Hi all first post here.
I recently bought a new Omtech K40+ and opted for the package with lightburn and have been excited to get going but I’m having issues that are causing frustration… I had a Chinese type K40 a few years ago which ran on K40 whisper and as much as I had things to learn at the start I did manage to create successful results albeit limited because of the software and hassle with the machine… Anyway I’m loving the interface in lightburn and it’s fairly ease of use for a somewhat novice but I’m having a heck of a time trying to position workpieces in order to engraved/cut them. I have watched videos and read what I can find, I have tried all three options for job position, user, absolute etc but I’m still struggling to get my head round this. Also can’t seem to figure out why sometimes I get the origin next to my job and sometimes it’s randomly somewhere else even when I’m using absolute coordinates… An example is I used to engraved wooden spoons on my old machine, I could position them no problem and engraved them but with this setup I can’t get the position properly without some serious time in trying to get it right on the exact spot… Second question, anyone got a tip on how to know the position the laser is going to start firing without relying on the red dot which seems useless and I would prefer not to test fire and but a dot on my design… Sorry I hope this all makes sense
Starting out, you should always use Absolute Coords. That way, you can visualize your design grid as being above the laser work space. Wherever your design is located is where the laser will burn.
When you Home the machine, that is the Origin. It does not move unless you override it and tell it to be somewhere else.
The solution is to make a cutout or fixture to hold the spoons. If you locate the fixture in the 0,0 corner, and you made the cutouts with your program, the spoons will drop right into the right place every time. There are plenty of postings in the Forum about using fixtures, and videos too.
Because you have a GRBL controller but have a CO2 machine, I do not knoe if the Test button in the Move windoe is enabled. But CO2 machines have an invisible beam, so the Test button is not used. The red pointer is used instead. There is a Pointer Offset setting that will compensate for the difference in position. The link below will help you set it up properly. You should get used to using the Lightburn DOCS and videos.
Hi thanks for the comment… Unfortunately my issue seems to be if I use a thicker material and I adjust my focus by moving the laser head up or down then the red dot has to be moved manually to match, is that normal?
With my K40+, the pointer moves with the head. But you might need to adjust it in general, it’s not perfect from the factory.
I suggest using current position as starting position and moving the laser head manually to where you want it to be. It’s easiest for the beginning. This should work fine, usually. You only need to make sure that the laser has enough space to travel, since in current position mode, the laser might not know its position correctly.