Next to my iKier K1 I just got a Monport K40 and I must say, after some adjustment on the lenses and stepper motor calibration, it works quite good. There is alway room for improvement but the value for money is absolute. Eventually I will probably upgrade to something a but bigger but this will do for now.
I am looking for some more upgrades like the bed, a better exhaust extraction, things like that. My question is about the lens. I have an adjustable laser head and I was wondering if replacing the lenses would make a difference. I would also appreciate other upgrade tips when you have a good one!
It’s nice to have a selection of lenses… I have four for my co2 and another 4 for the fiber.
A shorter lens gives you more detail as it has a smaller spot, but you pay for that as the depth of focus (dof) is very small… as you get to longer lenses, the spot size increases, but the dof also increases.
Longer lens for cutting thicker material and shorter lens for detail.
I have c-series, 20mm lens tubes, you can flip them over for different lenses.
A compound lens for detail and a 4" lens for cutting thick materials. I use the 2" probably the most. The left photo was earlier as it has a drag chain, center photo that has been removed.
This lightweight head was a Russ Sadler creation… He upgraded this K40, might be a good watch for you… Weighs in at ~100 grams. After this head replacement, getting rid of the drag chain, my acceleration values are in the 45,000mm/s^2 range… it can run 1650mm/s.
The makers forums has a lot of good information on K40’s, not to mention some very technical people, some of them here also … might be worth it to use that site also, not that I agree completely with any one of them
