Re: Newbie Intro

> Also, you ask for a better spot. What is better to you may be worse

to

> me. Do you want smaller or larger? Do you want greater depth of

focus or

> less? You get the idea here. What do you want to do that you cannot

do

> with the spot you now have?
>

I could engrave annodized aluminum if I can get my power density as
high as possible, so I want to have a different lens system I can
bolt in place when I want to do that type of engraving. Obviously
depth of field is not an issue when engraving aluminum, as I am only
taking off about .001 of annodized material. I read somewhere that
getting much smaller than 100um is pretty much impossible with a CO2
laser. True?

> As for mounting hardware, I often use 1.0 or 0.5 inch diameter

lenses

> and ThorLabs optical tubes. These tubes come in 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0

inch

> inside diameters. Threaded at both ends for easy extension. I CNC
> threadmill to make 1.008 inch 40tpi to mate with ThorLabs tubes.

That

> allows me to standardize, as much as I can. I also like Edmunds
> Scientific singlets and achromatic doublets for visible light

beacuse

> Edmunds has a variety of focal lengths in 1.0 and 0.5 inch

diameters.

>

I decided to machine my own optics mounts for the simple reason that
I have a cnc mill and ought to use it. :-)

How do you add assist gas to the Thor tubes? You really really
really need it when cutting stuff with the laser.

Thanks,

Rick