New Camfive CMA1200 Laser Width Question

[Robert Bonenfant]

Hello all ,

I recently purchased a Camfive CMA1200 - Im new to laser cutting and engraving, now im at the point I have the laser setup and running.
Im wonder if its possible to decrease the lasers size ?? The point the laser is cutting/engraving seems too large for some of the items i want to cut - Im not sure if this is a limitation on the machine or a simple setting
I see people creating amazing paper invitations with lots of small cuts would this be something outside the limits of the machine I purchased ?

Power - 80 w
Lens - 50mm

I wish I would have read close because it says this machine is meant for medium size productions. After seeing this im thinking smaller objects are out of the question.
Any feed back will help

[Kev Williams]

I've never used one, but a 1-1/2" lens should help you. You'll get a finer dot, but at the expense of a shorter in-focus distance. For small part, that shouldn't matter much-

Also, you may just need to tweak your focus, and power settings, lower power may help...

[gary l roberts]

Hey welcome to the creek. I like a guy who just jumps in the deep end. I don't know anything about your laser but I'm pretty sure you can limit the size of job you want done (most machine can). Just keep reading the book. It may be as simple as you graphics program using a boundary box.

[Robert Bonenfant]

Thanks for the feedback guys

Im gonna try corel draw tonite and see if I cant get a better result

Glad to have the help - Been lurking around these forums for awhile now but never took the time to make an account

[Bill George]

I looked at purchasing a used like new CAMfive and downloaded the Demo of the software. Good luck figuring it out, unless they have improved it in the past month or so. Be sure to set your Corel Draw up to do metric and then when you take it to the machine it stays the same size. The layers you use have settings for power and speed, do some reading on here to get an idea of where to start.

[Mike Null]

That lens should work but Kev's point about a 1.5 inch lens might sharpen your cut.

[Robert Bonenfant]

Looking to make stuff this size
298211298212

[Kev Williams]

small stuff like that should be no problem, however, you need to learn how to offset your pattern's cutting path to compensate for the laser's cut width. If you cut a half inch hole with a 1/16" endmill, you have to reduce the hole's toolpath pattern by 1/16" to .438". Same applies with a laser beam, which is around .006" wide. When creating an offset, such as using the contour tool in Corel, remember to cut the total offset in half. I typically offset my laser cuts .003" to compensate. And when offsetting, remember to make sure the insides of holes/hollow areas offset inward!

[Dave Sheldrake]

To negate the effects of a smaller depth of field it's easier to expand the bean going in rather than shorten the focal distance going out.

By expanding the beam you will get a smaller spot but a decent focal length.

cheers

Dave

[Robert Bonenfant]

I found my problem - I guess i only had one out of the four drivers installed on the disc they sent me. So now I have to wait to get a new Cd to get the machine working properly.

Any chance anyone out there has the same machine with the drivers ?? I would be willing to pay to have the drivers sent to me.

Is there another place I could post a request for the drivers ?? Im trying to get this machine working today but If all else fails ill have the disc Monday

[Jerome Stanek]

Have you tried the Camfive website to see if they have the driers to download

[Robert Bonenfant]

After some digging around I found the Company that actually makes the machines and downloaded all the drivers. About to head back to my office to see if it works.

& Yes I tried camfives website but its not very user friendly they had to open a portal for me to even get a downloadable manual so im guessing its locked. The download page just shows a blank white page.
When something doesnt work it will bug me until I fix it - OSD lol

[Eduardo Rivera]

Hi Robert, Just went across your post. I own a Camfive CMA 1080K for over two years. I went to their website site created an account input my name and laser serial number and I was able to download videos and drivers. no problems, I hope this info comes in handy. cheers!