I use an xTool D1, 10w laser. My settings are:
Speed: 5mm/sec (as recommended)
Power: 100%
Material: 3mm basswood
Goal: cut through the wood.
The image below shows the underside of the cut wood. You can see that certain parts are cutting all the way through, while other parts are not (two of these areas I have outlined in red).
The design is done in Illustrator.
I have tried cutting with SVG, Ai, and DXF files.
When bringing the artwork into Lightburn, I resize it from a 47mm width, to 290mm width.
Material is cut on the xTool honeycomb, no air assist.
It seems to only happen in the same area of the cut, towards the front of the laser machine (where the xTool logo exists).
As a test of the hardware, I have created random shapes in LightBurn (hexagons, etc.) and set the laser head to cut near/over the same spots of the honeycomb where these issues seem to be happening. The shapes cut through the material with no issue whatsoever, at the same exact settings. When I switch back to the artwork made in Illustrator, no matter the file type, the laser does not cut all the way through.
I have checked the the honeycomb is level. I have cleaned the lens. I have changed belt tensions and made sure the x gantry is aligned. I am at a loss here.
To me it looks like there are lots of places it’s not cuttting though, such as in the P
I think you’re on the edge and may have to drop your speed.
Sounds good but that assumes the gantry is level…
If you have a ‘spacer’ gauge for setting your laser height, use it to check the ‘questionable’ areas for proper focus height.
Wood all by itself is variable as far as any type of lasing. Variations may need more or less power to get through. Plywood or mdf types are even worse and can change by the amount of glue you have to go through.
As I stated, I think I’d slow it down. It might work as is, with air assist. I get very superior cuts in basswood with 30 psi air assist compared to low air pressure.
I have a lot of 3mm basswood, but it’s all a plywood type construction.
I cut 3mm basswood at 20mm/s@70% with my 50 watt co2 with air assist.
Speeding it up worked. I just can’t wrap my head around why it sometimes works at 5mm/sec and other times it doesn’t. Inconsistency in the basswood plies is my only guess.
I am curious because I noticed the same problem in some of my cuts with the xTool. Did you actually speed it up or slowed it down? I think that inconsistency added to (in my case) curved wood may be the reason for such a situation where the cut is fine in one place and messed up in another.
icon.