Lightobject.com Support Forum

Hello, i am unable to find anywhere what is the prefered distance have to be when you are for example trying to cut 2-3mm acrylic.
i have the Z bed which is unfortunatly not functional right now but will be soon so for now i am manually setting the depth.

also what should i measure from the little landing that the whole for the laser head assembly screws into or do i need to measure directly from the focus lens mounted above the air assist.


from my understanding i want it to be really close but i dont know how close,
also what is the speed and power recommended for this task i am trying to do.

please help me out,

reason i am so worried about the power is because i read a thread that stated that even if the laser is running at lower then intended temperatures it is no good.
and in california right now in my garage my water temps never go above 21c, and when cutting small parts usually is around 18-19c

please any advice will be greatly appriciated

hi rushmore
the easiest way to find the right distance is to put a piece in and on 1 side put a piece of 1/2 inch under that it is sloped then make a line and cut it. where the line is the thinnest and the cut goes thru that's your exact distance . now make a little jig from the top of the material to the bottom of the laser head and you get your right distance every time doesn't matter what material or thickness you use.
as for speed for 2 to 3mm acrylic its around 10 to 15mm/s and for power around 50 to 38%, but it all depends how old your tube is.
for temperature as long as you stay in the range between 18C to 23C you are good
greetings
waltfl

rushmore1305 wrote:Hello, i am unable to find anywhere what is the prefered distance have to be when you are for example trying to cut 2-3mm acrylic.
i have the Z bed which is unfortunatly not functional right now but will be soon so for now i am manually setting the depth.

also what should i measure from the little landing that the whole for the laser head assembly screws into or do i need to measure directly from the focus lens mounted above the air assist.


from my understanding i want it to be really close but i dont know how close,
also what is the speed and power recommended for this task i am trying to do.

please help me out,

reason i am so worried about the power is because i read a thread that stated that even if the laser is running at lower then intended temperatures it is no good.
and in california right now in my garage my water temps never go above 21c, and when cutting small parts usually is around 18-19c

please any advice will be greatly appriciated

That's a really good way to meassure focal distance. I've kept to the procedure taught by ULS techs for years; I vector cut a small circle on a very heat-sensitive material (anodized aluminum works best for me) at the same power and speed rates several times, lowering the laser table 1 mm each time, then choose the 2 ones with the thinest lines and calculating an average, et voilá.

Hermes Sandoval.