The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning

Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.

Laser Air Assist Pump Filter: Ewww!

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Nine months ago I packed cheesecloth around the laser’s air assist pump inlet to filter the smog:

OMTech 60 W Laser Air Assist - cheesecloth filter installed
OMTech 60 W Laser Air Assist – cheesecloth filter installed

Which worked better than I expected.

I think the track on the right side of the lower / outer filter faced the interior of the cabinet and collected some incoming smog:

Laser cutter assist air filter - 9 months - outer
Laser cutter assist air filter – 9 months – outer

The wad packed around the inlet fitting accumulated even more, due to the concentrated air flow through the round opening:

Laser cutter assist air filter - 9 months - inner
Laser cutter assist air filter – 9 months – inner

Thus we can confirm putting the air pump inside the cutting chamber is not a particularly good idea:

OMTech 60W laser - Z motor - air pump
OMTech 60W laser – Z motor – air pump

My initial notion of drilling a hole through the bottom of the cabinet so the pump can breathe relatively clean basement air takes on new urgency …

Comments

One response to “Laser Air Assist Pump Filter: Ewww!”

  1. Laser Air Assist Pump Snorkel – The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning Avatar
    Laser Air Assist Pump Snorkel – The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning

    […] verified that putting an assist air pump inside the laser cabinet is a Bad Idea™, I set about building a fitting to attach to the air pump’s inlet […]