Hey Everyone, I’ve had the Atezr L2 36w for several months now. I’ve had the Xtool D1 10w for about 2 years and decided to upgrade to the Atezr 36w because of its cut power. I’ve been trying to cut 1/2" sande plywood and 1/2" MDF. I’ve cleaned the laser head and replaced the lens just to make sure it’s in peak working condition and no matter the settings, I can’t get it to cut through 1/2" material. I watched a video of someone cutting 3/4" wood with the following settings: 150 mm/m Speed, 100% Power, 2 Passes using the same laser. I played around with those settings for cutting 1/2" wood and nothing. I feel like my laser is losing power somehow. Any suggestions? (And, yes, I have the air assist on full strength)
In device settings check your S-value max (typically 1000).
Also type $$ in console window and check if your $30=1000.
Yes. the S-value is set at 1000 and $30=1000.
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Next is to try setting your focus point 1/4" below the surface. in 1/2", you would be way out of focus, so you focus for the middle of the material.
I saw a video where my S30 Pro 10w cut 18mm MDF in a single pass. I wonder how many tries it took to get 1 good video…
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I’ve done 3/8" solid cedar with my 20W. I’d have to check my settings, but it was around 400mm/min, 100% pwr, 3-4 passes and around 2mm Z step per pass.
1/4 Baltic ply is similar. Any glue pockets might as well be diamond. I had to use Dremel to clear those.
1/2” ply would be CONSIDERABLY more difficult.
Seems like I’ve read the “sande” ply isn’t especially laser friendly.
Yeah that sande plywood is marine grade plywood that I mainly use for cornhole boards. I’ve had luck with some pieces but other pieces from the same 4x8’ sheet is like you said, cutting a diamond.
You are really asking alot out of a 20 watt laser to cut through1/2" material in 1 or 2 passes let alone 3/4". I’d be real careful cutting at lower than 150 mm/min as it could cause a fire. Air assist mitigates this a bit…but that is slow and hot. If the Aetzer does have a z axis movement…yes lower per pass by 2mm or so. And I am not sure of their focal height, but rule of thumb is to lower focal distance to at least middle of material thickness to start. Make sure it doesn’t hit the material (obviously) when dropping Z axis per pass.
I am like you. Don’t trust 90% of you tubers out there. It’s a free laser for them. May work once out of 20x…and you will prob end up with a damaged machine. But hey…they got it for free more or less.
This machine does have a powered Z.
OP has a 36W.
Mine is spec’d at 24W. I call it 20-ish because the specs are BS (4x6W diodes thru multiple combiners and lens can never come close to 100% efficient) and the beam pattern is…ugly. In reality, it’s probably closer to 18 effective.
The 24W has a focus height spec of 8mm, but I found ~11 was better on mine. I’m not sure about the 36, let alone the OP’s specific machine.
I should have noticed the 36 watt in OP’s 1st post. So true about the multiple diodes not adding up to manufacturer’s claims. It just can’t work the way they claim. From what I am just barely able to understand, the specs given for focal distance is the optical focus used for projectors and cameras as such, not the same as what you really need for cutting or even engraving with any laser. Also, and I may be wrong, when someone replaces the diode ‘lens’ it is the protective lens, not the actual lens. I don’t think there is a way to replace the focal lens in a diode like you can with CO2’s.
Diodes, and even most, if not all, hobby CO2’s aren’t meant for deep cutting. Just my opinion. Lasers are precision…not brute force. Some are for sure…like the $200k CO2’s.