Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 18

Thread: Chad's Flexure Mount Review!!

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Lake Geneva, WI.
    Posts
    2,704

    Default Chad's Flexure Mount Review!!

    This is a review of Chad's mini flexure mount's. Flexure mounts like this are great for steering, combining or splitting beams in a tight space that requires minor adjustments up or down, left and right. Small mirrors and dichros can be glued with a small dab of epoxy on the kinematic mount surface.

    Here are some pictures of the mount....







    While the mounts adjustment capabilities may be tight (a FEW degrees) It is an extremely tight package. The idea is, with proper placement, only minor adjustments are needed to aim the beam precisely. Another nice feature about this mount is that it will hold it's setting well and not easily drift out of it's position due to it's sturdy and small design along with the push/pull locking adjustments.

    The mount is constructed out of 6061 aluminum alloy. I have flexed both X and Y adjusters back and forth about 10 times and did not see any noticeable fatigue in the alloy and only minor flaking on the red anodizing, so minor it's hardly noticeable without a magnifying glass. I'm very impressed with the amount of flex these mounts will actually produce but I don't want to post a number of degrees without a proper test. The whole mount is only 25mm tall and only weighs a little over 10 grams!





    The adjuster screws are a push/pull arrangement. The two top screws control the Y axis, up and down. The two bottom screws control the X axis, left and right. Both screws on either axis are 3mm with .5mm threads. I personally think this is a good middle point between coarse and fine adjustment. A typical application of this mount would be a 16th of a turn to a full turn get your beam on track. The "push" set screws accept a 1.5mm Allen key and the "pull" cap head screws accept a 3mm Allen key. I would suggest a ball head type Allen key set for adjusting these mounts. It will make it easier to get to them in tight spaces. Also, the 1/16 and 3/32 Allen keys will work for adjusting these mounts since you don't need much torque to set these. The only con of the push/pull arrangement is that you have to loosen one screw in order to move the other. However, the pro of this design allows you to lock in your adjustment making it very hard to bump out of tune unlike an MM1 or MM2. You'll break the damn mirror off before you knock one of these out of adjustment!


    Here are some pics showing the dimensions of these mounts...










    As you can see, these mounts are VERY well made. All CNC milled with very clean and contoured edges. Even the bottom has a very minute shave on the bottom of it to keep friction off of the X axis motion. The mount also has three surfaces to mount your optic to. One flat head-on surface and two 45 degree surfaces off of the flat which is great for knife edge mirrors in beam combining.

    In conclusion, I think this mount is perfect for it's application. The size, shape and dimensions were all well thought out. It is extremely durable and will easily outlive most parts in a laser projector. These mounts have endless capabilities in beam table layout and design and will surely help us hobbyists and professionals alike make our works of art smaller and more compact.



    These flexure mounts can be purchased from Chad at the following website for $24.95 USD each with $4.99 for shipping in the UD and $12.00 international.

    http://sites.google.com/site/laserthings/

    Discounts are available for 4 or more mounts. Please email Chad at moki123@gmail.com for more details.

    Thanks!
    Adam
    Last edited by 300EVIL; 12-28-2009 at 23:11.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Vezon, Belgium
    Posts
    1,017

    Default

    great review!

    that means I'll spare to get some mounts, as well as hardware from Pat, to fit 400mW of bluray into my projector in the next few months

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Orlando, FL
    Posts
    1,090

    Default

    Great review there Adam

    I love these mounts... I have them and would recommend them to anyone as well.

    --DDL
    I suffer from the Dunning–Kruger effect... daily.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    denver,co
    Posts
    1,078

    Default

    Wow, thanks guys!

    300: thanks for the review!

    I am glad you like them!

    Chad


    When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.


  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Lake Geneva, WI.
    Posts
    2,704

    Default

    Glad you like it Chad, Please let me know if I left out any important details.
    Thanks!
    Adam

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Bend Oregon USA
    Posts
    3,350

    Default

    Orgasmic Octomom!
    Pat B

    laserman532 on ebay

    Been there, done that, got the t-shirt & selling it in a garage sale.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2008
    Location
    Amsterdam, NL
    Posts
    2,098

    Default

    Can you test how many degrees you can turn the mirror before the mount is damaged.

    I use similar mounts only in brass material and I found there can be a huge stress on the screws when turning the mirror a bit when aligning the beams.

    the stress I had to put on the screws to get my rgb alligned I highly doubt if the aluminum mounts would hold this stress as aluminum is a softer material.

    If you want I could send you a brass mount so you can compare the maximum bending angle.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails dichro's.jpg  


  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Lake Geneva, WI.
    Posts
    2,704

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by mccarrot View Post
    Can you test how many degrees you can turn the mirror before the mount is damaged.

    I use similar mounts only in brass material and I found there can be a huge stress on the screws when turning the mirror a bit when aligning the beams.

    the stress I had to put on the screws to get my rgb alligned I highly doubt if the aluminum mounts would hold this stress as aluminum is a softer material.

    If you want I could send you a brass mount so you can compare the maximum bending angle.
    Fair enough, I'll review your mount as well and do a comparison on degrees of movement.

    I'll send you a PM later.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Posts
    1,622

    Default

    Does anyone know if these mounts are still available for purchase?

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    denver,co
    Posts
    1,078

    Default

    I don't have any left.

    It took me a while to get rid of the last of them so I son't know if it is worth it to do another run or not.

    sorry.

    chad


    When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.


Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •