Understanding z axis moves to avoid obsticles

[MakerspaceHGW (Jonas)]

Hello there

we just got a Fabkit MK6 CO2-Lasercutter (Rudia controller) and have a lot of fun with it. Lightburn is so cool!

But with our current setup we got a focal length about 3 mm above the workpiece. So if there is a clamp or the material is warped the nozzle collides with that thing.
I tried out the z axis enabled (no z optimization, no relative move) but it behaves strangely.

I found this thread Move Z Axis first? but i dont understand.
Could you please clarify for me if we got any wrong configuration?

I setup the material height to eg. 50 mm and did an z offset of 50 mm for two objects (squares next to each other).
The laser head moves first the z axis and then the x,y axis to draw the first square. Then it does not retract and goes to the next square on the same z height.
Is that the normal behavior described in the thread mentioned above?

We got the latest update of Lightburn. Didnt check the rudia firmware yet.

Thanks for your help and best wishes
Jonas (Makerspace HGW)

[jkwilborn (Jack Wilborn)]

If you are attempting to be able to program the Z axes to avoid obstacles, I doubt this is a viable solution.

We all have that issue and I would love to see a simple solution. However I’m not optimistic.

Good luck

[JohnJohn (John Johnson)]

@MakerspaceHGW

But with our current setup we got a focal length about 3 mm above the workpiece. So if there is a clamp or the material is warped the nozzle collides with that thing.

I have read something about this previously and I found an existing feature request for it on the feature-add (fider) site.

https://lightburn.fider.io/posts/1266/clamping-and-a-way-forward

If you make a separate account and log into the fider site you can up-vote the existing suggestion. The Developers gather ideas and future direction from the information gathered there.