Homemade Air Assist (with pictures)

[Joe Hillmann]

I finally got around to building an air assist for my laser, a Universal X660. I looked into buying one but couldn't justify the cost, about $1,300, so I built this which cost less then $10.

It is just a few feet of clear vinyl tubing with a quick connect one one end and a needle for blowing up basketballs on the other end mounted in a bracket that mounts to the head of the laser. The needle is aimed to blow the air directly into the cut and allows me to cut about 75% faster then without and it also prevents the area around the cut from getting stained.

Now for the bad.

I don't plan to use it for rastoring because I think the extra weight on the head would become an issue at 100% speed.

I do not think I can use the lower 5 or 6 inches of the Y-axis, I think the air hose will get tangled if I go down to far.

I also need to build a water separator before summer when the humidity gets high.

Here are the pics.




The attachment isn't bolted to the head. To mount it I take out the lower screw, slide it on then put the screw back in but the hole in the attachment is larger then the head of the screw so the screw is more for alignment then to hold it on. The reason I did it that was is because the screws have tapered heads to align the mirrors with the beam and I figured if I used those screws to hold it the mirrors may come out of alignment.
Air Assist 001.jpgAir Assist 002.jpgAir Assist 003.jpg



This photo shows the front of the cut, notice how clean it is, usually I would have to tape the front or do lots of sanding to clean up the smoke that sticks to it.
Air Assist 005.jpg

And this is the backside, it is a little stained (the dark spot is where the laser ran the same cuts 2 times) I think I could reduce the staining by no having it on the grid but the piece of wood was bowed so I put it in there to force the bow out of it.
Air Assist 006.jpg

[Mike Null]

What is your source of air?

[Rich Harman]

I think if you changed out the needle to something larger you would notice a further improvement.

[Mark Sipes]

use the plastic needle for blowing up beach balls.. more air flow........unless you are using an aquarium pump....

[Joe Hillmann]

I am using a 60 gallon compressor in the basement for air. I don't think a larger needle would allow me to cut any faster than I do now.

[Dan Hintz]

A larger needle would allow you to flow more air and/or aim more imprecisely... but if it's working for you as is, I wouldn't worry about changing it.

[Joe Hillmann]

My reasoning on having the narrow tip is so that I can direct as much of the airflow as possible into the cut directly where the laser is cutting to clear the smoke out of the cut so it can't absorb the energy of the laser before the beam hits the work piece.

Correct me if I am wrong but I think that a larger tip running more pressure would be less effective because it isn't being concentrated in to the cut.


Now I would like to figure out a way to keep the hose out of the way with the doors closed so I can use the entire bed if I need it.

[Dan Hintz]

Correct me if I am wrong but I think that a larger tip running more pressure would be less effective because it isn't being concentrated in to the cut.

I think you would be hard-pressed to notice/measure a difference either way...

[Joe Hillmann]

I am now testing the air assist well rastoring and so far I can run it at 80% speed(the fastest I have tested so far) without the extra weight seeming to be a problem for the laser.


I am also going back through projects that I have done in the past that I thought were cool but not economically viable due to the amount of time it took to mask, cut, peal of the mask and do a final clean up. I am now able to cut them in almost 1/2 the time and don't have to do any masking or clean up which sometimes takes longer then the lasering.

[Vernon Wolfe]

Nice job, any updates?