I’ve been switching back and forth between laser and 3D printing (both working great btw). Swapping the head itself is easy, but is a minor chore to unscrew the heated bed and replace it with the laser bed.
I was thinking that it might be nice to simply buy a spare print bed ($40) and find a way to attach the laser bed to this spare print bed. Assuming it’s attached relatively well and doesn’t have any thing on the bottom that could damage the heated bed, I cannot see a reason why this wouldn’t be a convenient way to swap the bed out.
If you are planning to permanently or semi permanently mount the laser bed to it you could buy any spring steel of a similar size, even if it’s slightly smaller.
If you aren’t doing a ton of cutting and just doing laser burning any of the platforms should work provided you are cautious in your setup.
Make sure whatever bed you use you account for any height difference so your focus is correct.
You are correct, using a thin plate of thin steel should work just as well. I would have to figure out if I can find a way to cut it to the desired size accurately. As for the laser focus, I always re-calibrate the focus whenever I change the bed so I should be good there.
Once I figure something out I’ll post pictures and a review of how well it works.
Also it doesn’t need to be exactly the right size, I would cut it a bit smaller it should work just as well and then it will be hidden by the laser bed pieces.
