K40 not cutting correctly

[shaneburton]

I have an upgraded K40 with DSP AWC608, new mirrors, lenses, and 35W tube, all from lightobject. I have the mirrors aligned correctly (or so it seems), If I cut a box around the entire edge of the Z table surface, the line is the same width all the way around. However I am still having an issue cutting through 1/8" thick MDF board. I saw a post earlier that someone with the same machine was able to go through 1/4"! It takes me at least 5 runs at 5mm/s and 95% power (17mA) to cut through it. I have set the PWM frequency to 20000, but it didn't seem to help any. What am I doing wrong? Could the mirrors still not be quite right? I don't get it.

[Tech_Marco]

You may want to check the focus point. BTW, how fast did you run the cut?
For K40, you may able to cut through a plywood with 1/4" at a speed of 6mm/s


Marco

[shaneburton]

Marco...thanks for the reply. I have the Z table and checked the focus to make sure the dot was as small as I can get it. I was cutting at 5mm/s at 95% power. So with a 50.8mm lens, where do I measure from on the head to the surface, and what should that distance be?

[Tech_Marco]

You set low power on laser and fire it up on a piece of paper. The finest point you can get is where the focus point located
It should be a very fine dot.

Marco

[shaneburton]

I think my mirrors are still out of alignment, or I hit one as I was installing the z table. I need to re-adjust. Just to verify I am doing this right;

Align Mirrors:
1. Make sure tube is level
2. Align mirror by the tube so the laser is hitting in the center of the mirror
3. Align X/Y mirror so that laser is hitting the center
4. Align head so that laser is hitting the center of the hole
5. Move laser head to far x/y to verify alignment at the edges

Does that sound correct?