In truth, I have never liked the honeycomb table that came with my machine - it flexes in the middle, it produces sparks and reflective burns to the underside of whatever I am cutting, doesn’t facilitate fume extraction effectively and now I learn that it can become flammable from the goo that collects inside the honeycombs. Unfortunately, the honeycomb table on my machine (red and black 500x700) is not easily removable so I recently went to my local steel yard and had a piece of 3/16" plate steel cut to the exact dimensions of my table (cost was $17 US) and I am much happier for it.
I’m just learning with my laser and I thought it was common knowledge that acrylic not be cut on honeycomb table. Even leaving the paper backing on would have helped some
His videos are informative but very painful to sit through
I used standoff on the honeycomb and still got sparks shooting back up onto the work. I agree that is seems like a logical solution, but a flat steel plate with some kind of standoff just works better for fume extraction and is much easier to keep clean. More importantly, it is safer. I can’t think of a valid reason to go back.
It’s just mild steel plate/sheet 3/16" thick. It was cut on a big shear and I can tell you it is at least as flat, if not flatter then my honeycomb table. It weights about 30 lbs. but it is not excessive and by that I mean that the motor driving the height adjusting shows no discernible difference in speed, sound, etc. If weight is an issue, I would look at something like 14g steel which is considerably lighter.
My standoff solution is pretty basic. I just use acorn nuts or scrap pieces of acrylic. They are pretty uniform and cheap. The camera makes positioning them pretty simple.
That does seem like a pretty low-tech but effective solution, Isaac. I think my honeycomb pattern might have larger holes than your laser bed’s. Can you pick these up at a big box hardware store or do you need to go to a specialist?
Any hardware store will have them. I got mine at Home Depot. They are available in different sizes. You just need to find one that fits snugly in your honeycomb.
