This Old Industrial Laser Cutter Was Restored to Life with an Arduino Nano

When YouTuber MakerMan found a 14-year-old industrial laser cutter at a junkyard, he knew he had a treasure on his hands. Sure, the massive 350kg (772lb) machine was in rough shape, had broken control board, and was missing many parts: the power supply, the air-extraction blower, the compressor, the water cooler, and most importantly the laser tube. But, MakerMan could see the potential and went ahead and bought the neglected machine with the intention of restoring it.

Just getting a machine of that size to his shop was an ordeal, and even required a crane. Once it was safely in its new home, MakerMan started by cleaning up the laser cutter — which had been stored outdoors at the junkyard. The next step was to replace the control board, and MakerMan chose to use an Arduino Nano running Grbl. The motor drivers were, fortunately, in working order, so that Arduino was all he needed to get things moving.

Next up was putting in a new laser tube, and MakerMan went with a powerful 90W model and accompanying power supply. The blower, compressor, and water cooler pump (just a bilge pump) were all common off-the-shelf parts that can be found at any hardware store. After installing all of the new components, the newly-revived laser cutter is now happily cutting parts quite nicely.