laser will only scribe a line , not cut

grandy
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laser will only scribe a line , not cut

Post by grandy »

Hi
when i try to cut 2mm mdf, the laser will only burn a line into the board
I have a 40W laser with lightobject upgrade kit
everything works except cutting

I draw the objects in auto cad import into lasercad, all on one layer
set layer to cut at max. power, but the machine only marks the mdf

thanks
mike
weeb
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Re: laser will only scribe a line , not cut

Post by weeb »

Grandy

Maybe you have fallen into the trap I fell into and it is relative to cutting speed. I was only getting grooves when cutting until Marco confirmed the speed measurement. Mine was sitting at 100.00 as I didn't know what the speed measurement related to. Now I know that 100mm/s and I have to dial it back to between 1.00 and 5.00 depending on what I am cutting. Just a thought m8, worth a look.
grandy
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Re: laser will only scribe a line , not cut

Post by grandy »

thankyou

I will ry that
grandy
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Re: laser will only scribe a line , not cut

Post by grandy »

hi

tried slowing down the laser to 1mm/sec
it just barely cut through the 2mm mdf

this laser should cut 2mm easily shouldnt it?
Tech_Marco
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Re: laser will only scribe a line , not cut

Post by Tech_Marco »

What was current while running?
We're you cutting straight line or round?
Did you set proper power for the Corner Power while doing cutting?

Marco
grandy
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Re: laser will only scribe a line , not cut

Post by grandy »

hi Marco

thanks for helping

current = 3.3

straight lines being cut

corner power = 65%

max power = 98%

material 2mm mdf
grandy
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Re: laser will only scribe a line , not cut

Post by grandy »

i just cut some balsa (3mm) with two passes and around 25mA

it cut perfectly ecxcept not square edges ( from front of material to back )

can you manually set the current?
Tech_Marco
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Re: laser will only scribe a line , not cut

Post by Tech_Marco »

I'm confused here. You said that the current was "3.3", is it 'mA' or 'A' from the AC side??
Then, on next post, you said the current was 25mA.

First of all, if it was 3.3mA, of course you couldn't make cutting because current was extremely low for cutting.
But, if you applied 25mA, then it was way too much for a 40W laser tube. You're driving the tube crazy and it won't last as it rated. May be you can get 50~100hrs only. You should never drive it constant for over 16mA or intermitting 18mA


Marco
grandy
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Re: laser will only scribe a line , not cut

Post by grandy »

sorry

i think the meter was wired wrong way around it was showing -3.3 mA (to tube)

when i started cutting the balsa the meter showed 25mA

how do you set the current?

the laser cuts baslsa perfectly, but not mdf
grandy
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Re: laser will only scribe a line , not cut

Post by grandy »

forgot to say i re-wired the meter
grandy
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Re: laser will only scribe a line , not cut

Post by grandy »

hi

is there anyway of manually setting the current?

every cut i do, the current is different?

thanks for any help


mike
dreamsforgotten
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Re: laser will only scribe a line , not cut

Post by dreamsforgotten »

Are you using Laser CAD? If so on the right of your screen is a list with all the layers. Double click on a layer to open it's properties. You can choose cut or engrave and it will open the settings for one or the other. You can also set the current directly on the DSP itself but you have to go into the menu and for control mode you need to select DSP not Software. Then from the main screen of the DSP just simply press the down arrow where on the top right and it will go down and highlight each of the items on the display. Once you hit down down arrow you can select speed power etc etc and set each one of them. So recap, there's two modes DSP controls DSP, or Software controls DSP.
grandy
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Re: laser will only scribe a line , not cut

Post by grandy »

hi

thanks for your reply

is the current setting another word for the power setting?

thanks
mike
NickWL
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Re: laser will only scribe a line , not cut

Post by NickWL »

There is MDF and MDF... Some of them contain so much junk in the bonding agent that you couldn't cut through them with a Buck Rogers Ray Gun!
Nick
:lol:
grandy
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Re: laser will only scribe a line , not cut

Post by grandy »

you may be right nick

i have given up trying to cut it

dont know why i am struggling with the laser
was hoping marco could help , but he must be on holidays


mike
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