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View Full Version : Auto Run. Run job more than 1 time



Mr Mike Mills
12-29-2012, 6:13 PM
I would like to know if there is a way within the Universal laser driver to run a job more than 1 time in a row. I have students who want their lasering darker. It seems that the Air Assist makes the lasering not as dark. usually a 2nd pass will darken it up. Also there is some 1/8" Birch plywood that I am trying to cut through. It take about 4 passes. It sure would be great if there was a way to tell the machine to run the job 2 or more time so there is not downtime from the finish to the start of the 2nd pass.

again i am using a universal laser VLS6.60

Scott Shepherd
12-29-2012, 6:25 PM
Very easy, when you send it to print, tell it you want 2 copies, not 1, and it'll run twice. I do it on certain jobs all the time (mainly light power so it doesn't distort thin materials).

Tim Bateson
12-29-2012, 6:56 PM
A 60 Watt laser should have no issues on 1/8 birch ply.
1. Are you using birch such as is sold by Michael Kowalczyk, or is the lumber yard quality? The differences are the voids and glue - both can cause issues with standard ply.
2. When did you last clean the lens and mirrors?
3. Is the wood flat?

Ross Moshinsky
12-29-2012, 7:52 PM
You don't need to use air assist. You can also increase the power or up the resolution to get a darker mark.

As for cutting through 1/8" plywood, with 60W you should be able to do that in one pass, no questions asked. Even poor quality plywood at that thickness should cut through with little issue. Either you're not running it at the right settings, your focus is wrong, your mirrors/lens is dirty, or your tube is only putting out way less than 60W.

Dan Hintz
12-29-2012, 8:32 PM
Once you get the other issues mentioned settled, considering taking your focus out a notch or two when it comes time to darken the engraving. The out of focus scenario will burn the wood rather than blow it away.

Mr Mike Mills
12-30-2012, 9:30 PM
~ I have purchased the materials from a hardwood distributor in the area. This is where we buy all of our cabinet grade materials from. It is not just the local lumber yard.

~ The laser was brand new in August.

~ How would you ever check if the tub is putting out a true 60watts

~ The reason for the Air assist is to help keep the lens clean. right?

~ I have been running the laser at 100% at a speed of 3% and it is taking 3 passes to get through the plywood. I am sure it is me not using the correct settings.
Thanks Mike

Chuck Stone
12-30-2012, 11:16 PM
hardwood distributor = lumber yard with a fancy showroom. :p
By 'lumber yard' I'm sure he was not disparaging.. rather distinguishing
your supplier from someone who specializes in laserable materials.
Not all plywood is made the same. Cabinet grade looks better on the
outside. We're concerned with what's on the INside.. because some of the
glues are almost impervious to the laser beam. Won't cut worth a damn.

Air assist does more than keeping the lens clean, it helps keep the laser beam's path
clear of dust/dirt .. especially with materials that 'shed'. (like Corian) Especially important
for acrylics, where the vapors from the ablated material can re-condense and pool in
the kerf. (kinda like sawing a hole in the ice.. it re-freezes behind you) Air assist can help
keep flare-ups down. It blows the smoke off of the material so you get less residue to
clean.

It really REALLY sounds like you've got a problem with power or the optical path.
I cut 1/8 faster than that with my 30w, and I have a dying laser tube.
I would start right at the laser tube and follow the beam's path to every mirror
and to the lens. Remove them and inspect.. look for cracks in mirrors (that can
eat your power) or discoloration.. smoke damage.. anything.


~ I have purchased the materials from a hardwood distributor in the area. This is where we buy all of our cabinet grade materials from. It is not just the local lumber yard.

~ The laser was brand new in August.

~ How would you ever check if the tub is putting out a true 60watts

~ The reason for the Air assist is to help keep the lens clean. right?

~ I have been running the laser at 100% at a speed of 3% and it is taking 3 passes to get through the plywood. I am sure it is me not using the correct settings.
Thanks Mike

Mr Mike Mills
12-31-2012, 5:06 PM
I have the little red light indicator that we can use to make sure the image is in the correct place on the materials Everything seems to line up there, but I will check and make sure everything is cleaned.

Does anyone know of any good tutorials on the web working with the settings in the universal print Driver interface.

thanks again mike


hardwood distributor = lumber yard with a fancy showroom. :p
By 'lumber yard' I'm sure he was not disparaging.. rather distinguishing
your supplier from someone who specializes in laserable materials.
Not all plywood is made the same. Cabinet grade looks better on the
outside. We're concerned with what's on the INside.. because some of the
glues are almost impervious to the laser beam. Won't cut worth a damn.

Air assist does more than keeping the lens clean, it helps keep the laser beam's path
clear of dust/dirt .. especially with materials that 'shed'. (like Corian) Especially important
for acrylics, where the vapors from the ablated material can re-condense and pool in
the kerf. (kinda like sawing a hole in the ice.. it re-freezes behind you) Air assist can help
keep flare-ups down. It blows the smoke off of the material so you get less residue to
clean.

It really REALLY sounds like you've got a problem with power or the optical path.
I cut 1/8 faster than that with my 30w, and I have a dying laser tube.
I would start right at the laser tube and follow the beam's path to every mirror
and to the lens. Remove them and inspect.. look for cracks in mirrors (that can
eat your power) or discoloration.. smoke damage.. anything.

Chuck Stone
12-31-2012, 7:05 PM
I have the little red light indicator that we can use to make sure the image is in the correct place on the materials Everything seems to line up there, but I will check and make sure everything is cleaned.

On my machine the red dot comes from the same housing as the laser beam, so if the red dot is
dim, chances are that the laser beam is, too. But on some lasers the beams come from two
different places.. so they have nothing to do with each other. I'm not sure where your red
beam comes from.

Some machines (like mine) have the laser tube installed well below the table and rails, so that
means there must be a mirror facing upward, probably located right at or near the beam window
on the tube housing itself. When I first got my laser I was disappointed at the power, but it took
a HUGE jump once I found that mirror and cleaned it. I don't think the previous owner knew
about it. again.. I don't know your machine. But I know the optics nearest the laser tube are
the ones that tend to see the least attention. The beam window on yours (where the beam
exits the laser tube) could be dirty or dusty. Remember.. the beam coming out of the laser
might be 0.2" in size, but it gets concentrated down to about .005. That means the beam is
1600 times more concentrated. So is the dust!

Dan Hintz
12-31-2012, 7:12 PM
Remember.. the beam coming out of the laser might be 0.2" in size, but it gets concentrated down to about .005. That means the beam is 1600 times more concentrated.

Fixed that for ya, Chuck... ;)

Chuck Stone
12-31-2012, 11:53 PM
LOL I was never good at geometry and mathemetrics

Dan Hintz
01-01-2013, 10:30 AM
In high school, I think I made a D in geometry... I think the required proofs were a problem for me.

Chuck Stone
01-01-2013, 11:30 AM
In high school, I think I made a D in geometry... I think the required proofs were a problem for me.



Same here... I failed (aced) a final because I couldn't show the proofs. Had to re-take another
final on the blackboard, just me and the instructor. Got all the right answers, but not the
proofs. At 16 I couldn't understand why it wasn't just the answer that was important.

Here, I just got lost putting together the answer. Started off with the beam being around 1/40 size
after the lens, started to go to the %, got on the phone, email, trying to find a diagram of the laser
configuration for his machine etc. etc. just plain got lost and forgot where I was.
I seem to remember failing proofreading, too..

Mr Mike Mills
09-06-2013, 11:52 AM
Once you get the other issues mentioned settled, considering taking your focus out a notch or two when it comes time to darken the engraving. The out of focus scenario will burn the wood rather than blow it away.

When taking the laser out of focus. Do you normally bring it out of focus by going larger material size or further from the lens? What do you mean by a notch or two. from .25 originally to .26? or all the way up to something like .35 larger. I have replace my original lens with 1.5 and with the air assist cone I do not seem to have room to bring the materials closer to the lens.

Thanks Mike

Dan Hintz
09-06-2013, 11:59 AM
Up or down doesn't really matter from a burn perspective... I would choose up, personally, as it takes the lens farther away from the burning material (keeps things cleaner).

"A notch or two" is generic-speak, like saying "a pinch" of salt, or "an eggshell" of milk. Move up/down 25-50mils (0.025-0.050") and see what happens.

Brian R Cain
09-06-2013, 12:08 PM
I'm wondering whether the lens is correctly calibrated to the table. You should be able to cut 1/8" ply easily. As for the cone, when you use the 1.5" lens you use the shorter cone. It should have been supplied with the machine.

Mr Mike Mills
09-06-2013, 12:12 PM
hardwood distributor = lumber yard with a fancy showroom. :p
By 'lumber yard' I'm sure he was not disparaging.. rather distinguishing
your supplier from someone who specializes in laserable materials.
Not all plywood is made the same. Cabinet grade looks better on the
outside. We're concerned with what's on the INside.. because some of the
glues are almost impervious to the laser beam. Won't cut worth a damn.

Air assist does more than keeping the lens clean, it helps keep the laser beam's path
clear of dust/dirt .. especially with materials that 'shed'. (like Corian) Especially important
for acrylics, where the vapors from the ablated material can re-condense and pool in
the kerf. (kinda like sawing a hole in the ice.. it re-freezes behind you) Air assist can help
keep flare-ups down. It blows the smoke off of the material so you get less residue to
clean.

It really REALLY sounds like you've got a problem with power or the optical path.
I cut 1/8 faster than that with my 30w, and I have a dying laser tube.
I would start right at the laser tube and follow the beam's path to every mirror
and to the lens. Remove them and inspect.. look for cracks in mirrors (that can
eat your power) or discoloration.. smoke damage.. anything.

With my 60 watt laser with the power at 100% What speed should be reasonable to cut? 10% speed? How fast are you cutting with your 30watt?

Chuck Stone
09-06-2013, 7:43 PM
With my 60 watt laser with the power at 100% What speed should be reasonable to cut? 10% speed? How fast are you cutting with your 30watt?

I won't even tell you the settings I use now .. the tube is so weak that I could probably do better
with a Bic lighter and a magnifying glass.

But when I first got the laser, I used 100% power and 2.2% speed on a 30W laser. But I don't know
what that converts to in 'inches per minute' .. and that seems to be different from one manufacturer
to another. Now I have to cut at .5 speed. It's kinda like watching paint dry.

If I were to guess on your machine, I would think that 100P and 10S would get through
1/8" baltic birch, but it's only a guess.