I have a Sculpfun S9 and have had no issues with this until about a month ago. I use LightBurn 1.4.04. This is a somewhat “old” issue as it keeps happening. I will somehow “fix” it but then yet again it will pop up. My problem is I get this letter doubling/light engraving on the Right side of my engraving. It can be lighter too while the left side shows up very prominent. Here are some examples below.
Things that I have tried:
-block used to focus laser is checked multiple times and on both sides
-tightened belts
-loosened belts
-tightened t-screws (this seemed to fix it, the first time)
-taking the whole frame with belts apart and putting it back together
-getting a whole new laser as the company thought it was the lens
-moved the pieces to make sure the belts weren’t rubbing while it moved
-tried running it slower/faster
-cleaned the lens
So what I have been reading from people on this help forum and anywhere online is that it may be a mechanical issue. I have a hard time believing this as I’ve tried quite a bit and also… ironically when I use GRBL, I don’t have any issues at all and the image/letters come out perfect every time. Or if I make a new file in Lightburn and just type letters it’s fine. If I copy anything from a previously “messed up” file then it instantly sucks again.
Are you using level pieces of wood? Or rather pieces of wood that are flat and the same.thickness all the way? I notice theyre pucks of tree branches. To me it seems like part or your work is closer to the lens and part of it is further away. Is your laser slipping on the Z? Have you checked your lightburn file for overlapping / cloned lines to see if it may be causing?
Hey thanks for the quick reply! Yeah, I have tried quite a bit of different materials. And they are pretty simple patterns. Is there other overlapping/cloned lines that I should be worried about? I’m decently new to LightBurn and engraving so it really could be something simple??
Hard to compare the results between Lasergrbl and Lightburn. The settings are completely different and so is the wood.
The “doubled letters” on the third example just looks like smoke staining to me. Should wash off. I use alcohol. That will also lighten the engraving itself, tho. Many people cover the face of the material with painters tape or masking tape and engrave right thru it, then peel the tape after to reveal a pristine surface. The stripes or banding on the snowflake concern me more. It’s kind of a mish-mash of anomalies.
The first example is hard to make out enough detail to make any meaningful suggestions.
The second example looks pretty good but I think I see some serrated edges to the wreath that may indicate some scanning offset tuning would be a benefit.
Hmm not bad ideas, I will look into the offset adjustment more!! The biggest thing is it affects the right side more than the left. Can you see that on the third picture/snowflake? It’s fuzzy on the one side but the left side is pretty clear. Same with the second photo wreath (and if you really really look ‘chri’ looks good while ‘mas’ is doubled. And same with the first photo too, while I agree it’s tough to really see what’s going on there without context.
I do not often work with my diode laser anymore, but it strikes me that I have had some similar problems once.
After retrofitting compressed air and extra cables for a cross laser, I did not make sure there was free movement of the diode over the entire machine bed. I found the error when I turned off power and tried to move the laser head with only one finger throughout x and y length. There was a little more resistance to the last centimeters before the end position of the x axis due to the extra cables and air hose in the cable duct. After I “reorganized” this, the problem was solved.
In addition to that, I will do a systematic test with a piece of material that covers the entire machine bed. Drawing and engraving some Shapes in Fill Mode in all corners and in the middle, with different speeds and line spacing. Make sure everything is clean and in level. Check if your lens is loose or defective, (have I tried once).
Just so that I am understanding you correctly, my cables might be too tight then? How did you “reorganize?” Also, I have checked the lens. Actually the company ended up sending me a new laser over this as they didn’t know either.
As you can see in the bad picture, hoses and cables are relatively rigid. Although the resistance of the movements is significantly smaller than before, the air hose and cables have been too short. The white is a spiral spring that holds it all up, balancing/placing this was especially difficult.
In the newer machines it all runs in cable channels, but these can also run badly especially with weak servos
