Good walkthrough of Mirror alignment procedure

[Brian Book]

Hi all hate to ask for help when there is so much work to be done to rebuild the Forum ... but I can wait for a reply

My dilemma is when I center the beam from the 2nd mirror to the 3rd mirror when the head is all the way to the front of the machine .... and when I move the head all the way to the back of the machine the beam is about 3/16 off center ? .... I have checked for the X and Y to be square to each other .... does anyone have any ideas what else I should be looking for ?

Thank you in Advance for any and all help

Brian

[Pete Cyr]

http://www.laserengraverforum.com/viewt ... 135#p13330

Watch this video - if this doesn't help let me know - if it does I would like to know that as well

[Gene Uselman]

Pete beat me to the draw yet again That is a very good video- I just watched it

Welcome to the all new forum, Brian. I think you need to re-adjust the M1 to M2 setting more carefully- first with the gantry to the rear and then pulse again with the gantry forward. It can take several small adjustments to get it *really* close, but your patience will be rewarded [grasshopper]. Gene

[Brian Book]

Thank You both Pete and Gene .... really good video ! ... looks like I will be spending the weekend dialing in the Laser .... will report back if I have success

Brian

[Gordon Lytle]

Just curious. Kind of on the subject. How often do you check your center. I check mine about once a month. Sometimes needs a little adjusting.

[Gene Uselman]

About the only check I do is if I am sensing a problem. Then I will use my anal thermometer [5 hole beam nozzle centering] - if that is on, you are golden. My machine is big, heavy and very sturdy and things don't seem to move around much.

nozzle centering tool.jpg

[Brian Book]

Well I tackled the Job of resetting the Mirrors .... although when looking at the video it didn't explain what happens when you can not keep the beam aligned front to back .... well I came across a website that that explained very easily what to do when the beam isn't lining up front to back and side to side ..... my mirrors were completely out of whack and happy to say they are spot on now

I would like to post a link for others if it may help them .... I just don't want to break any Rules .... it really helped me a lot and others that posted on his website as well.

This is the Website that took me step by step

https://k40laser.se/lens-mirrors/mirror ... ate-guide/

Thank You again for all the Help

Brian

[Gene Uselman]

Please post whatever you have that was helpful. I am working on a FAQ article about the entire alignment issue.

[Jack Martin]

I feel this is a much better way, faster too, but you will need to make mounts that adjust for the tube. This is all done completely backwards from what everyone else does. His little tool is the ticket and at $40 a fair price.
First and foremost was to level the head to the bed. Mine was way the heck off.

Try it, you might like it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvP4oosEGOY

[Gene Uselman]

I just watched the video and have never done an alignment this way to be honest. It did make me more aware of what a video craftsman Russ really is. He was of the opinion that this reverse alignment did not work well, altho that was years ago and I am not aware that he ever revisited this method. Leveling the bed and squaring the head is very important of course and how this is done will vary on a machine by machine basis. Personally I prefer to loosen the set screws [grub screws] in the belt pulley and turn the lead screw to level the bed but again that will vary from machine to machine and you should use whatever works best for you. There must be a second video which covers how to align the laser tube to the red dot he is generating- I would think that would be the hardest part.
I do not have his alignment tool but have the LED and will fabricate one and try it myself. I am not fond of the 'scorch' method but it does give an exact alignment on the laser tube.