paul j campbell
02-07-2013, 10:39 AM
HI everyone i am new to lasers
and i have found a real probelm for myself
i have a 3d puzzle i want to cut that has Slots and tabs
i want to cut this from 3mm thick plywood.
so i thought i would run some tests to get the fit right
what i found is this (which i should of thought of but i did not)
the laser beam cuts along the vector meaning it places the vector in the center of the beam
so when it cuts a slot the slot is too large by the amount of half the beams thickness lets say .02
now along it comes to the tab and because the tab is opposite to a slot the beam now makes to tab too small by the same amount ...end product is a slot and tab that is .04 out and does not fit together much too loose.
ok so the guy thinks just adjust the scale of the overall puzzle to compensate for beam thickness but this does not work because you just increase the problem by the amount you rescale the puzzle ...so we think a solution would be to be able to offset the beam from the vector in the software to compensate so that the beam outside is actually cutting along the outside of the vector...like it would using a CNC router...but on my Morntech laser i can not see any option for offsetting the beam from the vector....it would be crazy if i have to go an adjust all my tabs to compensate for this issue as the puzzle has hundreds of them so my question and i am sure you have all asked in your newbie days how do i solve this problem easily so i can cut 3d puzzles.
thanks in advance...and i hope i made sense :)
and i have found a real probelm for myself
i have a 3d puzzle i want to cut that has Slots and tabs
i want to cut this from 3mm thick plywood.
so i thought i would run some tests to get the fit right
what i found is this (which i should of thought of but i did not)
the laser beam cuts along the vector meaning it places the vector in the center of the beam
so when it cuts a slot the slot is too large by the amount of half the beams thickness lets say .02
now along it comes to the tab and because the tab is opposite to a slot the beam now makes to tab too small by the same amount ...end product is a slot and tab that is .04 out and does not fit together much too loose.
ok so the guy thinks just adjust the scale of the overall puzzle to compensate for beam thickness but this does not work because you just increase the problem by the amount you rescale the puzzle ...so we think a solution would be to be able to offset the beam from the vector in the software to compensate so that the beam outside is actually cutting along the outside of the vector...like it would using a CNC router...but on my Morntech laser i can not see any option for offsetting the beam from the vector....it would be crazy if i have to go an adjust all my tabs to compensate for this issue as the puzzle has hundreds of them so my question and i am sure you have all asked in your newbie days how do i solve this problem easily so i can cut 3d puzzles.
thanks in advance...and i hope i made sense :)