O.K…so I got sick of the cheesy red diode aiming beam. don’t laugh at me…it is realy silly.
I came from being a Laser field tech and sometimes the cheap stuff is just annoying. But trying to find a diode laser that I could replace my aiming laser with that was NOT oblong was annoying. I mean they are cheapo diode laser after all.
But I am used to having an aiming beam roughly the size of the CO2 beam and coincident to that beam. Well yah I would like to upgrade my system to a real beam combiner and diode laser back at the first mirror but after researching it I decided it would be a complete kluge mess.
SO I did the simplest and cheesy mod to give me a small round beam. Now my aiming beam is the size of my CO2 and dead on. Since the aiming beam on these chinese knock offs is mounted at the nozzle this means it is only coincident to the CO2 beam at the exact focal point of the CO2 beam if you have adjusted it as such. Makes it easy to adjust focus. I do a quick test burn and when the burn is dead center of the diode beam I am in.
Here it is. I am sure someone must have done this. I took a small craft stick (popcicle)…set my focal point and did a couple quick pulse bursts and punched a small hole in the stick. I then cut the stick in a circle with the laser roughly a bit bigger than the diode housing. Took the diode laser out of its mount. Put some gel super glue around the edge and set the end of the popsicle stick on the end and aligned the tiny hole until the red diode bema came out. Gotta be somewhat quick.
Well viola…I now have a nice small round red diode beam that is the exact size of my CO2 beam. Now thats what I am used to. Works awesome. Now I told you…don’t laugh at me…
Could have used other things but that was what was sitting around. Probably a thicker sticky label would work or a business card with a dab of glue…if I were to do it over but hey…they stick works too.