Okay techies I need an answer

[Steven Wallace]

I was doing a piece 16.5 x 6 inches last night on my mini 18. The piece had duplicate images on each end of the piece. On the end of the piece nearer the home location the image was sharp and clear. On the other end of the piece the image was clear but not as deep or defined. Have a tech support question into Epilog but was wondering if anyone had seen this before and if they could confirm my suspicions. I will wait for a response before stating what I think it is... I don't know and have checked and cleaned the optic path.

[Doug Griffith]

I'd lean towards the mirrors/lenses being slightly out of alignment or the table not being true.

[Gary Hair]

It could be out of alignment - where the beam hits the lens is changing when you move around. You can check this by cutting a 1/4" (or thicker) piece of acrylic. If the cut isn't perpendicular to the surface of the acrylic then you are out of alignment. I cut a 1" square in all four corners to check this. If you look through the side of the acrylic the cut should be straight up and down, not angled. If it's angled then you are out of alignment.

It could also be that the table isn't parallel to the plane of the xy axis. Measure the distance to the table from any point on your lens in the home position, move to the far right and measure to the same spot, do the same for lower left and lower right. If they are not exactly the same then you need to adjust the table. Some call it "leveling" but level isn't what you are trying to achieve, you are trying to ensure the table is the same distance away from the lens, that may sound the same but it's not.

[Joe Pelonio]

OK, I'll go ahead and give the worst case scenario. If the tube is weakening it will start to do that. Hopefully it's one of the many other possibilities, the most common already mentioned. You didn't say what the material was. For wood and acrylic, it will often be warped, so
when you focus to the upper left, the far right is out of focus. Hold a straight edge on the material to check.

[David Fairfield]

Sounds like alignment. Not sure if your manual gives you a step by step procedure for re-alignment of both the table and the optics, or if the tech people at Epilog send you a .pdf. Pretty simple process, might take you longer if you haven't done it before. You need masking tape and the little plastic bullseye that came with the laser.

Dave

[Michael Hunter]

Start by checking that the table is level.
Mine was out (only by a little) and I think that it came that way from the factory.

[Frank Corker]

My first thoughts would be table alignment and level. Mine was also out. Then check your lens alignments as per manual.

[Steven Wallace]

Thanks for all the input. I should have stated that it was acrylic. I checked the table for being planar with the head and I found it to be about a 1/16th of an inch off. I will work with the planar of the table and try another piece. I was and am still concerned about it being the tube but will try this and see how it works. Thanks again for all feedback.

[Bruce Volden]

Steve, 1/16th of an inch is quite a bit in the world of laser focus. If in a pinch I would try focusing to the middle of the table (like splitting hairs) and seeing if that helped until you can get back to checking the table adjusments. Just a thought.

Bruce