Walt Langhans
12-02-2013, 1:29 PM
Hi all,
Working on some new stuff, I cut out some test pieces and found that things are not lining up properly. The notches are 1/8" by 1/8".
276187
It's 2 different materials: MDF on the bottom, and heavy cardboard on the top but I've been doing stuff like this all along so I know it's nothing to do with the material.
I've double checked the corell file so that's not the issue.
I cleaned the mirrors and optics, and realigned everything. Now here's where things start to get fun... When I initially aligned machine the spots were never dead on, but everything cut fine and I did NOT have this problem. When I aligned the machine this time (the first time I've done this since the initial time) it was a bit out of alignment and it's now closer to dead on then it was from the initial alignment but it's still not perfect. However since it's aligned better than it was the first time when I didn't have this issue I'm thinking that the alignment is not issue, but I'm open to the possibility.
So to try to figure out where the problem was I cut 1" squares across the entire size of my bed, about 1' by 2'. The sheet is orientated just as it was in the laser bed, note the mark in the lower right corner for orientation.
276189
Measuring the horizontal lines on the right side, the distance remains constant
276190
However, as we stay measuring the horizontal lines and move from the left to the right (towards the center), the squares at the top (@ 9", 10" and 11") of the sheet it's about by a little less than a 1/32". As I continued to move to the left the problem stayed confined to the 9", 10" and 11" marks and the distance increases ever so slightly to just a hair over 1/32"
When I measure the vertical lines, starting in from the top right side it starts to shift around the 9" line. Then when I move down to the bottom of the sheet the problem starts at the 8" line.
276193
Then continuing to measure across the vertical lines moving towards the right side problem continues by around 1/32" and stays pretty consistent weather I measure from the top of the sheet or the bottom of the sheet.
276194
So now I'm thinking it's the belts since I went through a re-aligned everything. I inspected them and they don't look worn, however the tension across them is not consistent. But before I started messing with, I wanted to check to see if I was even going down the right path. I'd hate to start messing with something and it be the wrong thing and I cause more problems.
Regarding the belts:
1/ how much tension should be on them?
2/ does / should the tension be the same on the vertical belts as well as the horizontal belts?
3/ can I over over tighten them?
4/ How do I tell if it's a matter of correct tension or if the belts have stretched and need to be replaced?
If needed I can provide higher quality of the pictures above, run any other tests that might shed some light on the issue or even take video if it's needed.
Thanks!
Walt
Working on some new stuff, I cut out some test pieces and found that things are not lining up properly. The notches are 1/8" by 1/8".
276187
It's 2 different materials: MDF on the bottom, and heavy cardboard on the top but I've been doing stuff like this all along so I know it's nothing to do with the material.
I've double checked the corell file so that's not the issue.
I cleaned the mirrors and optics, and realigned everything. Now here's where things start to get fun... When I initially aligned machine the spots were never dead on, but everything cut fine and I did NOT have this problem. When I aligned the machine this time (the first time I've done this since the initial time) it was a bit out of alignment and it's now closer to dead on then it was from the initial alignment but it's still not perfect. However since it's aligned better than it was the first time when I didn't have this issue I'm thinking that the alignment is not issue, but I'm open to the possibility.
So to try to figure out where the problem was I cut 1" squares across the entire size of my bed, about 1' by 2'. The sheet is orientated just as it was in the laser bed, note the mark in the lower right corner for orientation.
276189
Measuring the horizontal lines on the right side, the distance remains constant
276190
However, as we stay measuring the horizontal lines and move from the left to the right (towards the center), the squares at the top (@ 9", 10" and 11") of the sheet it's about by a little less than a 1/32". As I continued to move to the left the problem stayed confined to the 9", 10" and 11" marks and the distance increases ever so slightly to just a hair over 1/32"
When I measure the vertical lines, starting in from the top right side it starts to shift around the 9" line. Then when I move down to the bottom of the sheet the problem starts at the 8" line.
276193
Then continuing to measure across the vertical lines moving towards the right side problem continues by around 1/32" and stays pretty consistent weather I measure from the top of the sheet or the bottom of the sheet.
276194
So now I'm thinking it's the belts since I went through a re-aligned everything. I inspected them and they don't look worn, however the tension across them is not consistent. But before I started messing with, I wanted to check to see if I was even going down the right path. I'd hate to start messing with something and it be the wrong thing and I cause more problems.
Regarding the belts:
1/ how much tension should be on them?
2/ does / should the tension be the same on the vertical belts as well as the horizontal belts?
3/ can I over over tighten them?
4/ How do I tell if it's a matter of correct tension or if the belts have stretched and need to be replaced?
If needed I can provide higher quality of the pictures above, run any other tests that might shed some light on the issue or even take video if it's needed.
Thanks!
Walt