When I set up Material Test in the Laser Tools menu I input the speed and power ranges I want the test to show. I then select the “Edit Material Settings” tab. The first two lines ask for/contain speed and maximum power values which I can alter. When the test runs the power axis is given in percent (%). Is that a percent of the maximum power (of the laser) or a percent of the maximum power value set in the Edit Material’s second line Maximum Power. Second what is the relationship between the speed value set in the first line of the “Edit Materials” menu and that which is run during the “Material Test”?
Excellent questions! I’ve wondered about them myself but came to the conclusion those fields were ignored. I wouldn’t mind a proper answer, tho.
It will use what’s in the edit materials layer, if you are not using that specification or field to vary the operation of materials test.
If you are varying the power, it will adjust power from minimum to maximum percentages of power that you enter in the materials test… If you are not varying the power, it will use the power you set in this window.
If you vary the interval, it will use the range specified in the test, not what’s in edit materials. If you don’t vary the interval, it will use what in the edit materials layer.
Make sense?
Thanks, Jack. That’s the conclusion I came to. Any field used in the test settings supercedes the matching field in the layer settings.
Interesting. So if material setting has power = 50%, and your variable power is 10% to 50%, actual power will be 5% to 25%? Does this apply to galvos also? I always thought the test ignored any material settings that are also specified in the variables. I don’t like it because the power % is shown in the legend, but if you tried to duplicate you would need to know what the original material power setting was as well which is not shown. Learn something new every day.
No…
It only uses the values from the settings layer if those values are not varied by the materials test.
If you have power set at 10% in the materials layer, but have it vary from 20 to 60% for the test, it will ignore the power in the materials layer and use 20 to 60% of full power. If this isn’t part of what the materials test is varying, then it will use the 10% value.
There are only two variable fields available, so it gets what isn’t defined in the variable from the materials layer.
If you vary the Interval, what’s in the material layers interval is ignored.
It only uses what’s in the materials layers when it’s not one of the two that it’s varying.
Does this make sense?
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Thank you. I’m etching aluminum cards and trying to find optimum settings, What you’ve just stated makes sense!!
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Yes, that’s how I understand it. I think I misunderstood your previous post.
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I’m American, we excel in the butchering of the English language 
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