CNC Eye Protection for laser engraving ( 1610 / 2418 / 3018 ) by SnitDesigns

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

I created this thing with Tinkercad to attach to my CNC Fan Mounthttps://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2954044
to provide some basic protection for nearby eyes whilst engraving. As stated in the Fan Mount thing I believe the X-Z carriage for all the machines listed are the same so it should fit them - the pictures here are on my 3018 and most were taken during engraving.
NOTE I am NOT an eye doctor, engineer, optics specialist, safety expert, etc. - in fact I'm not that bright at all so if you somehow find a way whilst using this device to damage your eyesight, hearing, libido, etc. with your laser engraver I am not responsible! My engraver is on a desk adjoining my main work area and this thing keeps casual glances and passing family from getting the full impact of reflected laser energy. Always wear your safety glasses when dealing with lasers! All that being said the curtain appears safe to view the laser through but it doesn't cover all areas of exposure 100%.
The one tricky bit on this build will be finding the material to block the light. I'm using some "Welders Curtain" that I managed to acquire from the machine shop where I work, normally the "curtain" comes in large (4', 6', etc.) panels which when attached to a frame can be used to block the light from a welder at work. I failed to find any supplier of smaller pieces of this material so if you know a welder and can get some great, otherwise this may not be for you. There are probably other materials that could be used that I'm unaware of, there is a 1mm allowance for thickness in the curtain holder designs to accommodate the "curtain".
I wanted to be able to pop this item on and off when needed so I didn't want to use hardware, I've created some spring clips on the parts - safe to say that despite my best efforts prints this small will always be fragile and these clips are no exception(!). You're more likely to break them when assembling/disassembling the frame, once they are in place on the machine the forces from the CNC moving will not harm them, and even if you break a piece or two off the overall effect of all the clips will (probably) keep it attached just fine.
There is a picture with a rough template for the curtain material, note this was my first attempt and if/when I cut a new one I will extend forward and backward a little to allow some overlap at the back of the machine and a bit better gap-coverage with the fan at the front of the machine.
I generally engrave thin wood so the curtain in this case rides about 4mm above the actual CNC surface.