Where to start.....

[Trey Tull]

When I hit the Mark button in EZCad, it places a dot that is about 3-4" left of the center of the mirror and about 4" down (closer to me) from the center of the mirror. It doesn't do the outline thing like I see in all of the videos online. Is there a way to make the Mark button center under the lens?:confused:

[Kev Williams]

You're a little vague on what you're trying to do-- :)

that said:

the MARK button is the ENGRAVE button- DON'T press until you're ready to fire-

the RED button is the red-light button.

You say it places a dot-- a red dot, or an engraved dot?

What's on-screen that you're trying to engrave?

And how do you focus the thing, does it have the second red LED mounted to the case that fires on an angle to merge with the lens LED when focus happens, or--?

If you're dot is 4" below center, then you're using a 220-240-ish lens, yes? No?

TO START afresh: draw a box, size it to 100x100mm square. Hit the letter C or the 'center' icon to dead-center the box to the table.

Set the focus.

Check the "mark selected" box (this works for both the red light and laser firing, only objects you have selected will red-light draw or engrave. If this is NOT checked it will outline or engraved anything and everything onscreen if it's color is 'hot')

Select the box-

now hit the "red" button-

Your red light should now be drawing exactly a 100x100mm box on the work table. You can measure it with a set of caliper mic's...

Either click the STOP button, press ESC or the SPACE BAR to stop the red-light drawing.

If you have something on the table engraveable, hit whatever MARK button you want and it should engrave the outline of the box with blinding speed, provided your settings are on and within range...

If it marked, then hit the RED button again-- in a perfect world the red light will fit and trace EXACTLY the engraved outline.

If not exact, or the box has bulging sides, or angled sides, welcome to the F3 Parameters adjustments screen!

All for now, I just noticed its 1:15 am and I still have to make an operator panel for morning pickup (oops) :)

a

[Trey Tull]

Sorry for the vague post. What I am attempting to do is draw a box on a black piece of paper. Below are the steps that I used.

1. Turn the key on.
2. Turn the galvo head on
3. Turn the laser on.
(paused 5 seconds between each)

4. opened EzCad and drew a box. (100x100)
5. clicked the put to origin button.
6. clicked the Red(F1) button and this is what I get.
393514 You will notice that there are three red dots on the paper. The upper or farther away two are the dots that come from these 393515and the dot that's right on the edge of the paper is from the Red(F1) button. If you could look down through the laser head and onto the paper, the Red(F1) dot is about 3-4" left of the lens center and about 4" down (closer to me) from the center of the lens. It also doesn't outline the area to be engraved, like I see in online videos. It is just a point on the paper. For this test, lets just forget about the laser dots used for focusing the head.

7. Click the Red(F1) button again to turn it off.
8. Checked the Continuous check box. Did this so hopefully I could find where the laser is in focus.
9. Clicked the Mark(F2) button and I get this. A tiny white dot on the paper.
393516

This is a 30w MOPA fiber and there are a gazillion different settings and I know I don't have them correct. But I would assume (yes I know what happens when you do that...:D) that it would make some sort of a square.

I have moved the head up and moved the head down but never found a point that would product anything. It would just pop that hole and thats it.

I email Bryant at RayFine and he agreed to do a teamviewer session this evening, which I hope will help. He along with all of you on here have been a great resource and I thank you for that!

IF, anything just jumps out at you, please let me know.

[Steve Utick]

Sorry for the vague post. What I am attempting to do is draw a box on a black piece of paper. Below are the steps that I used.

1. Turn the key on.
2. Turn the galvo head on
3. Turn the laser on.
(paused 5 seconds between each)

4. opened EzCad and drew a box. (100x100)
5. clicked the put to origin button.
6. clicked the Red(F1) button and this is what I get.
393514 You will notice that there are three red dots on the paper. The upper or farther away two are the dots that come from these 393515and the dot that's right on the edge of the paper is from the Red(F1) button. If you could look down through the laser head and onto the paper, the Red(F1) dot is about 3-4" left of the lens center and about 4" down (closer to me) from the center of the lens. It also doesn't outline the area to be engraved, like I see in online videos. It is just a point on the paper. For this test, lets just forget about the laser dots used for focusing the head.



The two red dot lasers shown on the scan head are the focus lasers. You should move the head up and down until you get those two dots to converge on the marking surface. This should be relatively close to your focus point. You can measure out the actual focus and then adjust the red dots to be at the convergence point to get more accurate if they are not close enough.

[Trey Tull]

The two red dot lasers shown on the scan head are the focus lasers. You should move the head up and down until you get those two dots to converge on the marking surface. This should be relatively close to your focus point. You can measure out the actual focus and then adjust the red dots to be at the convergence point to get more accurate if they are not close enough.

The picture with the red dots was taken with the 70x70 lens in the machine. When I put the 200x200 lens in, one of the dots hits the side of the lens body and the other one his the paper. I don't understand how two dots will give you the focus when you have multiple lenses. If I crank the head down until the dots touch, its only about 1" off the top of the paper.

[Steve Utick]

The picture with the red dots was taken with the 70x70 lens in the machine. When I put the 200x200 lens in, one of the dots hits the side of the lens body and the other one his the paper. I don't understand how two dots will give you the focus when you have multiple lenses. If I crank the head down until the dots touch, its only about 1" off the top of the paper.

You are correct, they are obviously set for the 70x70 lens focal point then. For the focus on your 200x200 lens, you would have to manually measure it. I have our set for the lens that I use most, and manually measure for the other.

[Trey Tull]

Steve, if you were to draw a box in ezcad and then hit Red(f1), would your machine put a red box where the box will be engraved? Also, would that box be somewhat centered under the head lens?

Thank you!

[Bill George]

Did you happen to look on the front of the laser head for a label? On my Ray Fine were marked the focus in mm for the center line of that head to the work surface.

Included in the box should have been a mm steel ruler. I tick marked my ruler with a marked the focus distance for each lens. You will find the galvo fiber laser the most challenging to learn machine. Reading through or at least skimming as I did the manual and Searching on here first will save you a lot of time.

I might add my Ray Fine machine has been flawless.

393520

[Tim Bateson]

The picture with the red dots was taken with the 70x70 lens in the machine. When I put the 200x200 lens in, one of the dots hits the side of the lens body and the other one his the paper. I don't understand how two dots will give you the focus when you have multiple lenses. If I crank the head down until the dots touch, its only about 1" off the top of the paper.

Don't forget to change your Ezcad2 settings when changing Lens. There are 2 different places those settings get changed.

[Trey Tull]

Ray fine supplied two EzCad setups. So I just have to open the correct one.

[Kev Williams]

Your red dot instead of a box is a red flag, says to me the mirrors aren't moving. Quick test you can do is to pull the lens and housing off the machine, and turn off the red light. Now observe the mirrors as you turn the machine OFF. The mirrors should noticeably move as they 'un-park' from the dead center position, and when you turn the machine back on, they should noticeably re-park back to center.

If they move, then the scanhead is connected and operational.

If they DON'T move, then something's not right with the connection to the controller, or ..?

Could be some settings in EZcad are way off?

In the F3 settings, you need to verify the lens field size matches the lens you have installed as changing this number directly affects the output drawing size... SIDE NOTE- as you get into final tweaking, know that different lenses will require completely different tweak settings to draw properly- MY way around this, I created a copy of my entire original 'fiber machine' folder, renamed it 'fiber 220', and renamed the original 'fiber 150'. All settings for each lens is saved to the program parameters files within its own folder, and I have separate program icons to start the program from the folder corresponding to the lens I plan to use...

EDIT, I just read where you were supplied with the 2 setups already, good deal... :)

that all said, back to the F3 parameters; you should have a 'go to pos. after mark' section, which is where the lens will park, typical is 'galvo center', with the machine paused the red light points to the center of the work area...

Those are the basic drawing parameters 'get started' settings, tweaking comes later :)

For the table size and other 'edit' parameters click on the 'wrench' icon, on top, in my EZcad (2.5.1 older version) it's next to the hatch "H". Go thru those, the important one is the Workspace settings, to make sure the drawing area matches the lens work area -- note this isn't critical to engraving output, its' only critical as your visual reference, mostly to show the boundaries...

--check the mirrors--

[Bill George]

My Ray Fine included two files one for the 100 lens and the other for the 150. All the settings were pre-set in each I never did a thing other than load the correct file. The one red dot is externally adjustable to match the other and you need to do that for each lens. Frankly I just installed the 150 lens and never change. I caution you Not to Make Changes to those files until you have backed them up.

You need to set down with the machine and go through the manual and learn.

The rotary and/or the hatching is where the deep learning takes place!!

[Trey Tull]

I have been emailing back and forth with Jeff Watkins and he was gracious enough to walk me through some things (well, actually A LOT of things) over the phone a little while ago. After we couldn't find anything in the software, he suggested opening up the case to see if anything was loose. It turns out the cable for powering/working the galvo head wasn't hooked up.
393526

I plugged it back in, fired it up and we have contact. I started feeling alittle better about my purchase....:D

Thanks to all of you for your help and a special thanks to Jeff!

[John Lifer]

Wow, you did screw in the two side screws? Dang Chinese :)

Just an aside, I DID have to alter the settings for the galvo 1 and galvo 2 to get EXACTLY the correct dimension. I'd search for Kev's post a few weeks back for his good instructions on doing this before you get critical dimension engraving.
Mine were off a decent amount. (half millimeter maybe, has been a while) Get some scrap and get to work!

[Bill George]

Ray Fine QC must be slipping. Aren't you glad you did not make a lot of changes to files or otherwise?
Now the learning begins...

[Kev Williams]

Yeah, that there be a fairly loose connection :D