Small problem with YAG laser

[Ross lagden]

Hi Guys,

I have my YAG up and running now and its working really well, the only trouble I am having is that at the top of whatever I am marking it leaves a small line unmarked, so i can see the metal underneath. Is there anything that I can do to stop this?

Thanks in advance.

Ross

[Bruce Boone]

That can happen on mine. I assume you are using a rotary axis. On my laser, colors dictate the laser power, so if there's a border around the picture, it is considered when it calculates the length of the "toolpath" and will either burn or not burn it depending on the color used. I need to be sure there is no border there for my artwork to flow continuously around.

Another possibility might be in rounding error when calculating the length of the artwork. Since the YAG does one section at a time then advances to the next rotary section, if the math of those sections don't exactly equal the circumference, there will be an issue like that. You could input a slightly smaller diameter number in your software than your part measures and see if the gap goes away.

[Rodne Gold]

Do you mean it skips engraving the 1st bit of the graphic?

[Ross lagden]

No Rodne, Basically when it starts the engraving it doesn't always start at the very bottom, so once it finishes the graphic it goes back to do the parts that it missed, when it does that the lines don't join up so it just leaves a small line along the graphic.