I’m very, very new to engraving with Lightburn. I have a brand new Longer Ray 5 10W and I’m using a Mac with Sonoma 14.5 OS. I’m engraving on very thin wood, and the last few times my logo has been skewed. I didn’t design it on Lightburn. I imported it as a PDF. It worked well on the first few I did, but now they’re skewed. I’m a novice, so any “dumbed down” answer would be highly appreciated. Thanks!
I think you have mechanical issues wit hyour machine. Load this file, scale it proportionately to fit your bed and run it at high speed with just enough power to get a good mark on cardboard. Any discrepancies from the file will indicate machanical problems. Upload a photo of the results so we can look with you.
BacklashTest.lbrn2 (68.8 KB)
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Thank you. I’ll try that.
Your product is very nicely designed😁, congratulations. I understand that your are new at the craft, so please do not take offense.
You need just a little tweak to clean up the results when you have the other issues resolved. You have some smoke smudges that can be removed.
Let me put a bug in your ear in the mean time. Airflow into the cut area and away from the cut area is primary, and secondary is to engrave faster or at lower power or even a little out of focus. There is plenty of room for variables and most likely there will be a few combinations that will reach the same goal.
My first suggestion is to go slightly out of focus by 10-15% of the focal length. That will soften the engrave spot and can often yield better color with less char.
You are on a good start, keep having fun 
.
We love to help people succeed.
You were absolutely correct. It was a mechanical issue with my machine. When I ran the file you sent and it also printed skewed, I took a good look at my machine and found that the belts were tight enough toward the front and back, but kind of loose at the center, and that caused non-movement of the arm. I was so frustrated, and now I’m excited again and can’t wait to get my engravings going. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
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JimNM, no offense taken. I appreciate all the help I can get. I did purchase an air pump, so I’ll be sure to attach that. I’ll try a lower power and a higher speed first. If that doesn’t work, I’ll research on how to modify the focus. Thank you!
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Adjust the height of the laser from the work. Search for how to perform a RAMP TEST. For soft material, like leather, I defocus every time. The width of a nickel will make a difference.
Another method is to use a thin layer of tape that the laser will burn through and the smoke/soot won’t settle on the wood. It is more prep and clean up work, but it is another option.
Have fun and please show us more of your work to inspire us.
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