Okay, I began mirror adjustment. M1 is close to perfect. I did adjust slightly. Problem now? Laser is firing and hitting M1 nothing on M2
Cleaned the burned paper from target on M1, no difference.
What did I screw up this time?
There’s likely a little scorch mark on the inside of the laser cabinet where the beam now totally misses the second mirror. Park a big piece of paper just in front of the second mirror and see how far it’s off.
Source: been there, done that. 
1 Like
Thanks. Will try that.
If I move the gantry closer to M2 it gets to M3 but way off
It is only about halfway to grandma’s house. LOL
1 Like
I stick a piece of wood in there to see where the beam is striking… mdf, scrap… whatever… keep you hands ‘away from’ where the beam could strike…
That’s why I use a ‘large’ piece of wood…
Once in the ballpark you can go back to targets…
I cut these out …
Of course, before I screw up the alignment totally… 
Here’s a tip for your #1 to #2 alignment once you’ve gotten it close. Move your target to the head and move it all the way away from the #2. That extra distance between #2 and #3 acts like an amplifier to the #1 to #2 alignment. I fought alignment issues for months until someone passed this on to me. My #1 to #2 looked good on the target, but it was off enough that I didn’t see it on the #2 target, but was easily corrected when the target was moved to the head.
You shouldn’t be doing m3 until m1 and m2 are aligned… 
Read carefully.
Once you have #1 to #2 very close, use the extra distance to #3 to get it exact.
When you are aligning #1 to #2, it is usually the shorter of the axis distances. Add to that you are putting a soft edged spot on another soft edged spot, and you can have error that will amplify as it goes to #3 but be unseen in a ‘normal’ #1 to #2 alignment. Instead, use that extra distance as a tool to make #1 to #2 as accurate as it can reasonably be.
When you are more than doubling the alignment distance, small errors that would drive you nuts become readily visible.
I made a bunch of card stock targets today. Easier than cutting them out by hand .
Same here. I have a modified version of Russ’ #2 mirror holder, and have targets that hang on the adjustment screws. Same for the head / #3. I love that #2 holder, having the adjustment screws on the front where you can easily get to them is wonderful.
I want to. Was going to ask you if you had the file.
Have the mirrors set for short distance between, am getting ready to adjust for the longest distance between #1 & #2 plus #2 & #3
Thanks
No, well I tried to make one from acrylic, but couldn’t get it square. I bought one though and love it.
I had to design a #2 holder based off of his design. Russ’ machine has the X motor on the same end as the #2 mirror, and it is a combined mount. My motor is on the other end, so it doesn’t work. He was kind enough to give me a copy of his design, and I modified it for a mirror only configuration.
He also included the designs for his slider mount. I don’t have access to any milling equipment, and fought the design for quite a while trying to get everything square. Finally had an bright idea and ‘flipped’ the tab. Instead of the tab being on the slider, I put the ‘tab’ on the base via a pair of set screws. Once that part was figured out, everything else fell into place.
There are pictures of them on my Google Mod Page, and cut files in the folders at the top if you want to look.
I have some clear cast acrylic coming so I made one from 3mm ply
BTW: I adjusted the beam in M3 the tiniest possible. The 4" cuts great. Have some testing on thickness to do yet.
If the tube is working and it’s aligned with clean optics… it will work…
I’ve built most of Russ’ jigs. Most of them are posted over on the RDWorks forum.
When I first purchased, I thought I had done my homework. Not even close. His videos and jigs helped me take that new machine from a magical box, to a ‘what the hell were they thinking when they designed it?’
Knowing what I know now, I’d have built from scratch and had twice the machine for the same money.
That’s always the kicker…