Epilog alignment

[Graham Symns]

Now that I have my 32Ex running after having repaired the power supply I am into alignment of the optics..my first time even tho' Ive been a co-owner of it for several years.It lived at my business partner's place.
After my initial trial run I reckoned that there were some improvements to be made.
I measured the lens carrier and using Corel I designed a A4 sheet of targets having wings on the each side to grab the sides of the lens carrier.
This was OK but for the fact that I saw combustion products accumulating on the top-side of the lens.
So I removed the lens carrier and made a dummy carrier from a piece of acrylic and used 2 x 2mm screws to fix the lens carrier to the optcs unit.
I don"t have a supply of the original screws as I cannot source them, along with a tap, locally until I have a technical descrption of these socket head screws.ie thread type and pitch.(HELP)
I commenced and finished the the alignment after most of the day fooling around with the adjustment system.
At the end of the process I noted the amount of deposit on the pseudo lens carrier (acrylic) and saw a collection of brown sticky stuff which I now do not have to clean off the lens itself.
So I thought that some others may be interested in this so I have posted a picture.
The upper part shows a portion of a A4 sheet showing a small group of the targets.
I should also agree with the Epilog document dealing with this process that a heap of these targets would be used ..my bulk sheet contains 11 x 5 units most of which were used.
The bottom left shows 1 unit cut out with its wings folded down ready for use while the bottom right shows the dummy lens carrier with its burden of goo.
Previous to this I fitted a test dial indicator to the brackets that hold the focus tool and did a check of the levelness of the table and found that the flatness was typically within 0.1 mm of a reference position taken at the top left area of the table.
Previous reading made the point that it was a good idea to make the adjustment screws free running BEFORE attempting the process.
I wish that I had read this BEFORE starting.
I hope that this adds to the pool of knowledge on this subject.
157612
Regards

[andrew zen]

Once again Graham you are da man.

Can you upload your target design?

I like your idea of the acrylic target. I will do the same tomorrow.

I also am aligning the laser after replacing mirrors due to a fire, actually due to the extinguishing of a fire in the laser I acquired.


How are you firing the laser, with a small point in Corel Draw.

I saw someone say to use a 12 point period.

[Graham Symns]

Hi Andrew,
I based the target aound measurements of the lens carrier being careful to base the "target circles " on the centre of the lens.
I say this as it makes a general case to allow for other styles of engraving machines systems.
The acryllic piece is the same size as the original aluminium lens carrier and was meant to have a hole to represent the lens and also to allow for an exit point for the laser beam but I was keen to make some progress on the alignment so I omitted it.
Its absence served to highlight for me the accumulation of gunk which would otherwise have been possibly deposited on the lens.
As to the firing of the laser I was fortunate to acquire an epilog interlock defeat unit which allows one to fire short bursts of the laser to the point that the target gets a burn mark.
I hope that this is of help to you.
Regards

[Graham Symns]

Andrew,
I meant to ask you as to what the fire damage looks like.
Post a picture if you wouldn't mind.
Regards

[andrew zen]

Before shots.

Most of the yellow is from the guy putting out with the fire with a Class A dry chemical fire extinguisher. Just a powder.

The major damage was that everything plastic melted including the encoder strips and hoses. The motor's magnets had to be re-epoxied to the casings. Motors can be rebuilt and repaired (once they are known).

I learned a lot about linear motion on this project, although next time I will dispatch an intern to do this.

The big cost was the display and the display wiring harness, although I resisted to rebuild the entire I-Beam as recommended. The IKO rails looked to be in pretty good shape as they are hardened steel and the fire didn't get that hot.

Epilog has been very good to help me figure out part numbers.

Now it looks pretty new. In fact the previous owners were complaining about accuracy, probably just needed to clean the rails and encoder strips.

[Graham Symns]

Hi Andrew,
Interesting shots!
You did not say what make/model machine it is.
Looked very familiar to me though,and quite daunting at first glance to you I am sure.
I found that the X-beam and various brackets responded to cleaning with washing machine detergent,it being a caustic product.It sure cleans anodised aluminum parts extremely well without any surface damage.
I also used it as the first clean of the cabinet interior.
I presume that you lost the top cover as well.
It all sure adds up but beats having to buy a new machine right?
Any way good luck with this project and some cleaned up shots would also be interesting.
Regarding the display we had a series of failures as the exhaust fan drew air through the push buttons on the display so we moved it to the side of the machine itself and blanked the original cut out.From then on we had no more bothers and it escaped the fire that we had.It was also more convenient to use in that position.
Lots of luck
Graham