Which lens to use

Community Laser Talk
1

Which lens can I get the smallest dot from a 1.5" focus or a 2" focus and WHY

2

My understanding is it’s you tube and power supply response that will determine your dpi. Now if you are talking physical dot on your material, that’s all focus and keeping your bed level with your gantry. You can have the finest dot ever in one spot. but move your bed up or down just a hair and you loose that fine dot no matter what lens you have.

3

I thought a longer focus point would give you more leeway , the sweet spot for focus is bigger.

4

A longer focus lens has a wider but longer “waist” - IE, the usable cutting region. So they can be useful for cutting thick material, but the beam doesn’t focus to as fine a point. Shorter focal length lenses give a smaller focal point, and a shorter cutting zone, so they can be used to cut thinner material faster, and tend to be better for image engraving.

5

You have a tiny spot for photo engraving. the ‘sweet spot’ for cutting is a matter of ‘depth’. I’ll give you my laymen explanation, and you can cuss me out later.

You have the perfect ‘spot’, but if that was the only place you could cut, the only thing you could cut with a laser would be tissue paper. While the ‘spot’ is the hottest, you have X amount of distance above and below the ‘spot’ where the laser still has the energy to cut. That energy along with power ( Wattage ) and good air assist combine to give you a usable cutting tool.

So, now on to this X distance. Say you have an 8mm laser beam hitting the lens. That lens takes that beam and focuses it down to that ‘spot’. If you have an HD lens, the angle on that bend is pretty sharp, and that X distance is barely above of below the ‘spot’. On the flip side, a 4" lend has 4" to make that same ‘spot’. With a much shallower bend to the beam, that X distance is now quite a bit above and below that ‘spot’ giving you a much greater usable cutting depth.

EXAMPLE: I can cut 6mm Premium MDF with my 1.5" lens and only get about 90% of the way through 9mm. Drop a 2.5" lens set up in and now I can cut that 9mm, and get about 80% of the way though 12mm. I’m waiting on the holder for my 4" lens to see if i can cut the 12mm… All this with the same machine power, and speed… Only the lens has changed.

6

As seen on https://lasergods.com/laser-lenses-optics-and-focus/

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7

Mannnn, all that typing and you toss in some pretty pictures that says it all… LOL

1 Like