K40 12x24in rebuild (In Original Case)

Intro
If you are reading this post, you most likely already know about the cheap 40 Watt CO2 Lasers available from China which are commonly referred to as K40s. There are several sub variants of the K40 but generally they are in a white and blue or red steel case and have a cutting area of 12 x 8 in (500 x 300mm). The original Chinese manufactures state they are for making stamps and as such will come with a very weird set of features and mechanics that are "optimized" (Very generous term) for this function .

The stock machine is capable of basic laser operations at reasonable speeds but has been ham strung by the use of a proprietary controller board, called a Moshi Board. This board communicates with a computer running Corel Draw. Most of the time, when you purchase a K40, it will come with an illegal copy (Trial Copy maybe) of Corel draw. I personally don't like this as a permanent solution, so I choose right out of the gate to replace the electronics with a more legit, and open hardware/software solution. I knew I would do that before even purchasing the machine. If you are interested in just upgrading the electronics, this guide will cover some of that as well. Even with the reworked electronics, I quickly became tired of the "sub-par" mechanics. My machine would bind and move unreliably. After some tinkering, I decided finally to just rip the old mechanics out. Being committed to gutting the cutter, I decided to see just how big of a cutting area I could get. Please take note that I have included the STP (Generated in Fusion 360) file on Thingiverse, please use this for reference as this guide, is being done from memory, may miss a few items.

BEFORE

AFTER



You can find an extensive build discussion over at:
K40 Laser Cutter Rebuild (12x24in) – ReplicantFX

Files for download can be found at:
K40 Rebuild in Original Enclosure (12x24in Cut Area) by Hawking