It's only a stupid question if you know what the answer is "2"

[Dale Davies]

when you change your lense size, say from 2" to 1.5 do you have to change your settings also or will they remain the same (ie:speed and power)? Thanks once again for your time and have yourself a good one:)...dale

[Frank Corker]

Dale, you could do with updating your profile and signature so that your laser model/type/wattage appears (as mine does below). It helps others to help you with your problem. I can't say that I can really help you as I only have the standard size lens on my Epilog Helix but I do know that with Epilog lasers the lens is encased in a single unit. Each unit has a plunger on the autofocus so I don't think you have to do anything. As for a manual focus, I will leave that for someone else to answer.

[Rodne Gold]

The lens allows the laser to act as a "more powerful" laser as it concentrates the available watts on a smaller spot so for cutting , one can up the speed if the material is thin enough to allow you to do so.
For engraving one has to experiment as materials act differently to the power applied , one would think speed can be increased , however the smaller spot size of the 1.5 lens enables better resolution thus one would imagine you can run the laser at higher DPI to take advantage , this of course makes thruput slower if you rastering a picture or something like that.
Why did you get the 1.5 lens?

[John Noell]

I have not noticed any significant difference between my old 2" and my new 2.5", other than focal length. (I cut a lot of curved material and the bit of extra depth of field is very helpful.)

[Frank Corker]

I have not noticed any significant difference between my old 2" and my new 2.5", other than focal length. (I cut a lot of curved material and the bit of extra depth of field is very helpful.)

I was fortunate to have seen some of John's work (and it is magnificent) and I did wonder how on earth you managed to do it. Now I am wiser!

[Gary Hair]

I saw some difference in rastering between the 2" and 2.5". It could have been a combination of the different focal length in addition to the fact that the 2.5" was brand new. Either way, the 2.5" took less power, or more speed, to do the same work.

Gary

[Dale Davies]

[QUOTE=Rodne Gold;1170347]The lens allows the laser to act as a "more powerful" laser as it concentrates the available watts on a smaller spot so for cutting , one can up the speed if the material is thin enough to allow you to do so.
For engraving one has to experiment as materials act differently to the power applied , one would think speed can be increased , however the smaller spot size of the 1.5 lens enables better resolution thus one would imagine you can run the laser at higher DPI to take advantage , this of course makes thruput slower if you rastering a picture or something like that.
Why did you get the 1.5 lens?[/QU


Thanks to all that replied.
Frank...i've done what you suggested re;signiture...thank-you
Rodne...i don't have a 1.5 lense...it's something that i was wondering about....thank-you for your time

[Rodne Gold]

The 2" lens is a VERY good do it all, We have bought 1.5 and 4" lenses and yes , they work well for very specific circumstances but aren't that good for general stuff. so unless you have applications that call for em , don't waste money.
If you use a 1.5" , you have VERY little depth of focus and everything you do needs to be real flat or if you cutting , thin. Apart from that the clearance tween head and object is far less , leading to some issues (like more smoke and debris on the lens and not being able to clear some objecs to get to engraving surfaces)
It works real well on stuff thats less than 2mm (1/16') thick , especially for precision cutting. I use it a lot when cutting thin stock for architectural moddlers , veneers for inlay and so on.

[George Brown]

It works real well on stuff thats less than 2mm (1/16') thick , especially for precision cutting. I use it a lot when cutting thin stock for architectural moddlers , veneers for inlay and so on.

I was thinking of getting the 1.5 inch lens for cutting inlays, is it worth it. What advantage do you get with the shorter focus/small beam? Does it give you a more precise cut/fit?

[Dale Davies]

I was thinking of getting the 1.5 inch lens for cutting inlays, is it worth it. What advantage do you get with the shorter focus/small beam? Does it give you a more precise cut/fit?

i had a very complex police crest to do and i spent a lot of time on redrawing it deleting what i could and reducing the rest...but i could not make it small enough to put on a pen. I contacted epilog and asked them if the smaller lens (1.5) would fix this problem and they said yes it would, but you can't buy the lense through them so i contacted the people where i bought my laser and explained to them what i wanted to do and they said that the 1.5 lense would be a waste of money that it wouldn't work and thats where the issue stopped. One of them was right... but the $$$ don't allow me to take the chance right at this time

[Rodne Gold]

The 1.5 does reduce the kerf (cut) width , but more importantly it increases the power desnsity at the spot which then promotes better vaporisation and a cleaner cut.
Think of burning a hole thru paper with a Bic Lighter VS a small solder torch ...the solder torch will make a smaller less messy hole. The primary economic reason for buying a shorter lens would be for extra speed when cutting. I make a lot of components for product displays and can get about 30-50% faster thruput when cutting stuff like plastics under 2 mm thick

[Mike Null]

I have achieved very good inlay results by cutting the inlay material from the back. I have a 2" lens.