a second pass in the second test, the laser did not return to the initial point, several degrees of difference …

I’d say if you need a wrapping pattern , either avoid it, or maybe use a chuck rather than the rollers design type

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Gotcha. There are chuck and tails for just over $100 on aliexpress, and a few printable designs. If I can find a good CAM and a project, I might have to give it a shot.

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I’ve been mucking around with my filament dryer, and have ended up putting a sleeve of silicone tubing (12mm ID 16mm OD) on the axles to stop slip - might work there too - I had to buy a metre though.

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I am keeping my eye out for that. If it’s half as good as the laser package at the same price it will be a killer!

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Yeah, or maybe print some rollers out of tpu
I slapped this together pretty quickly just to get this engraving done before monday, but I Guess it can be improved with more time

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This is exactly what I was thinking when you said it was slipping. And was planning to use that as an excuse to get my hands dirty with TPU finally lol

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@Fabien what size did you end up making the rollers so it matched up with the correct steps per mm? I’m hoping to print the rollers in TPU today.

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They are 21mm in diameter

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