I wouldn't really recommend it for 3/4" plywood, unless you are going to do two sided cutting ( see my video on that). Dense plywood like Baltic birch is very hard to get through beyond 1/2", and software plywood will tend to burn in the lower part.
My AVID laser hardware is all prototype stuff they gave me for early testing, so it required a little extra mechanical work anyway. So to mount the laser on the air deploy unit, I had to mount an aluminum plate on front that is my adapter plate. I had my own magnetic dock mounted to the front of that plate. So when I got the LaserDock Pro and XT8, I just took my mag dock off and drilled new holes for the universal mounting plate that comes with the CNC kits and bolted that on, and then the LaserDock Pro base bolts to that. So I can't say for sure if it would bolt right on to the production version, but worst case you might have to drill and tap 4 holes in it for the universal adapter. The second thing is the weight. The current AVID deploy mechanism's retract spring is made for the weight of the 15W laser. When I added the 30W laser that I had (it is a little havier than the XT8), I had to add a second spring to boost its lift strenght. I just made a couple brackets on the back to hold the ends of a spring.
Another interesting video Jim. OPT lasers rock!
Do you cut plywood? I am wondering how many passes are needed for 3/4 inch plywood
I wouldn't really recommend it for 3/4" plywood, unless you are going to do two sided cutting ( see my video on that). Dense plywood like Baltic birch is very hard to get through beyond 1/2", and software plywood will tend to burn in the lower part.
Did you have to modify the AVID laser deploy unit to use with the XT8?
My AVID laser hardware is all prototype stuff they gave me for early testing, so it required a little extra mechanical work anyway. So to mount the laser on the air deploy unit, I had to mount an aluminum plate on front that is my adapter plate. I had my own magnetic dock mounted to the front of that plate. So when I got the LaserDock Pro and XT8, I just took my mag dock off and drilled new holes for the universal mounting plate that comes with the CNC kits and bolted that on, and then the LaserDock Pro base bolts to that.
So I can't say for sure if it would bolt right on to the production version, but worst case you might have to drill and tap 4 holes in it for the universal adapter.
The second thing is the weight. The current AVID deploy mechanism's retract spring is made for the weight of the 15W laser. When I added the 30W laser that I had (it is a little havier than the XT8), I had to add a second spring to boost its lift strenght. I just made a couple brackets on the back to hold the ends of a spring.
These full length vertical videos are very annoying. I cannot maximize them.
I will keep that in mind, thanks