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Thread: Alignment - From Hell!

  1. #1

    Unhappy Alignment - From Hell!

    Hi guys,

    So if any of you have been following the journey so far with the Red/Black laser, then I finally got the new replacement laser head along with a complete set of mirrors. So far so good.

    Everything has been set up and laser tube is hitting mirror 1 perfectly (not necessary i know, but it looks good) and this is where it gets interesting/annoying.

    If I pulse when mirror 2 is in the upper left corner (closest to mirror 1) and adjust so that it hits dead center and then run mirror 2 to the lowest left corner and pulse. The spot is waaaay off.

    If I pulse when mirror 2 is at the lower left corner and adjust so its dead center and then run it back up closest to mirror 1, then its way of target


    I can not figure out, where the fault is

    Anyone got any ideas? Tips or tricks? Because this machine has not been in action for a few months so far

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Burlington, Ontario Canada
    Posts
    105
    Hi Soren ... I used this website to help me with my Mirror Alignment

    https://k40.se/k40-laser-lens-mirror/mirror-alignment/

    Take Care

    Brian
    Ray Fine 6040 80W RF Tube
    Chuck Style Rotary
    5000 CW Chiller

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Book View Post
    Hi Soren ... I used this website to help me with my Mirror Alignment

    https://k40.se/k40-laser-lens-mirror/mirror-alignment/

    Take Care

    Brian
    Hi Brian,

    Not sure if this applies, because mine is not a k40 laser 😁 But I will defently look at it

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    Iowa USA
    Posts
    4,441
    But as I recall everything Was working fine with the OEM parts installed. What did you gain or repair by changing the machine? There are many discussion Threads on here that cover mirror alignment.

    Ray Scott at Rabbit Laser USA has a wonderful website has this page available https://rabbitlaserusa.com/index.php...formation_id=9

    He used to have a Tutorial available for learning how to do alignment of mirrors on a laser.
    Last edited by Bill George; 02-18-2021 at 12:23 PM.
    Retired Guy- Central Iowa.HVAC/R , Cloudray Galvo Fiber , -Windows 10

  5. #5
    in 20 years of lasering I've only had to do a major adjustment once ever, and that was only 3 months ago, so I'm not a pro at this, but--

    In reading your procedure so far, it seems you're only moving mirror 1 to hit the center of mirror 2 at the table's extremes, and it seems you're only moving mirror 1 in one direction to adjust... Your results show that the beam is moving down the Y axis on an angle. It's likely the tube isn't squarely aligned to mirror 1. No matter, the #1 mirror can adjust for that, but you'll need to move mirror 1 up/down AND side to side to compensate for the tube angle and get the beam to run dead straight from mirror 1 to 2...

    If it were me, I'd start by moving mirror 2 halfway between the corners and center the beam there, THEN check how far off it is at the corners, and go from there. Once you get mirrors 1 and 2 pretty close to dead on, it makes hitting mirror 3 correctly much easier...

    It can be frustrating, but it's do-able
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  6. #6
    Hmm.. the two times I've done an alignment, I started with the gantry next to the first mirror and made initial 1st mirror adjustments to center beam on 2nd (gantry) mirror, then moved gantry to far side and checked/adjusted the beam there. If done first at far side (or in middle), bad starting alignment might make it much more difficult to "find" the beam and steer it to the 2nd mirror. Likewise, I initially move the head close to the gantry mirror to start adjustment on the gantry mirror to hit center of head mirror, and then confirm/tweak with head at far side of gantry.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    Iowa USA
    Posts
    4,441
    The Link I posted to Ray Scotts website has a proven method. But it looks like we will never know as Soren seems to have solved it and won't be back.
    Retired Guy- Central Iowa.HVAC/R , Cloudray Galvo Fiber , -Windows 10

  8. #8
    So a little update.

    I found out that the mirror 1 was too high and so was mirror 2.

    So got them lowered and ran the alignment proces that Brian Book meantioned and voila. Everything is centered down to the tiny dot

    Took me a day or so, but finally got it

    So Thanx for all the advice and tips I really appreciate it

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Burlington, Ontario Canada
    Posts
    105
    Hi Soren ... so glad that it worked for you .... I don't have a K40 either and it worked for me

    Take Care

    Brian
    Ray Fine 6040 80W RF Tube
    Chuck Style Rotary
    5000 CW Chiller

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