I’m having a hard time figuring out the 1600mW laser for my A350. It seems that every time I de- and reattached it, I have to use hours and hours as well as a lot of material (some of which isn’t cheep) to calibrate the laser. I got three questions I cant seem to figure out:
When I use capture mode in luban. Do I have to change the material thickness on the SM by configuring the laser height (the only way I find you can put in the material height when it is not combined with a job). I am unsure that the height I plot in in Luban is accounted for?
I tried to cut through 2,5 mm plywood. My laser ended “crashing” to the bed. There is simply not enough room between the laser and the plywood so that the laser can be lowered 2,5mm without touching the plywood. I can take off the cap but then a new problems arise: “please lower the laser so its right above the surface of the material” - quote SM during calibration of laser. That can’t be done without the cap?
If I calibrate a focal length I think works, lets say 20mm, can I then assume that that will be the same focal length the next time I have de- and reattached the laser?
I have so many questions as I believe I do the same things but the results just varies soooo much every time.
Can’t answer first because I find the capture useless and time consuming. I also never run direct from Luban (load gcode over wifi or usb drive and run from touchscreen) because too many things can go wrong losing connection.
Your focus height should put the lens hood about 5mm above the work surface. (everyone’s varies slightly) That should give you plenty of room to lower since you shouldn’t need to change height more than the thickness of your piece. It’s just a hood and only meant for visual shielding. You can remove for working and only use when calibrating.
You should only have to calibrate once. (You will if firmware update erases setting from memory. Update doesn’t always) It’s a fixed height that is determined by the focus of your personal laser head. (They could set it at a specific distance at the factory but they don’t) It only applies when using autofocus. So if you use manual you don’t have to worry about it. Just focus for smallest dot. I prefer auto-focus. (which isn’t really auto-focus - it would be more correct to call the setting “material thickness”) I haven’t found that it changes at all between tool head changes. I mount the head the same way every time so it’s just hanging down at lowest point on screws before tightening.
BTW, the latest version of firmware seems to be causing problems with laser height/auto cal/saving of calibration etc.
That sounds so less frustrating than what I’m experiencing right now.
I’ll try stop using the capture function. It is just sad that it doesn’t work because it is such a good idea.
Yesterday when I was trying to cut through 2,5 mm plywood my laser (with the hood on) might was 1,5-2mm over the surface. And so it went and hit the plywood during the cut. I thought it might be because of the individual factory laser height that you also described but I now suspect that Luban does not update the material thickness when using capture mode (and if that is true, then the only way I se to update the material thickness is to calibrate the laser height once again).
When your lens is about 5mm above the surface, does that mean that you haven’t cut through thicker material than 5mm?
Oh and yeah: did your auto calibration work? I might have calibrated my laser close to 50 times since I got my SM and not once have it succeeded.
You can set the matrial thickness for lasering in the workspace after connecting to the a350. Its on the left side. And you also have to do this otherwise the focus respective z-offset is set wrong. With to high material the laser would then crash into the material (its a real flaw that the drives have no crash detection, in case of a crash they pushing with full force into your bed and bending it in worst case).
Focal lenght should be always in the same range but never exactly the same after chaning the tool. And I think its not stored or maybe erased after changing from laser to another tool and back.
And regarding cutting plywood. My experience is that there is a natural maximam in the range about 3mm. 5mm is impossible for the 1.6w laser.
The laser always is a cone. If you keep the focus on the same place the cone opens under the focus point as the matrial burns away. With a certain depth the cone is opend to much and the energy is spreading to far so it cant burn deeper. You can lower the focus now (thats what the multipass lasering does) but this also has its limits because the walls of the burned hole or cut are also absorbing parts of the “upper” cone and the energy reaching the deeper focus point is lower then it would be on the surface of the material. So at a certain focus depth the energy is also to low to burn any further. The glue of the pylwood is also bad for laser effectiveness… so thats it. More than 3mm is not possible in my opinion.
I have been setting the material thickness in luban but my problem was that the lens would still hover 1,5-2 mm over the material. So if I needed to cut 3mm I’m missing 1-1,5mm “space” as the lens would not be able to lower any further. I think I have solved that part.
Thank you so much for an actual “max thickness”! I have been searching for that. I do not think that 3mm is much but finally I won’t have to try guessing how much it should be able to.
I have tried cutting through this 2,5-2,6mm plywood and I just. Can’t. Get. Through. I’ve tried with Jog speed:1500, work speed: 75, laser 100% and I’m currently trying 11 passes and 0,25mm in z steps. I’ve tried both the auto(1) and the manual(2) focus and I think the results are similar:
Maybe so. It is actual birche as well but with Teak sides. It is 5 layers where the middle is birche and the top and bottom is teak. But maybe that is also too much.
I have just tried with 2mm birche 3 layers plywood. 6 passes 0,4 in z steps. It cut clean through. So it is 0,5mm less but no problem. That is strange I think.
I’ve had luck cutting through 1,5mm plywood 3 layers walnut (also dark material).
The type of glue makes the biggest difference in how plywood cuts. Some types of glue just won’t cut well. Doesn’t matter if it’s 1mm ply.
Focus your machine manually and see how high it is off the work surface. You’re looking for the smallest dot. Sometimes using a phone helps to see it better (and safer for your eyes).
Try changing the lighting for autocalibration. Some people have had better luck turning off all lights and just letting light on toolhead illuminate. Some enclosure only, some room lights only.
