I need help and can’t find it,
My mirrors tube to mirror 1 =centered
Mirror 1 to mirror 2 perfectly straight top and bottom.
Mirror 2 to 3 bottom left and right perfect
Top left and right perfect
Top right and bottom right beam moves about 5mm down. How is that possible?
I cannot align 3th mirror to bed if it moves 5mm my beam will go side to side in the laserhead. Is there anyone that can help me with this problem?
Always center the beam in bottom right position first, not the other way around.
Center it bottom right, top right.
After that you will get movement of the beam when you test it top left and bottom left – these values, and only these should be the information you need to align it properly and tell you what the problem is.
If you cant solve it, send a email to help@k40.se and we can try to sort it out step by step for you (for free).
All the template it’s engraving very well the problem I have is cutting working with 3mm acrylic and rubber sheet. And my k40 not outputting the design.
I’ve encountered a situation, probably of my making, that I think should be addressed here. Cuts running front to back through piece of 5mm acrylic are perpendicular, but those running left to right angle rearward by several degrees. Before knowing better I loosened the laser head and then realized that there was no mechanism to square it with the incoming beam. I realigned it by eye, but I’m pretty sure that the cause of my problem is the head and mirror being slightly rotated. The only way I can think of to align the head is to remove the mirror and put a piece of wooden dowel in the opening to simulate the beam path. Any thoughts?
Great tutorial. I’m having an x axis issue where dot is moving left, my question is where are the bolts that need to be loosened to square the x axis? Thanks in advance!
There is bolts in the floor, loosen them up a bit and try to move it a bit. If not working, there is screws on the edge of the X-gantry you can loosen up, and see if its pulling itself out of alignment. Sometimes the edge isnt cut 100% in 90 degrees, so its pulling itself out of alignment.
Check this on facebook, its a similar question: https://www.facebook.com/groups/888394261237059/permalink/1409446835798463/
One last question. The main goal here is to get just the 3 mirror (head) dot center correct? When I make adjustments to get the head mirror dot center it throws the second mirror dot off center. That shouldn’t matter as long as the head mirror is hitting center correct?
Alignment is all about keeping the beam steady, actually the only thing matters is that the beam hits the same spot on the lens in all four corners of the machine.
Check out the file-section, there is a align-tool to cut and use to see if the lens is hitting center of the lens, with instructions.
If the beam moves too much over the surface you will get errors in the parts you cut.
Doug
7 years ago
Excellent tutorial that I hope will work for me. My gantry is all made together in a square but I was able to square it pretty much by shifting it a little and then tightening the bolts down. For more adjustments would you suggest adjusting the brackets that attach the mirror assembly to the gantry? Any help you can give to the three screws and what affect each has?
The alignment screws are pretty simple when you get a hang of it. Top one will move the beam down, lower edge screw will move it up, and the corner screw diagonal (angle). They are not precise, so you may get side-movement from all of them but start off with small small adjustments and a big paper you test fire at, to see more how the mirror holder behaves when moving the screws. Remember to close the lid or look away when test firing!
Do not touch the brackets until you tested the other solutions, you are increasing possible angles by 10x by moving the brackets 🙂
Rich Lee
7 years ago
Excellent tutorial HP, I have been battling with mirror alignment since day one. Your instructions seem straightforward and they’re easy to understand. Thank you.
Erik
7 years ago
Hi,
Maybe a good idea to include the advice to disconnect the motors to prevent blowing up your drivers when manually moving the laser head ?
HP, this I’ve been thinking of starting blog since I went down K40 path several months ago to help others with issues I have encountered (but apparently I’m like the many, rather than the few that only “think about it” :). Anyhow, you have some excellent points (most of which I found the hard way).
Regarding “blowing up your drivers” by moving the steppers. I just wanted to put some information on this (I’m a EE that has many years motor control/servo experience so want to help where I can)
Yes, there is back-emf (energy) generated by the steppers when they are rotated, that energy is routed back through the H-bridges (drivers) to the 24-vdc supply. On my system, it will actually light up the power supply LED a little. The energy is quickly dissipated in losses in the power supply.
This behavior is no different than when the system is operating normally (while powered).
Personally I see no need to disconnect the motors (obviously never “fight” the control when it is trying to hold position), move the axis at reasonable speeds (but it would be near impossible to cause damage in my opinion).
But if someone is more comfortable disconnecting, I won’t argue with them 🙂
I totally agree, i just added a safety tip as i have seen users moving their stepper like crazy in some videos and do not want anyone coming back to me and pointing with the finger 🙂
Thanks for the explanation though, i move mine without disconnecting anything and never had any problems on any machine.
Phil reed
7 years ago
please hurry with the results bit. my gantry came not screwed down so its like i put thethe together myself. i can get so for but the last but always is off by 1-2mm. its driving me nuts cos no matter what i try it wont setup.
If you get it right out of the tube, try increasing the power a bit. Some tubes split the beam on low power due to instability. If you have it on higher power too the tube is gone, or the end-lens is broken or very dirty.
christophe guerbette
7 years ago
Hakan !! I never saw or read this aspect of a true alignment, bravo to you !!
Even if the setting steps are scary !!!
Thank you!!!!
I need help and can’t find it,
My mirrors tube to mirror 1 =centered
Mirror 1 to mirror 2 perfectly straight top and bottom.
Mirror 2 to 3 bottom left and right perfect
Top left and right perfect
Top right and bottom right beam moves about 5mm down. How is that possible?
I cannot align 3th mirror to bed if it moves 5mm my beam will go side to side in the laserhead. Is there anyone that can help me with this problem?
Always center the beam in bottom right position first, not the other way around.
Center it bottom right, top right.
After that you will get movement of the beam when you test it top left and bottom left – these values, and only these should be the information you need to align it properly and tell you what the problem is.
If you cant solve it, send a email to help@k40.se and we can try to sort it out step by step for you (for free).
All the template it’s engraving very well the problem I have is cutting working with 3mm acrylic and rubber sheet. And my k40 not outputting the design.
Send me your design to help@k40.se i can check if it´s broken or anything wrong with it.
Thanks for the solution HP
I’ve encountered a situation, probably of my making, that I think should be addressed here. Cuts running front to back through piece of 5mm acrylic are perpendicular, but those running left to right angle rearward by several degrees. Before knowing better I loosened the laser head and then realized that there was no mechanism to square it with the incoming beam. I realigned it by eye, but I’m pretty sure that the cause of my problem is the head and mirror being slightly rotated. The only way I can think of to align the head is to remove the mirror and put a piece of wooden dowel in the opening to simulate the beam path. Any thoughts?
Thanks for sharing.
Check out the Facebook group for better help, this might need some questions back and forth. There is a welth of knowledge in the FB-group -> https://www.facebook.com/groups/888394261237059/
I’m stuck! Your guide is fantastic though!
My X axis is off 4mm vertically (Horizontal is perfect)
X Bottom Left higher than Bottom Right
X Top Left higher than Top Right
This tells me that the X axis on the left needs to go up to match it, but I have run out of room to move the rail up!
Its 4mm and its driving me crazy!
Any suggestions?
Join the Facebook-group and we can help you out aligning it properly 🙂
Often its easier to lower the laser head, than shim the left side.
FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/888394261237059/?ref=group_header
Great tutorial. I’m having an x axis issue where dot is moving left, my question is where are the bolts that need to be loosened to square the x axis? Thanks in advance!
There is bolts in the floor, loosen them up a bit and try to move it a bit. If not working, there is screws on the edge of the X-gantry you can loosen up, and see if its pulling itself out of alignment. Sometimes the edge isnt cut 100% in 90 degrees, so its pulling itself out of alignment.
Check this on facebook, its a similar question: https://www.facebook.com/groups/888394261237059/permalink/1409446835798463/
Thanks for the info!
Hey Persson,
One last question. The main goal here is to get just the 3 mirror (head) dot center correct? When I make adjustments to get the head mirror dot center it throws the second mirror dot off center. That shouldn’t matter as long as the head mirror is hitting center correct?
Alignment is all about keeping the beam steady, actually the only thing matters is that the beam hits the same spot on the lens in all four corners of the machine.
Check out the file-section, there is a align-tool to cut and use to see if the lens is hitting center of the lens, with instructions.
If the beam moves too much over the surface you will get errors in the parts you cut.
Excellent tutorial that I hope will work for me. My gantry is all made together in a square but I was able to square it pretty much by shifting it a little and then tightening the bolts down. For more adjustments would you suggest adjusting the brackets that attach the mirror assembly to the gantry? Any help you can give to the three screws and what affect each has?
The alignment screws are pretty simple when you get a hang of it. Top one will move the beam down, lower edge screw will move it up, and the corner screw diagonal (angle). They are not precise, so you may get side-movement from all of them but start off with small small adjustments and a big paper you test fire at, to see more how the mirror holder behaves when moving the screws. Remember to close the lid or look away when test firing!
Do not touch the brackets until you tested the other solutions, you are increasing possible angles by 10x by moving the brackets 🙂
Excellent tutorial HP, I have been battling with mirror alignment since day one. Your instructions seem straightforward and they’re easy to understand. Thank you.
Hi,
Maybe a good idea to include the advice to disconnect the motors to prevent blowing up your drivers when manually moving the laser head ?
Grtz,
Erik
Thank you, good idea, i have added a small warning-box at the top of the article.
HP, this I’ve been thinking of starting blog since I went down K40 path several months ago to help others with issues I have encountered (but apparently I’m like the many, rather than the few that only “think about it” :). Anyhow, you have some excellent points (most of which I found the hard way).
Regarding “blowing up your drivers” by moving the steppers. I just wanted to put some information on this (I’m a EE that has many years motor control/servo experience so want to help where I can)
Yes, there is back-emf (energy) generated by the steppers when they are rotated, that energy is routed back through the H-bridges (drivers) to the 24-vdc supply. On my system, it will actually light up the power supply LED a little. The energy is quickly dissipated in losses in the power supply.
This behavior is no different than when the system is operating normally (while powered).
Personally I see no need to disconnect the motors (obviously never “fight” the control when it is trying to hold position), move the axis at reasonable speeds (but it would be near impossible to cause damage in my opinion).
But if someone is more comfortable disconnecting, I won’t argue with them 🙂
I totally agree, i just added a safety tip as i have seen users moving their stepper like crazy in some videos and do not want anyone coming back to me and pointing with the finger 🙂
Thanks for the explanation though, i move mine without disconnecting anything and never had any problems on any machine.
please hurry with the results bit. my gantry came not screwed down so its like i put thethe together myself. i can get so for but the last but always is off by 1-2mm. its driving me nuts cos no matter what i try it wont setup.
I’m getting 4 dots when I hit the pulse trial shot….. am I still just looking at an alignment problem…
If you get it right out of the tube, try increasing the power a bit. Some tubes split the beam on low power due to instability. If you have it on higher power too the tube is gone, or the end-lens is broken or very dirty.
Hakan !! I never saw or read this aspect of a true alignment, bravo to you !!
Even if the setting steps are scary !!!
Thank you!!!!