My laser engraver is not cutting equally on both axes

N015E · March 15, 2026, 3:44pm

I have a newly purchased Longer Ray5 20W, and when I send something to be cut, it doesn’t cut all the way through on the X axis, while on the Y axis it cuts properly.
I have tried doing a clean installation of LightBurn and the problem still persists. The belt tension is correct, as well as the focus distance.

I have also noticed that when it is engraving, the beginning of the design always comes out darker than the rest.

What could this be due to?

I am attaching an image of the result.

Thank you very much.

misken · March 15, 2026, 4:17pm

It’s because the spot of your laser is not square, it’s rectangular. So you will always have a preferred cutting direction. Read this:

Turn the object by 45° to reduce the effect, or add sufficient passes to make it cut at any location.

JimNM · March 15, 2026, 4:39pm

+1 to the post above.

-and-

The focus depth is crucial to ensuring efficient cutting. If you focus on the top surface of a 5mm board, the focus will be 5mm out of focus on the bottom side.

You need to get the focus depth set to the middle of the piece that you are cutting.

Then you need to:

Increase power

Decrease speed

Increase the number of passes made.

Every laser and every piece of material will be slightly different. You will need to adjust your process to fit the product on a regular basis.