Having a slight issue where my laser cutter isn’t cutting the bottom of materials well - I checked the alignment and you can see the laser isn’t hitting the 2nd mirror centered at all.
I have labeled it to show when the laser tries to cut something at the back of the machine (furthest from me), the middle of the machine, and the front of the machine (closest to me).
Is this normal? The center cut is off so if I just re-align that will that fix the issue? I assume it has become off-centred due to all the vibrations.
If anyone knows a solution, so it all hits the center when the laser is fired. I would appreciate it a lot or just letting me know this is normal would also be great! - omtech 50w c02 laser.
No, it’s not normal. You have to start over, from M1, it takes some time and is a learning process but necessary. On all mirrors there must be only 1 point and preferably exactly in the middle. Finally, you must also ensure that your nozzle is vertical at a 90 degree angle to the machine bed.
Thank you @bernd.dk! So playing with M1 it will mean that all 3 positions (back, middle and front) cuts will all hit the center of M2? There is no other reason causing this?
The first step is actually to check whether your laser tube is level (to the frame of the machine) and hits the M1 in the center. Depending on how experienced you are, it is recommended to find some of the good videos that deal with the subject, in order to find the right strategy. When adjusting the laser beam, my motto is, almost good enough is not good enough.
No, As I said, if the tube is parallel to the frame and hits M1 in the middle, then you need to adjust M1 until you have only one point in the middle of M2…then comes M3, same procedure.
If you turn down the power and/or shorten the pulse width, you might actually be able to see something from your alignment targets.
A burnt hole leaves you little information about the power distribution of the beam or it’s actual center… it should be a darker in the center getting lighter as it moves outward.
If these are single pulse marks, I’d suggest you make a mark at m1 and see if your tube is in TEM00 mode or resonance. If it’s not in TEM00 mode, the only fix is a new tube.
I question this because of your photo… I’d expect these to be round, not like pac man.
I use this setup, initially any time I do an alignment… always check it at m1. You do this anyway to do an alignment… just turn the power down and check that the spot is in TEM00 mode.
I cut out alignment targets from watercolor paper.
Simply, if you mark m2 near m1, this is the target spot you want to hit… You can move it out to it’s maximum distance and pulse, twist the m1 adjustment to bring the spot over the close spot. You can pulse it multiple times as you move the spot from m1 to the target spot on m2.
Move it close, the original spot should not move very much, if it’s noticeable at all. If it did move, you can repeat the first step and check the maximum distance again…
