DanielBauen.com
Air Assist and Auto Focus Nozzle
The stock air assist nozzle left a little to be desired. Being made from a chunk of aluminum, it was heavy, and the barb fitting was straight instead of 90 degrees (which made the air assist tubing stick out too far).
The DSP laser controller has an input for the autofocus sensor. I thought it would be handy to have the autofocus sensor integrated into the nozzle. The nozzle shown below is the result of these design requirements. It has a spring loaded tip. When the table is raised, and the part touches the tip, the electrical contacts inside the tip are lost, and the DSP autofocus input is triggered. The table then lowers a specified distance away from the tip to achieve proper focal distance.
UPDATE: The 3D printed plastic tip didn't last long. It was burned out due to reflections from anodized aluminum surfaces. Burning ABS does not smell pleasant. I made a new tip out of aluminum, which is also convenient, because it does not need the conductive metal switch contact ring. The new tip works great!
