I think I’m too stupid for lasering or I’m doing something fundamentally wrong. I wanted to make table coasters. This is 100% polyester. I chose the SF-A9 in Lightburn:
20 watts
95% power
3000 mm/sec
Air Assist
1 pass
Nothing happened! You can’t see any original change on the workpiece.
Is your laser focused on the material? What color is your polyester?
I folded down this distance screw on the right-hand side of the laser, then lowered the laser so that it touches the workpiece and then folded it up again. So the laser is only a few mm above the workpiece.
This is gray.
If it’s not leaving a mark, I don’t think your laser is focused on the material correctly. Your manual shows a diagram on how to adjust it: https://diode-laser-wiki.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/SF-A9SeriesManual.pdf
Have you had successful engravings before or is this a brand new machine and your first attempt?
A visible light diode laser may not have any effect on white-ish polyester, because the material reflects visible light rather than absorbing it. With little or no energy absorbed by the material, there’s no heating and no cutting.
If it cuts black material at the same focus distance, then the material color is the problem.
It is a brand new laser. I just was able to get an engraving on a material similar to the shown. But it was more like cutting then engraving.
I tried it with wood. But nothing happened too. I used:
20 W
90%
5000 mm/sec
no Air Asssist
But nothing happened.
Focussing was: Putting the distance on the right side of the laser directly on the wood. Then pulling it up and leave the laser at this distance.
But absolutely nothing happened.
It appears like you are focusing correctly. Im going to ask for some screenshots to help us understand how things are set up. Please post a screenshot of your entire Lightburn screen with your project loaded and the Cuts/Layers Panel and Laser Panel visible. Also post a screenshot of the Settings Window (Gears icon) with the Units and Grids tab visible and post a screenshot of the Device Settings Window (Wrench and Screwdriver icon). In the console window type $$ then enter. Copy and paste the results here also.
Thanks @parsec! That was the required hint and Setting. In every documentation i saw mm/min but I just did now saw that lightburn was configured to mm/sec. Now it works. Perfect. Thank you!
I have a diode laser and I burned on white ceramic tile. I sprayed it with a mixture of titanium dioxide and 70% isopropyl alcohol after you burn your project, all you need to do is rinse it off in water
yeah same with me nothing happened.
