Laser today from noon to 3:00

General
#1

I’ve got a big project that will monopolize the laser for a few hours today, if there’s no objections

#2

Too bad she's not working. I'm trying to cut a circle out at feed 4 and power 100 and she's only at engraving depth.
Dani was here before me and having the same problems she could only engrave her run.

#3

Did you verify the Z?

I know they were having some Z bed “catching”.
Perhaps it is way off.

#4

Brett tweaked the lenses into place its back up. We suspect that the nozzle may need to be bored out a bit wider .

#5

Saturday I helped the robotics team cut a 6mm MDF board and the Gray plastic on the big laser. No problems at all.
Note there was a wasp flying around inside under the lid. It disappeared before the end of the job. Check out the lens path there could be a crispy wasp in there.

#6

The Z axis bang noise seems cured after lubricating the Z drive screws.

#7

Thanks. The top left corner is out of focus so avoid using that area if you can.

#8

A couple tricks I use with this machine to verify optics before cutting:

  1. With scrap material, lid closed, and fans on, press the laser button. It should leave a fine, sharp point in your material. If focus is off (z or otherwise), it will be a larger spot, less sharp, and less crisp.

  2. With a scrap piece of transparent acrylic you can do the same test, but look at the shape of the profile of the indentation. It should look like narrowing cone or cylinder.

Essentially, focus on the laser follows an hourglass-like shape. The narrowest part of that hourglass is where the power is, as well as the finest kerf. That said, the azimuth and zenith can get slightly off from time to time, and if you want best results, check the optical path each time – it only takes a few seconds to verify that mirrors & lenses are clean and that there is nothing way out of whack.

Lorin

#9

Any way we try try to zero in the focus on the laser tomorrow before/after the meeting?

I’m going to pull the trigger on getting my own laser in December and would like the experience or learning by doing rather than trial by fire, literally…

Thanks!

#10

I was using the laser earlier today. The problem problem is definitely alignment, not focus, and getting worse. That tells me there’s a loose mirror someplace that’s moving. I planned to spend a good deal of the day Sunday completely re-aligning the machine and cleaning all the optics.

#11

Brett,
You still coming in today?