Laser Cutter Mirror Alignment
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 พ.ค. 2024
- I'm demonstrating the mirror alignment procedure on a 50W ebay Chinese laser cutter.
It doesn't need to be difficult. Be methodical, follow the steps in order. If you feel you messed something up, go back a step or 2 and repeat from there.
With practice you should eventually be able to perform an alignment in 15-30 minutes.
Additional info on these instructions on my website at: makestuffnow.com/laser-cutter-... - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
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Best video I've ever found on aligning the mirrors. Thanks, you've saved me a whole load of ball ache.
This tutorial is great. Explaining the difference between position and direction has helped me heaps. SO many other tutorial are just focused on hitting the center of the mirror!
After trying loads of setup guides I came across this one.
Watched it twice made notes and went into the garage, after half an hour I had it set up.
After another half an hour I had it fine tuned spot on!
It took longer to re do all my stored cut settings as they were completely useless, as all power and speed settings were different.
I can now cut deeper and faster.
My machine is now perfect.
Thank you very much for doing this guide.
After watching this video i have managed to set my mirrors up and my laser is cutting true over the whole of the bed. This is by far the best tutorial i have found for aligning your mirrors. Give it a try you wont be disappointed.
Great instructions.
They eased my pain. How horrible was my aligning before this video. Thank you very much for teaching me the right way.
(I wish my kids would say that to me at least one time)
"First beam has to be parallel, not necessarily centered" was the crucial piece of info I was missing to get a perfect alignment. Killer video!
If you have to shift a mirror's position for a good alignment, get your red dot laser and some blutak and point it back at the mirror, then align it with the first mirror - it's inaccurate, but much better than guesswork. Zapped my arm before I discovered this trick.
Excellent video. My laser hasn't been 100% since I purchased it. Watched this video then got to work. Perfect cuts now. Thanks
My man....!!!!! Thank you brother. Your tutorial was simplified and detailed for the laymen.. You my friend have just gained a new follower. Keep it coming brother..🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽👍🏾
This may be an oldie, but it is surely a goody. The best video of many to choose from on performing alignment of the China Blue laser machine. Thanks!
one of the best videos ive seen on how to set up your mirrors thankyou for taking the time to share
Love it, excellent description! Thank you! Regarding my comment earlier: cheap lasers often don't have the possibility to align the last mirror. They essentially just assume it's all fine with 45 degrees on solid piece of machined metal with a mirror set into it. It seems very worth investing into the last alignment stage as this seems to make all the difference. A centered beam on the lens not only improves the cut itself but also how tight your air assist nozzle can be. A tighter air nozzle means higher speed of air exiting the nozzle. Higher speed, given with a proper air stream shape through a well designed air assist nozzle, will increase the cut quality. Many things to consider when improving a laser from a cheap machine up...
This is the best alignment video on TH-cam so far. It's especially helpful for the final head alignment. It was very much a case of trial and error to set up my machine initially. Wish I had this video then!
I am doing 'pre-delivery' research on operating my impending K40. Your video was very concise and a wealth of practical information. Thank you.
I wasted an entire day watching videos on this subject before I came across your video. I get the feeling you are a professional teacher because you helped me understand WHAT I was doing and not simply giving me instructions. Thank you!
REALLY REALLY Helpful video! Thank you, I had been struggling with my laser but this was immensely helpful.
Thanks for the video! I've just used your principals and techniques to help me perfectly align my mirrors. Thanks again!
Watched the video step by step , to setup mine . Fantastic results. ‘’Thank you “
Fantastic Video, I like many others used trial and error to set up my machine, I think I will use this method and recheck to make sure that its all set up properly.nice of you to take the time to go into detail.Thanks!
Thank you. You confirmed my suspicions of the unnecessary steps in other videos!
Great video!! Helped me set up my mirrors after having such a hard time..
This helped so much, my k40 is cutting great now. Thanks for this
One thing i would like to add is that you need to find a material on which you can see a defined spot.
I used paper before and was never able to see a clear circle mark from the laser beam.
Now i am using double sided tape without removing the back cover,
and i an see a precise mark that makes adjusting a lot easier.
Great Instruction Video! As someone else have said maybe the best on the net, so thanks so much!!!
The tape is a good idea, thanks. Just firing mine up for the first time, it's not new and has had a hard life, so it's good to check it all over.
Perfect tutorial. Question: how do you make it to fire a pulse and what power setting do you use? I'm gonna try this tomorrow. Thanks!
Clear directions. Thank you
Excellent video.
thank you very much. you made the task much less daunting for a newby.
Great instructions
Two things to point out that would get better alignment than shown here. Don't get me wrong, the technique is spot on, however, the mirror center in the head is actually sitting above the center of the entrance hole, so to hit the center of that mirror, which is critical for final alignment and max output, raise the horizontal center line up about halfway between the hole center and the top of the hole. If you were to eyeball that mirror, you can see what I am referring to. The center of the opening is about 2/3rds down the mirror.
The other thing is, use an inspection mirror (Make sure the laser is OFF!) and place the tap on the tube opening instead of on the bed. For those without a flat steel or aluminum bed this is a much easier way. Pulse the laser and look at the tape via the mirror (Laser OFF). Repeat until the pot is centered in the opening, just make sure the mirror is removed before turning the laser back on and pulsing.
One more note, for easy check of alignment, tape the head and run it all the way out and front, pulse, then run all the way in and back. If the spot doesn't move, alignment done. :) It might also be a good idea to clean the mirrors after this so that any smoke residue from the tape is removed.
Can I use the preforated sheet for co2 laser bed?
What is the thickness of the sheet used in your bed?
Eggs sell ant. Can we purchase the mirror blocks separately. I found some but they don't look the same.
this was really usefool tutorial video.Thanks for it
The control panel has a button labelled 'pulse' for firing single pulses.
In the control panel menu you can set it so the laser either stays on the whole time you're pressing the button, or you can set it to shoot a pulse for a fixed time.
I usually set 30% power and a pulse time of 100ms. Fire 2 or 3 pulses if the spot is still a bit weak.
If you're still having trouble, find my email in the about section of my channel page.
How can I connect my Chinese laser cutter to RDWorks V8 with Cat5? I did try with USB for so many times but it's not working. Thanks!
I use USB, but the documentation for configuring network connection is here en.rd-acs.com/Private/Files/5fbd43c0c5f2d457.pdf
If I can find a cable I'll give it a go and see how well it works.
"trust me, I'm a physicist"
You can't fix people, they knows every thing on comments. Thanks for the video!
Great video very helpful! Quick question what if I don't have an adjustment mirror on the laser head like you do?
Your best option is to go buy one that does.
It's the most crucial part of the whole set up for getting it centered properly. Without being able to adjust it, your only option is to loosen whatever mounting screws you have and see how much play you have to twist the laser head around as best you can.
Even file out the mounting holes into slots to give you more play. I've had to do that to a little bit after replacing laser tubes.
tip, use mini post it notes not tape much better and run your nail round the mirror , much easier to see and rollies work better than lens tissues , they are basically the same material anyway. Thanks for the vid.
My red & black 80-watt laser did NOT come with any mirror frames, where did you get the mirror covers you mentioned in your video? Or dies anyone else know where to get them? Thanks
Feel much more confident in getting it right after seeing this vid, thanks!
Re. getting the beam parallel to the rails out of mirror 1... Can this still be done if the rail is not completely square to the tube?
Some of the "cross hair" videos you mention, talk about making adjustable brackets for the tube, squaring the entire bed to the tube etc. etc..
From an optical alignment point of view there is absolutely no reason the laser cant be lined up in any old direction.
However from a practical point of view, mirror 1 is in a bracket fixed at a 45 degrees with about 5 degrees of play either direction. So the laser needs to be lined up within a few degrees from 'perfect'. The rest you correct with the mirrors.
I have a 80 watt Chinese red and black laser, and when I get to the tube alignment, my dot is tee tiny,, where as yours is massive. Is this normal?
thank you so much
I dont understant something. when you allign the second mirror on top than you adjust it on the bottom again won't that screw up the alligment on top?
I hope you understant what I mean english isnt my first language
Hi use a tubing with a cross hair made copper wire then use the tape that you are using right now then open and closed the shutter then adjust the mirror with low power
Thank you for making this tutorial....Thumbs up!
I tell ya, aligning the mirrors are an absolute nightmare. Also, I wonder if it's possible to adapt a beam combiner into the 50w unit so we can get a red laser dot, some folks say it works wonders with helping to align mirrors.
Superb video, many thanks. When you centred your beam in the head, you loosened the bolts and physically moved it. My machine does not have this function and the beam is off centre. Any tips would be greatly appreciated as, having started from scratch a number of times with all mirrors and moving the tube, it is always off centre on the head... consequently it cuts very very poorly. Many thanks
This is the biggest flaw in the mirror system. The laser head should be mounted on an up/down translation stage.
I'm working on designing a simple one, but workaround options until then include-
-Take the laser head off. Drill or file the mounting holes larger so there is enough play to move the head around where you want it.
-You can go to the laser and undo the mounts and move the angle around a bit or shim it up higher. Where you point the laser beam onto mirror 1 will also happen to mirror 3. So if you need the laser to be a little higher on mirror 3, point the laser so it hits mirror 1 a little higher, redo the alignment, and it should hit closer to where you want.
makestuffnow!
Thank you for your advice. After another day of playing around I've finally got to a semi ok machine, as you suggested by shimming the tube (and mirror 1, as I didn't want a downward pointed tube with potential air bubble build up).
The suggestion to elongate the holes was good but, the lense carrier is part of the actual x axis frame, -cast all in one. The mirror holder is separate however, so I could elongate the holes. To me, little point in moving the mirror position if the lense doesn't follow suit...(i.e. beam touches different point on mirror but still offset on lense) I'd be one of many (I'd assume) to get my hands on one of your upgrades.
Best of luck working on it and thank you again for the info.
Kind regards, sawfish_industries@hotmail.com
I’m at the 3rd mirror. When I pulse I’m getting 2 separate burn holes. Doesn’t matter if it’s close or far from mirror 2. What causes that?
Hi, thank you so much for your fantastic video.
I followed every step of your work but I think I have a laser tube problem.
I have seen that, by putting the paper tape on the first mirror and pressing the Pulse button, 4 distinct burn points are formed on the paper when I believe there should be only one.
The same thing happens on the second mirror and on the third.
If there are 4 points it means that the laser power is dispersed.
Do you confirm that there should only be one burning point?
Thank you so much for your help.
yes there should be one. Try cleaning the end of the laser tube with some alcohol on a cotton swab. If you're lucky it could be just a bit of dust burnt on the end of the laser. Otherwise it is likely a laser tube problem.
\Most likely the tube would be no good, but it is also possible the power supply is not working properly or the settings are wrong.
Hi, wondering if you could help. I have a piranha 5060 that ive just bought. got it set up and laser aligned, thanks to your videos and others on TH-cam :) sent a test file to the laser and when i click start it says not enough extend space? have you any idea what this means and how I could fix it? Thanks
Maggi
You're trying to engrave a bmp/png image file. When the laser scans left to right it needs a bit of space to accelerate up to speed first. So if you have your image too close to either the left or right of the table, the laser has no room to get it's run up and gives the 'not enough extended space' error.
Move your image about 1cm away from edge and it should then work ok.
At least that's how the chinese ruida brand controllers work.
very very... very good
Great video. I have a 50 ebay chinese laser. If I draw an oval or other shape there is often a little disfigurement in the shape when it's cut. It almost looks like if the object were in node form that a few nodes are knocked out of wack. Could this be alignment?
If you're drawing at a fast speed it could be a motor controller fault. Even though the specs might say 300mm/s, the steppers don't work reliably much faster than 200mm/s.
If you ruled that out, then having the final laser head assembly mirror not aligned properly is the most likely cause. I realign just the final mirror every 2 weeks or so. A few bumps here and there is all it takes and you start getting odd looking cuts.
What do I do if my beam is not centered on mirror 3 up close to mirror 2? It's high.
Dear I made all step and did the alignment with acquire but once comes to cut and it’s not cutting. Please advice to do
Thank you for this video! I wish I had it when I first purchased my laser cutter. When I realigned my machine I realized that the mirrors might need to be replaced but I don't know what kind to get or where to buy them. Do you have any tips? I have a 90 watt CO2 tube if that's relevant.
The 90W is relevant. For that you need to get at a minimum Molybdenum (Mo) mirrors. They are able to withstand the power.
If you can afford the expense, copper (Cu) mirrors are even better and what I would upgrade to with an 80W+ machine.
Just buy from ebay or aliexpress. Make sure you get the correct diameter mirror or they wont fit.
I use gold coated silicon (Si) mirrors, which are perfectly fine for 50W but wont last long in a more powerful machine.
I followed your video to the letter but what happens if the last mirror to the laser head cannot be calibrated. You left no instructions on how to correct this situation. Do you have any solution?
"Trust me, I'm a physicist" famous last words
you are great
Hello, Could you tell me where you got your mirror covers? I am having a lot of trouble getting my mirrors aligned and have not been able to use the machine since buying it 3 weeks ago because of this.I think these covers might make it more do-able for me as a person who has no experience with these machines.
The covers came with my machine. But if you search around aliexpress you will find vendors selling every single part that goes into these chinese machines. You should find something suitable.
Hello sir, can you tell me how to do 2 more cuts in a row?
I used this method and everything seemed fine but after putting the lense back on the laser cuts at an angle. Does anybody have any tips for me?
Hi. Excelent video! Congrats.
At minute 2:20, I noticed some big bubbles inside the tube. Can these bubbles hinder tube cooling? In my k40, I make sure to remove them, but for that I have to raise and rotate the machine so that the bubbles come out
It's not good to have, but for me it doesn't seem to cause any problems so i sometimes don't bother with it. At the very front where the laser beam exits the tube is where it is going to crack if it overheats, so make sure the water exit port is facing upwards at that location to make sure no air pockets ever form around the front of the tube and it should all be ok.
Any ideas how to allign head mirror if table has no z movement? On my laser i set focus with laser head, and it has about 10cm of z movemenet space
Take out the lens and just make the one laser burn 10cm away (or as far as you can get). Use something like a square, or anything with a good right angle and check the burn hole lines up with the centre of the laser head tube. This will still be fairly accurate.
i hv 50watt co2.. but i have a problem while engraving.. itwas not came back at origin position after engraving .. and made the cutting slight offset from origin position.
i did few allingment. but its still gv me same problem
That's almost always some kind of mechanical problem.
-the laser head might be hitting something somewhere. Maybe the lid is closing down too low
-the black cable carrier on the moving rail might be falling off the side and jamming somewhere. This is a common problem with some machine builds.
-you are operating too fast a speed. Avoid going above 200mm/s. It might say the motors are capable of going faster, but they usually don't have enough torque to move the weight of the rail around that fast without skipping steps.
you had mentioned in the video on the 3rd mirror that you initially wanted to worry about the horizontal alignement, and that you would go back and touch on the vertical alignement later, you did show how to get the beam coming straight down and then adjust its left right position, but say if by chance when you were checking the laser position entering the laser head, what if it is coming in too high or low on the 3rd mirror (even if its hitting the same spot in the near and far positions), is there a procedure you have worked out for that, or do you not have to worry about it? just to clarify, im talking about when you put tape over the opening for the laser head nozzle itself, and if your dot is higher or lower than center there.
Because of the way the 3rd mirror is positioned in the mount, when aligned the beam should be entering the laser head a little bit above center. So that is nothing to be concerned about.
One day I will make a video entirely about the 3rd mirror, since it can be really difficult to get right due to weaknesses in the design.
makestuffnow! Thank you for your quick response! How did you make/aquire the aluminum panel you uses for the bed replacement. When you do cutting do you cut right against it or raise your materials slightly above it?
I bought a 3mm aluminium plate cut to size, then drilled out the holes myself how I wanted.
I do a lot of engraving work where I need to accurately lay out thinks, so need a good solid bed.
Thin stuff I cut straight onto the plate, but thicker stuff, and especially stuff that bleeds out like thicker acrylic and plywood, I just shim up a few mm with some scrap acrylic pieces. I don't cut enough to invest in a honeycomb style cutting plate
HI, In your opinon what is the best distance betwin laser head and first mirror? tks
Usually you don't have much choice, but if i can I prefer to have the distance as large as I can. From a practical point of view, a laser line gets much easier to align accurately the longer it is.
Hello, could you send me the link of video about 3rd mirror alignment please? Because You have wrote in one of your answers "One day I will make a video entirely about the 3rd mirror, since it can be really difficult to get right due to weaknesses in the design"
Haven't done it, thanks for the reminder.
I'm filming some stuff on setting up the rotation work table right now. I'll do the 3rd mirror stuff at the same time.
In the meantime the blog link in this video description explains everything I will go over in the video.
Did you buy the laser goggles from ebay? Is the plexi that's on the lid of the machine enough to stop the laser radiation from being harmful to your eyes?
-Goggles from ebay. Perfectly fine for protecting scattered beam. Wouldn't trust with a direct shot to the eye.
-PMMA/Plexi glass has high absorption at laser wavelength (that's why it cuts so well). Laser would need to burn through lid before any hazardout levels start coming out.
which way should the mirror face and which mirror would you recommend for best results?
The shiny side with the reflective coating on it faces out.
Buy Silicon (Si) glass mirrors with gold coating. Best general purpose mirrors for these machines. You can't go wrong with them.
where and what is the proper lens for these laser cutters cracked mine " HELP " first lens at laser beam
You need to get a ZnSe mirror, ideally one that says it is made from USA import material.
All the sellers I've found on AliExpress have been good and reliable.
Make sure you get the same diameter lens or it wont fit in. There are a few common sizes they come in.
I hAVE A QUESTION WHERE DO YOU SET THE LASER GUIDES AT THE BACK OF THE LASER, WHAT I MEAN IS WHERE ARE THE SCREWS SET ON THE BACK MIRROR I.E DO YOU ADJUST THE SCREWS ALL THE WAY IN TO START THE ALIGN PROCESS
The adjustment screws on mirror 1? Set them all about halfway in, and then secure the mirror and laser in place as best you can. This will give you plenty of room to fine tune the adjustment screws either direction as needed.
@@makestuffnow thanks sorted it now
where did you get the black mirror covers and holder?
Came with the machine. Purchased 2015
Not sure if they are common to find any more. If they still exist you will find them somewhere on aliexpress
What type of safety glasses do you have? If you're a physicist, than I trust you bought the right pair. Do you have an amazon link where I can buy them for me. I would appreciate your response. I have a 100W Chinese CO2 laser. Thank You.
Search ebay or amazon for "co2 laser glasses". The item should say for 10600nm wavelength. Pick whatever pair looks comfortable to you.
All the glasses around the $40 price should have an optical density of 6 (written OD=6+), which is how much light it blocks. These should be fine- your high power cutting should be done with the lid closed anyway.
Do you mind telling us which model Chinese laser you have?
It's a very common generic chineses machine. The whole casing is model SH - G350 and uses Ruidia control board.
Search 50W laser cutters on ebay and you'll find dozens of the same model.
it took me a couple of times to watch this to get it, **K40 users tune in to what I am saying** you don't want to aim for the centre of the mirror because that can be out of alignment by a long shot. You just want to match your dots to the same position. Once done, you will have to move the "mirror assembly" again "mirror assembly" not the mirror angle screws.
Hello I bought a China (ebay) k40 laser and have problems to engraving with the same intensity from right to left.
When it goes to the right it does not engraving with the same intensity, it seems that the laser loses power in the right.
It will be because of the alignment of the laser / mirror?
Thanks for some tips :)
Very likely it is a mirror alignment problem. Another possibility is the cutting surface isn't level, but has a slight slope to it which you need to fix.
you have a air bubble in your tube.
Tin foil or aluminium foil saves glue gunk getting on your mirrors. Just stuck it to your tape over the mirror. Then keep adding tape.
Too bad my cheapo laser does not have final mirror adjustment knobs. I guess I'll try to do it by introducing washers underneath the corner of mirror
You can find every part of the machines available for sale on aliexpress. I've seen some final laser heads as cheap as US$30, which wont be great but probably worth trying to fit on a cheap machine.
I still think this is the best tutorial on alignment and I've watched it more times than I can count, but I have to admit I've been at this for at least fifteen hours and I can't get my test fires closer than 3mm off the second mirror. If I had hair I'd have already pulled it all out. I'm reluctant to start fiddling with the mirror mount at this point but I don't want to make matters worse. Anybody have any advice? At one point I thought I had it licked, but when I replaced the cone it blocked the beam entirely. Back to square one.
If you believe you are doing everything right with the mirror and you still cant get it working, it may be that you do need to go all the way back and try re-positioning the laser tube. Sometimes it is just too far of to correct.
you can email me if you keep having problems (email address in channel about tab).
@@makestuffnow Was thinking the same thing myself as I've pretty much run out of options. Did an alignment a while back and it went smoothly. Appreciate your willingness to help. If you're ever in Hawaii (Oahu) I'd be happy to share some Koa with you. Will let you know if the tube adjustment is the magic fix.
Be nice if u explainef which screws do what
Not all mirror mounts will be constructed with the same screw configuration. Just turn a screw in one direction and you will see which way it tilts the mirror. It's no more complicated than that, and you shouldn't run into any trouble.
Awesome video- curious, is your Z (table) like on a hand crank? ha
Yes. A real hassle when you want to move a long distance, but I find it better for fine tuning the final bit of focus.
Two questions: How much does it cost (us dollars)? And can it engrave on glasses that are tapered?
This size machine can be found from $1200-2000. It will engrave onto glass and ceramics quite well. They are often sold with a rotation stage for doing cylinders. You could rig up a special holder or prop the rotation stage up on an angle if you wanted to do something with a taper, it wouldnt be too difficult.
how do you get the first mirror to hit parallel? mine is low
If you cant get the first mirror parallel after a lot of trying, then you may need to adjust the height or tilt of your laser tube a little bit. While the tube doesnt need to be perfectly lined up as the first mirror correct for a few degrees, it does need to be somewhat close to alignment.
i got 2 points on the second mirror :-( i guess the first mirror must be Kaput. its seems to be splitting the laser into 2 points. aghhh, thought this was going to be nice and simple. and inexpensive, im going to take the first mirror out clean it and try and find another point on it that it dosnt split it.
could it be the laser tube itself as its getting older? not sure what characteristics a dying tube has.
any how, thanks for the Video , great stuff.
Watch out that part of the laser beam is not hitting the edge of the first mirror. If it is partly hitting the edge it will make a split into a second beam going in a different direction.
While I do say you don't need to be worried about getting it dead centre, it needs to still be reasonably close the centre to avoid this.
That is the most common cause of this problem. ,Old tubes usually just get weaker in power until they stop.
@@makestuffnow thanks, I found the problem, the first mirror had a hairline crack in it , probably caused by some dust or dirt on the surface. The laser was hitting
Exactly on the crack and then split the beam. Getting new mirrors now. But have rotated the mirror for the meantime, so its hitting just of centre, a way from the crack. I got some copper discs from russ @ reworks, might polish them up and use them instead of the standard glass mirrors.
Thanks again.
Sam
@@makestuffnow Got some new mirrors, working well. but the end of my laser tube has broken away. :-(
still works thou. the very end nozzle part with the water feeds.
"Trust me I'm a physicist". Sounds like famous last words. lol
Perfect for a T shirt.
15:02 "So I can shift it back... SHIT !"
Thanks for the video, but there is a much easier way to do this. Just take a cheap red led laser pointer and mount it in place of the laser tube. You only have to make sure it fires directly in the middle of your 1st mirror and also its at 45 degree to mirror surface. With this visible non-harmful laser ray you can set up your entire system and also check your mechanics alignment. Then just put in the CO2 tube and make sure it fires in the same direction, and you're all set.
Hi. I have a blue Chinese cutter, and everything’s gone wrong randomly. We’ve replaced power supply box. Everything’s working, but it’s burning the hell out of the wood and not printing/ engraving what it’s meant to.
I’m really hoping you can email/ text me to help. Happy to pay if necessary. I’m in Berwick Vic
you can find my email address in the 'about' tab of my channel page.
I can usually solve most peoples problems over email. I'm only in Clayton so if it's really bad it's possible I can come and fix it for you.
makestuffnow! I can’t find your email address, but I would DESPERATELY appreciate your help.
makestuffnow! I’ve just sent email. Delete now lol
:) i trust physicists more than i trust mechanics!!!!
you made a lot of high quality videos. Why did you stop?
Started a new job and got as bit busy. Spent all my extra time woodworking.
Planning to buying a new camera and start filming again in a few weeks when springtime starts to kick in. Too dark too early at the moment so I don't have very good lighting to work with.
as I understand correctly - tube position is not important (like one end of tube is higher than other lets say 'y' and the position from machine side lets say 'x'), you just need to shoot it on the first mirror center of the lens and thats it?
Yes, within a reasonable limit. The laser just needs to hit within a few millimetres of the middle of the lens. It doesn't matter what angle it is coming in at- the first mirror will immediately correct the angle.
could you please explain more in details as you say "to hit within a few millimetres of the middle"
The beam should be aimed near the middle of the mirror, because all the brackets and mounts have been fitted roughly to the center of the mirrors.
But for a number of reasons you don't need to be hitting the exact dead center of the mirror- just within a few mm will be good enough.
Even if you feel the need to make up a whole elaborate series of cross-hairs and targets, as soon as you then adjust the tilt on the mirror it will longer be hitting the center any more because that is how these type of mirror mounts (kinematic mounts) work.
I sent you an E-Mail... Please help me out of my disaster :-(
PS: I just replaced/upgraded the Mirrors and the Head. That's why I'm not able to adjust them anymore :-(
What laser is this? It is not a cheap Chinese K40.
G350 is the model number. It is the next size up from the k40
makestuff link is not working.
fixed it
It's probably just my eyes playing tricks on me, but it looks to me like your table isn't as stable as it could be. It could be my imagination, but I could have sworn the table was jittering side-to-side as you were raising and lowering it, as if there was too much play in the system.
It does shake. The bushing holding the screws in place for the table are a bit oversized so it shakes when I move it. Somehow, after moving, it always falls back to the same position fairly accurately so I have never bothered to fix.
you know you have a massive bubble in your tube
Yeah. I disturbed the water flow when I pulled the machine out so I could film and didn't notice. Try not to do that.
"that's good enough" ??
Perfect is almost good enough.
Strive for perfection, settle for nothing less.
The amount of tape you wasted is ridiculous. Just re use the same piece please ffs