PDA

View Full Version : Advise on mounting lense to plate for Universal X-660



Susan Rushing
06-28-2009, 10:24 PM
I need to mount/glue a new lens to the plate for a Universal X660.

The lens has a flat side & a curved side. Does the curved face the MIRROR or the HONEYCOMB?

Any advice?

Susan

Gary Hair
06-29-2009, 12:27 AM
I need to mount/glue a new lens to the plate for a Universal X660.

The lens has a flat side & a curved side. Does the curved face the MIRROR or the HONEYCOMB?

Any advice?

Susan

flat side down

Dave Johnson29
06-29-2009, 3:02 PM
flat side down

Hmmm, not necessarily. It depends on the style of the lens, plano convex, plano concave, positive meniscus to name a few.

Best idea is try and check the focus on an object by eye.

Also I doubt the lens is glued in. Usually held captive by a threaded ring and some plastic washers.

Dan Hintz
06-29-2009, 3:15 PM
Dave,

For the systems found here, it should be flat side down.

Gary Hair
06-29-2009, 5:40 PM
Also I doubt the lens is glued in. Usually held captive by a threaded ring and some plastic washers.

Believe it or not, there are some that are glued in place. My GCC/LaserPro/Pinnacle has a threaded ring and a rubber o-ring to hold it in place, but others are not so lucky!

Gary

Dave Johnson29
06-29-2009, 6:15 PM
@Dan: I hate generalizations :eek::D:D Have you met my friend Mr. Murphy? Not a big deal as little harm would result from an upside down lens but I will bow to the collective knowledge of the group.

@Gary: Dang, glued in lenses, that's a bit crude.

Dan Hintz
06-29-2009, 8:17 PM
Yeah, I didn't catch the threaded part... I believe mine is glued into place (PLS4.60).

Gary Hair
06-30-2009, 1:33 AM
Not a big deal as little harm would result from an upside down lens

The only "damage" would be if you glued it in and then discovered it was upside down. I can't imagine how firing the laser through an upside down lens would hurt, it just wouldn't focus. You could probably put it in place without gluing it and try to focus the red-dot. If it focused at about the right height then it's probably oriented right.

Failing everything else, I'd call the manufacturer or your sales rep, or the person you bought the lens from - one of them should know.

Gary

Mike Null
06-30-2009, 7:02 AM
Why wouldn't you call ULS tech support for guidance?

Rob Bosworth
07-01-2009, 11:51 AM
Universal Laser Systems use a Plano Convex focusing lens that is "glued" into an aluminum mount. The lens should be mounted in the aluminum mount so that the flat side of the lens is down, towards the work. The aluminum mount is held into place on the mounting plate with two phillips headed screws.

The aluminum mount is a very inexpensive mount assy. that works very well. Everyone use to use a lens mount that used o-rings or gaskets, and a screw bezel to hold everything in place. But that might have been back in the day when laser systems were much more expensive than the current crop of machines. Now, system manufactures have had to reduce the cost of their machines any way possible. Back in the good old days, 25 watt laser engraving systems sold for $ 22,000, and assemblies were a little beefier than they are today. The old machines were a lot heavier, but the new machines are much faster at many laser processing functions.