I’d like to build a parts-holding jig that is laser-proof. What could be used for this that would be safe for the laser? Aluminum?
Do you plan to laser on top of the jig?
I’d be interested in seeing a potential design. If I was doing it, my greatest concern would be that anything used to hold the parts down might have a tall enough profile such that it would interfere with laser head movement.
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Any kind of metal… but beware of reflections off the jig back onto your part.
Have you seen the small pin board that was sitting on top of thunder? I have a larger version in my car that just needs the nails added.
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Yes. The jig is to hold a number of strips of thin (1/16") wood parallel with each other and squared with the cutting area. It really won’t be much more than a number of shallow dados. The wood is flat so I don’t anticipate needing much hold-down.
I’m making a number of angled cuts and cutting a bunch of pieces to length. Enough pieces that it’s worth investing the time to build a jig.
I suppose I could make disposable jigs out of MDF on the CNC router. If I can ever get checked out on it…
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I haven’t but I’m not sure that’s what I need. I’ll look. Thanks!
You could use matte board or other cardboard for your jig. It’s a lot cheaper than MDF.
Put the cardboard in the laser, cut the holding slots, carefully remove those bits, then put in the wood and make your second set of cuts or whatever.
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That’s not a bad idea at all, and would obviate the need to square the jig with the laser. I’ll give it a shot.
Thanks!
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Isn’t that just a board? 
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At one of my earlier jobs there was a service door with a sign on it that said “this door to remain closed at all times.” So in the spirit of helpfulness I added beneath it “then it is a wall, not a door.”
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ok, let me explain…
(and yes, the one in my car is just a board… but it does have the holes drilled for the nails… just no nails!)
The Pin board is like a bed of nails. You put your workpiece on it to elevate it off the (dirty) grid and it keeps smoke from the burning gunk on the grid from getting on the backside of your workpiece. it also avoids laser reflections from the grid from causing “nicks” on the bottom side of your cut. (yes, that happens)
It ALSO can serve as a jig of sorts to hold oddly shaped items that tend to roll or don’t have a flat bottom opposite of the side you want to cut. (when you said Jig, I thought this might be what you are talking about)
Since the plywood of the pinboard is a couple of inches away from the focus point of the laser (the tip of the nails, usually) the board doesn’t suffer too much damage besides getting a little burned. After a while, we make a new one.
If you’re looking for something to be able to load work pieces repetitively in the same position, this isn’t it.
I just tape some thin strips of wood to the bed to use to position the piece in the same place every time.
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I usually invest in self-tapping nails myself.
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For the alignment jig I use for tumblers, I lower the bed and register the jig directly to the left wall of the laser.
The thunder 35s both have honeycomb beds with alignment pins. @somecallmery proposed making a jig with alignment pins to fit in the honeycomb holes, so it’s repeatable.
Thunder 63 has a free floating bed, so this would not work.
My father in law lasers things for a living and has a wooden jig he uses for parts. While I could see making it of metal, making it of wood really isn’t that big a deal. He basically makes 6 inch tall box on which items sit. The edge of the box has a ridge for parts to sit on. He then uses small movable wooden blocks to prop up the part under there. This works nicely, if you’re cutting, the pieces fall out nicely and are obvious. the wooden blocks and such allow you to mess with how the part os supported to get a more level surface on bent media.
at 6 inches, the laser fans out quite a bit and you really don’t have to worry about it cutting through the jig. It does slowly scorch it over time, but it’s not really a big deal. The other advantage is that you can more or less eliminate the scorch lines when cutting things like acrylic since that metal grid isn’t under the piece, it’s just floating in air.
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