Trotec 4.0 Lense

[Grant Carson]

Hello all,

I have a Trotec Speedy 300 80W with a 2.0 lense. I only engrave, not cut. The issue I'm having is not being able to engrave certain products with raised sides because the laser head would hit the side. I have several products that I'd like to do, but this issue is not allowing me to do it. An example would be a wooden serving tray with handles, or even wooden walls all the way around. I know there are other workarounds for certain products, but I'm trying to solve this issue overall. The obvious solution would be to get the laser head up off of the product further. I engrave people's names, initials, etc, so I wouldn't necessarily say that I need VERY fine detail.

I called Trotec, and they seem unsure that it would do what I need. Does anybody have any experience engraving with the 4.0 lense? What was your experience like? Does it produce acceptable results (would love to see pictures). With the 4.0 lense, would the product be able to be 4" below where the lense sits in the laser head?

Thanks for the help guys. I greatly appreciate it.

-Grant

[Scott Shepherd]

It won't be 4" from the bottom of the lens assembly to the work, it's actually just over 3", but it will do what you want, assuming you aren't trying to do 4pt fonts. It does some pretty small stuff. Realistically, you aren't engraving names but so small anyway, if you want people to read them. I did the bottom of a wooden ash tray for cigars about 2 weeks ago and the text was smaller than I wanted it to be, but I ran a sample first and it looked much better than I expected. Overall, I'd say you'll be fine.

[Kev Williams]

If that thing has a cone over the lens, and it can be removed, remove it. If it has any kind of auto-focus plunger sticking down in the way, remove that too. Then consider a 3" lens, which will add yet another inch and the engraving quality will be much closer to the 2" than a 4" lens will be...

Does the 300 have an automatic user-adjustable table? My LS900 does, comes in very handy for engraving inside of walled objects..

[Gary Hair]

I don't have any examples from it, but I have a 4.0 lens for my Speedy 400 80W. I have engraved quite a few things with it, mostly wanted the 4" to give more depth of field for curved or non-flat items. You will get pretty decent results with it but I'm glad you have you have realistic expectations regarding details. One big benefit is that the large spot size seems to give a darker mark than I get with my 1.5 or 2.0 lenses, I attribute this to the longer lens charring more than ablating. If you want to save a few $ you can buy the holder on ebay for $49.00 and a lens from various sources for anything from $50 to $300. For the holder go to ebay and search "252121333403". I don't have a source handy for the lens, but someone will chime in with the info.

[Gary Hair]

If that thing has a cone over the lens, and it can be removed, remove it. If it has any kind of auto-focus plunger sticking down in the way, remove that too. Then consider a 3" lens, which will add yet another inch and the engraving quality will be much closer to the 2" than a 4" lens will be...

Does the 300 have an automatic user-adjustable table? My LS900 does, comes in very handy for engraving inside of walled objects..

Pretty sure the 300 is similar to my 400 - the only time you have the cone is for vectoring, never for rastering. No plunger, it uses an infrared beam to detect the surface.

[Mike Null]

The table is automatic, manual and user adjustable from the pc. I always use manual.

[Guy Hilliard]

I had a 4" lens mounted in the 1.5" lens carrier and made a custom focus tool for my Speedy 400.

It works great when engraving parts where the engraved area is obstructed by nearby walls (high sides on a bowl when engraving the bottom of the bowl).

Guy

[Grant Carson]

Thank you all for the quick replies. I apologize for just now getting to thanking you. Things with work and family got a little busy (what's new?).

Kev - As Gary and Mike pointed out, it has an automatic table that uses a beam. I prefer to manually adjust the focus as Mike mentioned.

You guys made me feel like I wasn't crazy for thinking the 4.0 lens MIGHT work for my purpose. I think I'll give it a go.

[Kev Williams]

I should explain my version of automatic-

With my machine I can set up my table to automatically raise by color, to account for parts with walls or steps. I focus to the lowest point, then enter the amount to raise the table for the subsequent higher points. The machine always starts with the highest point (lowest table setting) and works it's way down, and when done the table drops to clear the highest point before going home. Works great as long as you know lens head will clear the obstacles while engraving-