Laser edge finder for peanuts

S

spikec

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I've been messing with lasers for a while and wanted to buy a laser edge finder for my mini mill. They were kind of pricey, so I decided to make one myself with some scraps I had.

Parts needed: 1.5" aluminum round rod
Laser diode, about $4 on ebay. I used just a dot but you could also use a crosshair lens.
CR2032 lithium ion cell
Cell holder for above
Clicky switch from old flashlight
3 grub screws to aid in positioning laser module
Hook-up wire and solder

Sorry I didn't document each step but I'm kind of a novice with machining and you guys could probably machine this a lot better than me. I made it to fit in a 3/4" R8 collet, but in hindsight I shoulda just machined an R8 taper right into it, it would give more clearance in the Z-axis. It probably isn't all that accurate compared to an old fashioned edge finder, but it was fun to make!

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That's pretty cool! I was thinking on the same sort of lines for my manual band mill, thinking of projecting a lazer line down the length of a log so I know where my blade is going to cut, the subject has been brought up, but no real success so far among the crew.
 
This is really an easy project. Those cheap laser modules come with a resister and only need 3 volts. I used a CR2032 because I had a bunch of them but they kind of drive the size of the barrel. You could use smaller button cells and make the barrel thinner. The hardest part was threading the wires into the tube and out through the milled recesses.

Overall, it works pretty well, I use it to line up the vice and/or material in a hurry when close tolerances don't matter - which pretty much everything I do at my level of skill ;-)
 
Looks really cool, bet it was fun to make, I have been thin:nuts:king of making one for tooling center on my lathe. will let ya know when its done.
 
:think1:Good thinking. I never considered using them in the shop while the whole time they are on my hand power tools and I use them for laying out construction projects and to make it worse my son uses the machine shop for making laser host for sell. I will have to think how I can put them to use. Thanks for the ideas! :thumbsup:
Ed
 
spikec said:
I've been messing with lasers for a while and wanted to buy a laser edge finder for my mini mill. They were kind of pricey, so I decided to make one myself with some scraps I had.

Parts needed: 1.5" aluminum round rod
Laser diode, about $4 on ebay. I used just a dot but you could also use a crosshair lens.
CR2032 lithium ion cell
Cell holder for above
Clicky switch from old flashlight
3 grub screws to aid in positioning laser module
Hook-up wire and solder

Sorry I didn't document each step but I'm kind of a novice with machining and you guys could probably machine this a lot better than me. I made it to fit in a 3/4" R8 collet, but in hindsight I shoulda just machined an R8 taper right into it, it would give more clearance in the Z-axis. It probably isn't all that accurate compared to an old fashioned edge finder, but it was fun to make!

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Click to expand...

I like the peanuts part, the ideal is a very good one that can be used for so many different jobs, well done
 
Looks good, spikec! I like the idea, too, I'm thinking bandsaw!!!
 
+1 on one for my bandsaw. That would make cutting stock so much faster!

Chuck
 
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