I’ve been thinking about a new door for the big Lazor. My thoughts are to build something out of 80/20 that stands about 18" taller than what is on it right now… basically a big box (maybe with clear sides.)
The front door will be a dual swing type, where there are two pivot points at the top and at the bottom, which will allow it to swing in an arch, while staying vertical… we could then use magnets to hold it in the upright position and gravity would hold it in the lower position. The door wouldn’t weight that much and we could even use springs attached from the lower door to the upper pivot mount to slow it down.
I’m working on a Sketchup of the design. One other thought is that if the front were slightly sloped, then it would hold itself without any assistance… even a few degrees would be sufficient. The 18" height would allow anyone to work in inside it without fear of it falling on them (which seems to be a reoccurring nightmare of mine.)
Great idea! But I’m not sure I can picture it… Can you give us a quick sketch? I can’t imagine why you have nightmares about the door crushing anyone!
Bill has a point…the door doesnt have any bearing on the function of the laser does it? It is there to keep fumes in and keep anything from flying out in an accident. If modifying the door is difficult, then why not replace it if that would be easier and make it safer?
Not sure why the image doubled… only uploaded it once! Anyway, we could also simply use a very simple counter balanced weight (like old house windows) to make it easy to use… then it would just slide up and down.
Ok so it’s like a fume hood, sort of - a box shape with a front door that slides up… As long as there’s enough room to get big items in I don’t see why it wouldn’t work…
Though what about a double-(not sure of the term) hing on the top so that the front door just folds back over and lays on top of the box when opened? it’s own weight would hold it in place and it would not fall or slide down when open… Some weather strip and a couple spring latches down the sides would keep it sealed shut when running?
