Has anyone tried the spindle mounted laser offered by JTech? Any thoughts on its benefits?
Seems to me that it would solve the problem of needing to readjust the Z when moving from spindle use to laser use. Not sure if it would actually do that having to move from say lightburn to CC/Vectic software.
I have a JTech spindle-mounted laser, and bought it because I “thought” I could use a common X/Y zero when switching between Carbide Motion and Lightburn (For example, to cut out a round coaster in Carbide Motion, then switch to laser and engrave a design with Lightburn, both centered at exactly the same place). Maybe I’m just dense. The machine initializes and rehomes when you go back and forth from Carbide Motion to Lightburn. I haven’t figured out how to use a common zero between the two programs.
One downside of mounting the laser in the spindle is the loss of Z travel since the whole laser module hangs beneath the spindle. It’s the equivalent of having an endmill with 3.5" to 5.5" of stickout (depending which unit you buy). That only works if you’re engraving very thin items.
I bought an extra $20 mounting plate from JTech that screws to the side of the spindle bracket. I use this most of the time, because it maximizes Z height under the laser module.
If I had a do-over, i’d skip the spindle-mounted version and get a cheaper one that mounts to the side.
Here’s how I’ve done my side mount from JTech. There is an offset, but by firming up the mount, I can take the laser off and on and still maintain the offset zero. My offset is built into my post processor in Vectric Vcarve Pro.
I have an SO3 XXL with the Jtech 7W laser. I had the mount on the spindle mount and the laser went out to the right hand side of the router. Still not sure how but I crashed the mount (without laser installed) into the right Y rail and broke it. I could likely have glued it back together but just another one from Jtech. So just be careful using the router mount that you dont crash it into the Y rail. Cannot remember right now but I think the laser itself sticks out a little from the mount. Not sure about that because I am remembering from my memory and that can be cloudy with a chance of meatballs.
My post has pictures for your memory! 
Seriously, the JTech mount doesn’t have to be offset from the X center. The router will hit before the laser, but I don’t work anywhere near a rail anyway.
It doesn’t matter much where the laser is. One just finds the offset value and fixes that number into the post processor. That way the gcode has the offset added before it gets to one’s machine. My offset has never changed. (Sienci’s gSender gcode sender has a place in its settings for this offset, so one doesn’t even need to modify the post processor. Makes it all really easy.)
I also broke the mount for my JTech laser - it was the SuckIt mount (offset to the right). Mine broke during packing for a move, not during any operations. My proximity switch is set to avoid crashing to the right rail. So I was in the market to replace the mount.
I considered the spindle mount. JTech will retrofit your existing 7w to a spindle mount for $120 USD. But then I thought about the “Z-Travel” issue. While I was on the site, I became interested in JTech’s Rotary Accessory (allows you to use the laser on cylindrical objects). This sealed the deal, as it turns out the Spindle mount WILL NOT FIT over the rotary accessory with a glass on it. So I ended up just replacing the side-mount.
When I want to align burns to CNC cuts, I make a reference mark on a waste portion of the piece to use as a “Known” location and burn “From Current Location” using that mark as the origin. As long as I’ve created the designs correctly, it works perfectly.
I’ve also considered making CNC-Laser and Laser-CNC GRBL macros that simply shift the head the amount of the offset (X,Y)…that way, the designs can share the Origin/Zero. Just go to the origin using CM or Lightburn, then run the appropriate macro to shift the head position and zero for the other program. I haven’t created those yet, though.
I looked at that spindle mounted laser too and came up with the same conclusion about Z clearance. Raising the spindle in it’s mount would help with that issue. What concerned me was if I were to use the spindle for one part of a job then raise it in it’s mount for the laser head to do it’s part, would I have the exact same X / Y zero location on the work piece. I’ve seen a little wiggle room in the spindle mount. A slight difference in the spindle being plumb after raising it up could make a big difference X / Y location at the focal point of the laser beam.
Thanks for the replies. I do like the idea of using the rotery accessory. @CrookedWoodTex mount is perfect, thanks. I’ve bookmarked the link.
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