Is my laser capable?

[Nischka9 (Natasha Richter)]

I have a 150 watt ruida reci ww6 lightburn powered laser. In this image the clear, crisp one is an epilog laser cutter; the blurry one is mine. Is my laser capable of this quality if I get a different lens? Upping the lines per inch or the resolution does not improve anything.
Thoughts?
Thank you for your insight.

[Stroonzo (Jeff)]

Have you completed the following during the ownership of you machine:

• verified optical alignment
• identified the type of lens in use
• identified the type of mirrors in use
• cleaned / inspected the mirrors and lens
• identified the focal length of the lens installed
• performed a focus test and focal point identification
• configured air assist and familiarized yourself with its usage
• established adequate fume extraction
• practiced with speed / power to understand the correlation of these values to the material type and desired outcome

I have a Reci W6 machine that makes better than the Epilog example you pictured (even when I used a 101mm lens). My friend has an Epilog, so I often compare the work of his machine to mine. The machines produce identical pieces.

Is your project consisting of an Image (with a layer in image mode), or is the project made with vectors on fill layers? For starters, you will have much better results with vectors on a fill layer over an image.

[Stroonzo (Jeff)]

Here is a good test:

With some 200 grit sand paper, create a nice smooth surface to that wood you have pictured. Use a vacuum to clean off all of the saw dust. In the area you will laser, apply strips of painter’s tape (enough to cover about a 6" x 6" area) trying to minimize the overlap (buy / use paper transfer tape for this masking in the future).

Use the attached LightBurn file of dominos that I made (as if I would be running this on my machine). Engrave / fill this on your material where you have applied the painter’s tape. Then after the job runs, remove the tape from the circle that will have been cut out.

DominosSample.lbrn2 (91.8 KB)

Here is what paper tape looks like (and can be ordered in various widths):

[Stroonzo (Jeff)]

Here is a demonstration of the process and result I suggested above (using the exact file and settings in the file I attached above):

Laser Demo

(still shot)

[Stroonzo (Jeff)]

And then this is me just experimenting with that same design / file but upping the speed to 635mm (25") / sec and power set at 60%. Hopefully all of this gives you an idea of what you might expect from your machine.

Laser engraving at 635mm (25”) per second on a 140 watt reci at 60% power.

[Nischka9 (Natasha Richter)]

Thank you so much for your responses! Work has been crazy so I haven’t gotten the chance to play around with your suggestions yet. Thank you so much and I’ll keep you posted.