Laser Activation Timing Off During Etching but Accurate for Line Cutting

[meierme176 (Michael Meier)]

Hi everyone,

I’m having an issue with my Omtech SH-G460 laser cutter (Ruida RDC644XG controller). The laser seems to activate slightly before it should during etching operations, causing misalignment or shadowing. However, when running line cuts, everything is perfectly accurate.

Here’s what I’ve observed:

• When doing bidirectional etching, the laser fires slightly early, leading to shadowing or overburn at the start of each pass.
• Even with single-direction etching, the issue is still present, although it’s less noticeable.
• I tried cleaning up the edges of an etch by running a line cut afterward, but the line cut revealed that the etching and the line don’t perfectly align.

What I’ve tried so far:

1. Adjusted speed and power settings for etching, but the shadowing persists.
2. Tested both bidirectional and single-directional etching to compare results.
3. Cleaned the mirrors and lens to rule out debris or alignment issues.
4. Verified that the focus is consistent across the bed, and cutting performance is fine.

I suspect this might be a timing calibration issue, such as a problem with scanning offset settings in LightBurn or a misconfiguration in the Ruida controller.

Has anyone experienced a similar issue where laser activation timing is off during etching but accurate for cutting?

Any guidance on fixing this, such as adjusting the scanning offset in LightBurn or checking specific Ruida settings, would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[JessN (Jess)]

Would you mind sharing a screenshot of the scanning offset adjustment in your device settings?

[meierme176 (Michael Meier)]

Good afternoon,

I did not know that was a thing. I just calibrated that and it is working great! Thank you!

P.S. Sorry I’m new to this

[JessN (Jess)]

Great to hear! We’re here if you need us, happy lasering!