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Everyone has given great tips but nothing has been resolved besides the two fixes I posted earlier, so you didn't miss anything. Before I started, I leveled the machine. Then the fun began with...

Mike, I appreciate your thoughts. I did buy a digital level but when I placed it on a 4ft level on top of the y-rails, one side said 0.0 and the other said 0.1. That may confirm what you're saying...

Very interesting Rich, thank you for sharing that! I'm assuming an air bubble would leave a small spot un-cooled or a different temp than the rest of tube and it could cause a crack or something?

scratch that. The master rail IS twisted slightly off-center. I wasn't looking for perfection when I initially shimmed for twisting a few days ago. I'll mess with that tomorrow morning and hopefully...

Ok back to square one. Here is what I have done:
*Gantry and laser tube rail are 90 degrees to Y rails
*Y Rails are perfectly level, shimmed to correct twist, and co-planar
*laser tube is...

I wasn't able to make it to the shop today. When I look at it again, I think I'm ripping off the right rail to see if it's twisted or bowed. Thinking about it, if the rail was higher in the center...

The thing that confuses me is that x-axis will be centered when closest to me, then move lower left at mid-machine, then jump UP as it nears the back right corner. Then I move gantry back to me and...

Very true. Once alignment is done I'm going to recommend we get new mirrors and a lens. I haven't mentioned yet that we should get a bigger compressor and air dryer to keep the Houston humidity off...

Hey Bill, thanks for that. That makes perfect sense. I did check the gantry and rails to make sure they are 90 degrees but I'm going to buy a digital protractor/angle finder to be more accurate and...

Oh and don't get me wrong, I understand the beam going into the 3rd mirror needs to be dead center. For now I just need to figure out what's throwing it off so much when y-axis is aligned (even if...

ok so I'm going to see if I can add some images. I have the tube leveled and hitting mirror 1 pretty close to center, not perfect but I'm more concerned with the beam hitting it straight on (so I can...

What confuses me is that mirror 2 was/is aligned and hits the same spot closest to mirror 1 and furthest from it. If the beam is slightly off and mirror 1 is adjusted to be straight with the y-axis,...

Really appreciate the time you (and everyone) spent replying to my S.O.S. I had a feeling yesterday that once the beam was aligned on mirror 3 (on left and right sides), I would need to adjust mirror...

I definitely think the y-axis rails are not on the same plane. Thanks for your thoughts. I was thinking it might be easier to make a new machine as well haha.

Thanks for the assistance Kev!

Thank you guys for your input. I'll be back in a few hours to write a proper response.

I'm so lost. Can a co2 beam shoot out at different directions by any chance? I don't know if the mirror adjustment screws are moving or what, but I had the x-axis centered, moved gantry towards tube...

Hey peoples. I hate to ask about laser alignment because I know there is a lot of info out there, but I have a quick question.

I'm trying to help a guy fix up his big Chinese machine. I've made...