I am trying to engrave little wood tokens for a project and have run into several issues.
I noticed that my first few attempts were a little blurry so I tried running them with bidirectional fill turned off and that produced much better results. To try and resolve the issue I tightened all the belts because I had loose belts in the past that had caused that issue but it did not change anything. I then ran the overscan test where you draw the box with the really big line interval to see if the timing was just off but it came out perfect at all the speeds I tested it at.
Then I wondered if there was an issue with too much belt tension or if something was physically restricting the movement of the laser like dust or debris. The only thing that I noticed was that there are grooves on the X belt closer to the origin. Which I confirmed as part of the problem when I tried to laser the same thing further from the origin and it came out clearer.
So my first question is how important is belt pitch? I can’t find the exact belt for my laser (creality falcon 7.5 watt) anywhere but I found one with the same width (6mm) and a belt pitch of 2mm but my current one is 1.5mm.
And my second question is will single-direction fill always be more accurate than bidirectional fill? And if not how do I get bidirectional fill to be as clear as single-direction fill?
I included a picture of my project below. The top token is what it looks like to engrave it at the origin with bidirectional fill. The bottom left token is what it looks like to run it with bidirectional fill disabled. The bottom right token is what it looks like when engraved 10 inches out from the origin with bidirectional fill enabled.
As a starting point, bidirectional engraving is as precis as a single line engraving.
The mentioned timing belt that has cracks should be replaced, the old one probably does not hold its original length and is too flexible.
When it is okay and you have compensated for scanning offset, it is the speed that is left to work with.
Very important, otherwise the belt will not mesh with the teeth on the pulley that is driving the belt.
Are there any manufacturers markings on the belt?
Try switching the ends of the x-belt so the best end is near the origin - you might get a little more life out of the belt until you get the replacement.
In general, yes. But you should still be able to get an excellent result from calibrated bi-directional fill.
After fixing the belt issue, what should be the order in calibration tests? Like which tests should I start with or does the order not really matter? I have had this laser almost a year and have done a few minor adjustments over that time and its been very accurate before but I cant seem to figure out the issue this time.
If you have backlash, bi-directional will show it. Backlash can be either worn belts, which you have admitted, or loose couplings on the motor and shafts. Until you correct for this, you will never get the accuracy you are expecting.
Did you contact Creality about replacement belts? The 1.5mm pitch is definitely not very common. How did you determine belt pitch?
Ok I was able to find the right belt to replace it. Changing the belt helped a lot but its still not perfect. I think the rest is just fine tuning settings in lightburn. At least now the token looks the same no matter where it is lasered on the bed. I still have the issue of the text being wider in the x direction. Would that mean I just need to fine tune the scanning offset adjustment?
My other question is how long do belts normally last? I know my situation had an obvious problem with the belt but should I just replace all the belts? They are less than a year old but they do have 1000s of work hours on them.
