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Summary of Fixings for the K40 Upgrades Xtreeem Mechanical Kit

This final mechanical-kit addendum is a fastener and assembly cross-check for the K40 Xtreeem project. Russ identifies the screws, washers, springs, air fitting and other small hardware used across the gantry, tube mount, mirror holders and lightweight head.

Use this page as a bill-of-materials check rather than as a universal hardware specification. Screw lengths, head styles and washer choices are tied to Russ’s particular component stack-ups and clearances, so verify them against the parts you have actually made.

Xtreeem Laser Cutter K40 Upgrade Series

The previous addendum concentrates on fabricating and preparing the mechanical parts. This shorter companion page concentrates on the small hardware needed to assemble them, including places where the fastener head profile or washer outside diameter is functionally important.

Release Date: 29th June 2022

For the fabrication process, material-fit checks and assembly sequence, use the Preparing the K40 Xtreeem Mechanical Kit addendum alongside this fixing list.

The dimensions below are useful because several details are easy to miss: the low-profile pan heads beside the lens tube, oversized Form C washers used to clamp the belt and the different screw lengths used for adjustment, retention and mounting.

Where a fastener is performing a locating, clamping or optical-retention function, match the geometry as well as the nominal thread size. A screw that is technically the right thread can still be wrong if its head interferes with the lens tube or its length bottoms before the joint is secure.

Summary of fixings for k40 mechanical kit - the lightweight head
Summary of fixings for K40 mechanical kit – The Lightweight Head

This page is deliberately narrower than the main build sessions: it records the small but consequential hardware choices that make the finished assemblies fit, adjust and clear neighbouring components correctly.

Fixings at a Glance

AreaHardware shown by Russ
Gantry and bearing railM5 × 12 cap heads; M3 × 16 screws with nuts for the bearing rail; M3 × 8 Y-rail fixings; M3 × 4 bearing-bracket fixings
Butterfly clamp and air assistM5 × 8 cap-head thumb screw with plastic cap; 6 mm push-fit air fitting
Tube mountingM3 × 8 fixings with nuts in Russ’s oversize-hole example; M3 × 20 mounting screw where the base requires the longer fixing
Mirror holdersM3 × 10 grub screws for adjustment; M3 × 20 screws with springs; button-head screws for mirror retention
Lightweight head and belt clampM3 × 4 liner fixing; four M4 × 8 pan heads; four M3 × 12 bearing-plate fixings; four M3 × 10 belt-clamp screws with oversized M3 Form C washers

These sizes describe the hardware shown in this Xtreeem build. Check actual stack thickness, available thread engagement and local clearances before substituting screw lengths or head styles. Russ used polyurethane tube as the compliant insert in the tube clamp; the functional requirement is a resilient material that maintains suitable grip, rather than the brand or colour of the tubing itself.

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Addendum: Summary of Fixings for the K40 Upgrades Xtreeem Mechanical Kit

Assembly Notes

  • Low-profile M4 pan-head screws are important where the lens tube passes close to the head mounting hardware.
  • The oversized M3 Form C washers are part of the belt-clamping geometry, not interchangeable with ordinary small outside-diameter M3 washers without checking the clamping area.
  • Mirror retaining screws should only hold the optic securely; do not over-tighten them, particularly against glass mirrors.
  • The polyurethane tube shown in the clamp was chosen for compliance. If substituting material, check resilience, grip and long-term set rather than assuming any 8 mm OD / 6 mm bore tube will behave identically.

Practical Takeaway

This is the final cross-check before assembly: thread size is only part of the specification. Length, head profile, washer diameter, spring arrangement and available clearance all matter. Use the transcript and table as a reference, then confirm every critical fixing against your own manufactured parts.

Podcast Download for Summary of Fixings for the K40 Upgrades Xtreeem Mechanical Kit

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Addendum – Summary of Fixings for the K40 Upgrades Xtreeem Mechanical Kit

Video Resource Files for Summary of Fixings for the K40 Upgrades Xtreeem Mechanical Kit

The resource files for this K40 Upgrades Xtreeem Laser Cutter Upgrade project can be found at the K40 Upgrades Xtreeem Project Files Resource Page.

There are no additional resource files associated with this video.

The k40 xtreeem upgrade video series
The K40 Xtreeem Upgrade Video Series

There are no external resource links associated with this video.

Want To Make An Enquiry To Russ Regarding Parts Or You Have Questions About This Project?

Then Just click on the link below, which will open up an information request form.

Russ sadler - tutorials on how to use a laser cutter
Russ Sadler – Tutorials on how to use a laser cutter

K40 Xtreeem Enquiry Form

Transcript for Summary of Fixings for the K40 Upgrades Xtreeem Mechanical Kit

Click the “Show More” button to reveal the transcript, and use your browsers Find function to search for specific sections of interest.


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The K40 Upgrades Xtreeem Laser Cutter Upgrade Series with Russ Sadler. Project Build Addendum: Summary of Fixings for K40 Upgrades Mechanical Kit.

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So these are M5 by 12 cap heads. There’s an M3 8mm long with an M3 washer under it.

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So for fixing the bearing rail onto the gantry,

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we’ve got these M3 16 mm long and nuts. They’re long because you might want to put the LED strip on the back with a nut to retain it.

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And here are the Y-fixing rails screws M3 by 8mm long,

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any head will do. M3 by 4mm long,

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any head will do. Which fix the bearing bracket to the bearing.

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And then we’ve got another two M5 by 12 cap heads to fix onto this end of the gantry and all of those screws,

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plus the two brackets that go on the end of the gantry are in that packet.

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And there’s more to go in that packet, as you will see. Now, the butterfly clamp has got a thumb screw in it and the thumb screw is made up of two pieces.

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We’ve got an M5 cap head screw, which is 8mm long and a plastic cap that pushes onto the top of it.

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You don’t have to make it that way. You could make it, you could probably buy a single thumb screw. That also goes in the pack.

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This is a push fit air fitting, 6mm pipe in and out, that’s used for the air assist connection.

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They’re freely available from eBay. They all come from China. These are the tube clamps.

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This piece of material here is polyurethane tube.

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It cannot be nylon because nylon has not got enough give in it. It will set after a while.

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This remains flexible and pliable, and it’s 8mm diameter with a 6mm bore and there’s approximately 20mm of it there.

Transcript for Summary of Fixings for the K40 Upgrades Xtreeem Mechanical Kit (Cont…)

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It just rolls into that little slot there. We’re going to put those in the plastic bag as well.

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The tube holders is attached to the base with two M3 by 8mm long screws.

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In this instance, I’ve made a mistake and the size that I used for this hole here, which should be tapped M3, is a bit oversize.

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So you’ve got nuts and M3 by 8mm long screws to fix these two pieces together.

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And this is an M3 by 20mm long screw that passes through either a clearance hole in which you can put a nut underneath inside the machine,

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or you can put a tapped hole in there to fix this down to slide it backwards and forwards.

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And again, those go into that bag, so everything that you require is now in that bag.

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Now at this end here, we’ve got an M3 by 8mm long, plus an M3 washer to fix number one

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mirror bracket onto this tube holder.

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Now there are three mirror holders on this machine. We’ve got a number one and number two, and then we’ve got the head mirror, which is here. Now,

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the head, I’ve been manufacturing the head for some time now.

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And I’m not intending to change the design of that myself. Because all of these pieces here are made from 2mm aluminium.

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It was very convenient for me to make the mirror holders themselves out of two pieces of 2mm aluminium.

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Which bolt together with M3 by 4mm long screws initially, so that you can tap all the holes that are in the corners.

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Now, if we look here, you’ll see that I haven’t got two holes.

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I actually got three holes in the corner of these number one and number two mirror holders.

Transcript for Summary of Fixings for the K40 Upgrades Xtreeem Mechanical Kit (Cont…)

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The reason is, I’ve got an extra hole in here because these probably are more conveniently

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adjusted from the front of the mirror rather than from the back of the mirror,

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because this is very conveniently the easy way to get access to the head mirror.

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Not so in the K40, because of the limitation of the case, access to these screws is better from the front.

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This could be manufactured as a one piece CNC part, and if this is manufactured as a single item,

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there’s no reason why you can’t put all three screws in here and then use this as a common mirror holder on all three items.

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Now, the assembly for this mirror holder is exactly the same on each of these.

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We’ve got two M3 by 10mm long grub screws that can either go in the front, as in this case or in the rear as in this case.

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We’ve also then got, two M3 by 20mm long screws.

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I happen to be using Pan Head, but it doesn’t matter what you use and these springs, which I will put reference to in the text with this video.

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You can go to the website and you can see the details of these springs and you can get something similar locally.

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Now, as I’ve mentioned, I’ve been making these for quite some time.

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Up to now, I’ve been able to use the flange button head screws to captivate the mirror that goes in here.

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I’m continuing to use these flange button heads in this assembly. With putting this arrangement of three screws so tight in the corner.

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It has meant that I cannot use flange button hedge screws for these two mirror holders.

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I’ve had to go for just ordinary button heads,

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but there is sufficient overlap with the mirror to still retain and clamp the mirror into its pocket here.

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So it’s not essential if you’re making CNC versions of this or making these for yourself.

Transcript for Summary of Fixings for the K40 Upgrades Xtreeem Mechanical Kit (Cont…)

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You can use ordinary button head screws for all these situations.

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So these will go into our plastic bag as well. Well,

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we’ve already dealt with the screws and springs on this mirror mechanism and the fact that we’ve got an M3 three by 4mm long screw here,

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which fixes the liner.

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Into the body, and here we’ve got four M4 by 8mm long pan head screws for fixing this body onto this head mounting plate.

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And it’s very important to use pan head screws because of their low profile. And I’ve explained in the other video why it’s important in this area

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here. These four screws here, go into captive nuts, which are captivated between these plates.

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So there’s four M4 nuts here. And then we’ve got four M3 by 12 mm long screws in here for fixing the plate to the bearing.

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And here we’ve got the belt fixing arrangement. There are four M3 nuts captivated in here, and here

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we’ve got four M3 by 10mm long.

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They can be any sort of head screw you like. But the important thing here is these washers.

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These washers are what they call Form C washers.

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They’re not standard M3 washers, they’re oversize washers and you’ll see that they more or less touch each other.

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And that’s important because we’ve got to clamp the belt underneath these washers. For packing convenience,

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I’ve had to remove the air assist fitting from here.

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Once you’ve taken these four screws out and undo these four screws here and so they sit flush with the back face,

Transcript for Summary of Fixings for the K40 Upgrades Xtreeem Mechanical Kit (Cont…)

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you can tease these two plates apart like that and you’ll be able to get your air assist fitting slipped into

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there and then push the whole assembly back together again. To make sure we don’t lose any of the fixings.

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I’m going to put the four bearing fixing screws back into this assembly and captivate them by moving this down to the bottom of its position.

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And then we’ll fix the head onto that plate. So none of the fixings will get lost.

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So we’re going to put them in a plastic bag for no other reason that it’s much easier for the tape to stick to the plastic.

What Next?

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Last updated August 26, 2021

Related Guides and Technical Resources

The resources below provide supporting guidance that ties the mechanical kit components and upgrade methods into broader optics behaviour, alignment strategy, and cutting performance:

These resources help connect the mechanical engineering aspects of the kit to optics behaviour, component choices, and fact-based performance outcomes.

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