Triggering burn alarm while attempting to cut 3mm MDF

Snapmaker Ray
1

I have a 40W Snapmaker Ray and am trying to figure out what kind of settings to use to cut 3mm thick MDF.

I’m using light burn, and tried a material test and it made a few what look like out of focus squares:

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On the last of them the burn alarm went off and I had to power cycle the Ray before it would actually power the laser again.

They looked out of focus so I slide the focus lug from one end to the other and tried some simple shapes, a small rectangle at 100mm/sec and 20% power which drew part of one side and then triggered the burn alarm. An oval at 6000mm/sec and 60% power which also triggered a burn alarm almost right away. Lastly a hexagon at 300mm/sec and 35% power which also triggered a burn alarm.

I didn’t actually notice any flame during this process, but I have an enclosure and it might just be hard to see.

What kind of settings should I expect 3mm thick MDF to need for cutting?

Oh, I also tried the Luban example ruler project and it engraved the curved measuring part, but when it got to some of the later bits where I assume it was attempting to cut it also triggered the burn alarm. However I’m not sure what power settings Luban was defaulting too.

2

Hello. Did you find the right parameters? Could you share them?

3

My problem was not understanding how to focus the ray (unlatch laser, lift it WAY up, unscrew the focus rod, bring it down to the zero setting, screw the rod in, gently let the laser down until the rod it touching the MDF, latch the laser, unscrew the rod, lift it, screw it in again).

I’m using 80% power at 280mm/min. At 400mm/min you won’t get a full cut. So you can go 300-something if you are impatient.

4

I just unscrew the rod, it fell down to min. Then I lower z till the marker is on 0.
After save height, lift rod up and screw on max.
Less screwing, no latching, no rod pressing into mdf.

:man_raising_hand:t3: