I’ve been tinkering with my LAYZOR ever since I’ve built it, and now I believe I have gotten to the point where there isn’t much else to add without having to resort to huge modifications (Spoiler alert: Not doing that ;-)). So here’s a short rundown of how my machine looks today:

Last summer will be remembered (once again) for its extreme heat, so I simply couldn’t use my LAYZOR due to the ambient workshop temperature being around 30°C most of the time… So I bought myself one of those industrial chillers. The well-known S&A CW-5200 might be overkill for my current laser setup but I just figured I might as well make sure I’m future-proof. Not that I have big plans in store but you never know what time might bring …

Obviously this addition renders the water tank inside the case useless, so I moved most of the electronics I previously stuffed in the back section to this newly created piece of real estate. It’s much cleaner this was so consider me a happy man.

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Because I want the chiller to be switched on automatically with the rest of the machine, I added a wall plug to the back panel. In order to make the square hole, I simply used my trusty Dremel and some masking tape as a guide. It’s not the cleanest way of doing this, but it gets the job done if you’re careful enough.

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Another big addition is a dedicated compressor for the air assist. I happened to have access to a small discarded compressor from work, so I got rid of the small pump entirely.

Getting the new water- and air hoses into the machine is one thing, but I really wanted them to have their own connections on the back of the machine so I can easily plug or unplug them as needed. For that purpose I built these aluminium connector pieces (no plans, just made those up on the spot) which attach directly to the aluminium frame.

Below you can see some pictures that illustrate the text above.

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On top of all that I also did some subtler tweaks:

1. Not really an upgrade or modification, but I installed a new laser tube while I was in there because the original one really was at the end of its lifecycle.
2. Re-adjusting the mirrors off course.
3. I added a 10-turn trimpot with digital readout because my original power knob broke.
4. I rerouted the thermometer that used to monitor my coolant. It now monitors the ambient electronics bay temperature.
5. The compressor (air assist) also gets switched from the main control panel, so it also needed its own plug on the back panel.
6. I made a mating piece for the exhaust hose so I can easily clip it on or off the exhast fan.
7. I finally made a full wiring schematic of the electronics. I’ll digitize it and add it to the LAYZOR website eventually.
8. I added this piece of aluminium to the front left extrusion so that the drag chain cannot bump against the extrusion and make me lose steps.

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This is how my back panel looks as of now (yes I’m aware there is a typo):

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I’m pretty happy with all the upgrades that I have added to the LAYZOR, but now I really want to start using it and not tinker with it anymore. Enough is enough ;-).