Robatoy wrote:
On Feb 14, 9:04 pm, Morris Dovey wrote:

I was going to order two to hold a pair of lasers on the ShopBot,

Heh.. that's what I am working on as we speak.
One laser is mounted on the spindle carriage, shooting a line along
the Y axis, and the other is going to get mounted on the end-plate
shooting a line along the X axis.

That's the setup I have now, but the magnets on the lasers (on sale at
$9.95 ea from Home Depot) leave a lot to be desired. I just finished
ordering 5 of the magnetic bases and I'll see if they do a better job.

(I also ordered a 12" digital caliper so I don't have to tie myself in
knots using a 6" caliper to accurately measure 7-5/16"-wide boards.)

$ 24.00 total. And as I often use an insert V-bit, the point actually
comes to a real point. I zeroed on the plate and dropped a .001
pinhole in a piece of plastic and tweaked my (so far just one) laser
onto the dot. My one beef is, that the laser line is a bit fat, but
whaddaya expect for a 10.00 dollar doodad.

If you decide you want /precision/ positioning, I have a gizmo at
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/SuperZero/ that locates a reference point on
the workpiece within one step in all three axes in about 45 seconds -
but I'm not sure it's compatible with your controller/software. snicker

I spent some time yesterday (Friday) afternoon with the designer/
builder of my CNC, and we have decided to implement a couple of
upgrades at minimal cost to me.

Good on ya! When I wanted serious upgrades, I ended up having to scratch
build another machine to get 'em.

No, no tool-changer yet..but by summer I'll be needing one :-]

That's gonna hurt (big time!) but it'll make a lot of work go ever so
much faster. I don't think you'll be sorry.

I can't believe how much fun I'm having.

Well, it took you long enough to get with the program.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/