Beam firing at an angle
Posted: Sat Apr 20, 2019
I was cutting some 1/4" acrylic and noticed that the cutting was not quite perpendicular to the surface of the material. The cutting slopes down to the right (when viewed from the front of the machine). I though perhaps the mirror in the moving head, the last mirror in the chain, was angled wrong, but the slope of the cutting is maybe 3 or 5 degrees and that much tilt of the mirror would not allow the beam to get down out of the head I would think. I did try adjusting the tilt of the mirror on the head with the adjusting screws (I marked their position with a Sharpie first, so I could put them back). I adjusted that mirror so that it was even steeper, which I thought would send the beam more to the left, but it just cut off most of the power. It was probably just hitting the inside of the lens tube. I adjusted the mirror the other way too, but this did not change the slope of the beam.
I do remember Russ's video about beam drag, but my beam slopes to the right when the cutting is left to right or when it is right to left, so beam drag is not the problem.
Has anyone encountered this problem, and how can I solve it?
I do remember Russ's video about beam drag, but my beam slopes to the right when the cutting is left to right or when it is right to left, so beam drag is not the problem.
Has anyone encountered this problem, and how can I solve it?