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View Full Version : Focus Wonky! How to reset Epilog Focus tool?



Bruce Clumpner
03-27-2011, 3:43 PM
During a service call, the tech adjusted my focus tool. Seemed like the right thing to do at the time, since he focused using a sheet of anodized aluminum, and the spot size seemed to be pretty well defined. Only it something didn't quite work on acrylic after he left, so I started playing with focus and adjusting the tool on my own! Now it's totally unreliable. My bad!:(

So now I need to start from scratch and reset my focus tool. My questions are:


With a 2" lens on the epilog, should it focus 2" from the bottom or top of the lens carrier if I measure it directly from the bed to the lens?
Since the focus tool uses the bracket which is below the lens carrier, does anyone have the official dimension for the height of the focus tool for a 2" lens?
What about the distance from the focus point to the top of the focus bracket-which is what the focus tool sits on?

188599
As usual, I know the "Creek" will provide, you all are such a wealth of info!
Thanks for the help
-bc

Bruce Boone
03-27-2011, 4:53 PM
I simply found the tightest focus by plotting a line on a slightly inclined popscicle stick and measured from the tightest focal point (thinnest portion of the line) to the bottom of the carriage with calipers. I then used the laser to cut a focus tool to that exact length from a popscicle stick. I have one for each of my lenses I use. The laser is able to engrave the focal length on each focus stick, and I cut a hole at one end to be able to hang it on a hook. A simple but very effective solution.

David Fairfield
03-27-2011, 4:54 PM
Dont know the official method, but I engrave a test pattern into some cardboard, at various increments until I have it as sharp as it gets. That's the focal point. You can save some time by focusing up or down as the machine is working. When its pretty close run the job and bracket it going up and down till you have it zeroed in.

The manual has another way of doing it, never tried it.

Dave

Bruce Clumpner
03-28-2011, 1:37 AM
Thanks for the response guys. I've been focusing on the fly, then adjusting the focus tool as i go... I just wanted to start fresh, working with the official measurements, before I go on.

-bc

Gary Hair
03-28-2011, 12:31 PM
I just focused my laser using the focus tool with my 2" lens. Using a tape measure it is 2" to the bottom of the lens, on mine that's the flat side. I don't know if it's right or wrong, but that's how mine is, 2" to the bottom of the lens.

Gary