Michael Kowalczyk
04-28-2011, 7:22 PM
Hey Everyone,
Just finished cutting some over sized black ABS. My Trotec laserable area is only 16.5" x 28.2". Had to use 19.5" by 27.75" blanks because the actual part was 18.4" by 22.4". Was able to make a jig to keep registration spot on. Spun the part around after the first cut and used 1/4" dowels as my registration pins. Ran a quick test of the 2nd cut by dropping power down to 10% and speed up to 3%. Now you non-Trotec users might think that is slow but that is like lightning speed for cutting or marking. So it just barely left a mark on the surface so that I could verify that the 2nd cut would line up with the 1st cut. I am very pleased how the jig worked out and just wish I thought about running the test run last night. Don't ask :confused: No really Don't ask.
Ok I know you are not going to be able to sleep with out knowing why I should have thought about doing a test run first last night. Well I did a test run with some 6mm BB and it needed one slight adjustment and bam it was right on. Then I ran the customers piece and as soon as it did not take a right turn where I was expecting it to, I knew I blew it. You know the old saying... Measure twice cut once...well I forgot to measure the customer's material even once and thought it was long enough because it sure was wide enough. A $26.00 dollar and over an hours time to replace the material mistake that I won't soon forget but I did develop some embedded learning lessons :D
I also acquired a small orifice cone to help increase the air assist velocity. Was getting a lot of flames while testing the ABS for the quote. The original one that came with the laser was too large and there was no quick fix to increase the air assist pressure since it was already at max. So after the new small orifice cone arrived, I was excited and ran back to the laser and swapped them out. Ran a quick test ornament and started the laser but it wasn't cutting and I did not see the red dot. I thought to myself, OH No, What did I do now? I went to check the cone to see if I mounted it wrong or something and Zowy. The cone was really HOT :mad:. I found out that the laser was hitting just on the inside of the cone. So I ended up having to re-align all the mirrors but it was worth it. No more flame out on the ABS and now my red dot is actually in the center of the cone again. My old cone has a .293" hole and the new one is only .105". If not aligned properly, it just hits the inside of the cone. It took a bunch of masking tape and a call to tech support (which sent me a PDF manual with alignment instructions and a lot more. Thanks Scott & Brent) to tune it in and get it as perfectly centered as I could but the results are nice.
So I am told that the newer Trotecs are shipping with both cones now but I can not see why you would need the larger one. Once you are dialed in with the laser, you can adjust your air assist down easy enough.
I will add some pics later after I shrink them.
Thanks and ...
Just finished cutting some over sized black ABS. My Trotec laserable area is only 16.5" x 28.2". Had to use 19.5" by 27.75" blanks because the actual part was 18.4" by 22.4". Was able to make a jig to keep registration spot on. Spun the part around after the first cut and used 1/4" dowels as my registration pins. Ran a quick test of the 2nd cut by dropping power down to 10% and speed up to 3%. Now you non-Trotec users might think that is slow but that is like lightning speed for cutting or marking. So it just barely left a mark on the surface so that I could verify that the 2nd cut would line up with the 1st cut. I am very pleased how the jig worked out and just wish I thought about running the test run last night. Don't ask :confused: No really Don't ask.
Ok I know you are not going to be able to sleep with out knowing why I should have thought about doing a test run first last night. Well I did a test run with some 6mm BB and it needed one slight adjustment and bam it was right on. Then I ran the customers piece and as soon as it did not take a right turn where I was expecting it to, I knew I blew it. You know the old saying... Measure twice cut once...well I forgot to measure the customer's material even once and thought it was long enough because it sure was wide enough. A $26.00 dollar and over an hours time to replace the material mistake that I won't soon forget but I did develop some embedded learning lessons :D
I also acquired a small orifice cone to help increase the air assist velocity. Was getting a lot of flames while testing the ABS for the quote. The original one that came with the laser was too large and there was no quick fix to increase the air assist pressure since it was already at max. So after the new small orifice cone arrived, I was excited and ran back to the laser and swapped them out. Ran a quick test ornament and started the laser but it wasn't cutting and I did not see the red dot. I thought to myself, OH No, What did I do now? I went to check the cone to see if I mounted it wrong or something and Zowy. The cone was really HOT :mad:. I found out that the laser was hitting just on the inside of the cone. So I ended up having to re-align all the mirrors but it was worth it. No more flame out on the ABS and now my red dot is actually in the center of the cone again. My old cone has a .293" hole and the new one is only .105". If not aligned properly, it just hits the inside of the cone. It took a bunch of masking tape and a call to tech support (which sent me a PDF manual with alignment instructions and a lot more. Thanks Scott & Brent) to tune it in and get it as perfectly centered as I could but the results are nice.
So I am told that the newer Trotecs are shipping with both cones now but I can not see why you would need the larger one. Once you are dialed in with the laser, you can adjust your air assist down easy enough.
I will add some pics later after I shrink them.
Thanks and ...