LaserUser.com Forum (formerly RDWorksLab)

I work for a company that needs to engrave ID lettering/numerals on small- to medium-sized optical components, typically fine-ground fused silica. We purchased a blue Chinese SH-G350 "50W" desktop CO2 laser for this purpose. I have never used a laser cutting/engraving machine of any kind, and am doing a lot of reading and YouTube video watching to try to get up to speed.

Currently struggling to get past the common "not enough exten space" error, changing the origin point, and even just uploading a file to the laser via USB connection or UDisk (my software version is RDWorks is 8.01.11; is that a major problem??)

Thanks in advance for your patience in considering my questions/issues.

When engraving, the head assembly moves much faster than during cutting, and in a rapid side-to-side movement. The machine cannot instantly stop at each end of the travel and has to have "slop" available at which no laser activity is commanded.

If you have a cut file (or engrave) that is too close to one of the limits of the machine, you will get the error you have noted.

Consider to move the process in the direction of more space. Faster speeds require more leeway.

Hsun Chen wrote: Wed May 20, 2020 Currently struggling to get past the common "not enough exten space" error,

you have to let some space left and right of the engraving for the laser head to accelerate/decelerate --> do NOT stick your engraving to the left/right borders of the table. the problem also depend on the speed you set for engraving : the speedier, the more space you must leave on the borders (but usually, about 5cm is quite enough)

Hsun Chen wrote: Wed May 20, 2020 changing the origin point, and even just uploading a file to the laser via USB connection or UDisk (my software version is RDWorks is 8.01.11; is that a major problem??)

those point are addressed in the manual you can find on this forum. for Udisk, i would not recommand it if you can have a direct connection via USB or network. use it only if you are disconnected from the PC. you might not even have to "send" the file, as you can start a job directly from rdworks (which saves the "send / write name of job / wait / go to machine / select job on the panel / run") provided you have an usb/ethernet connection.

viewtopic.php?f=107&t=3507
We re-wrote the manual ...you may find it more useful

Also before you get to much time invested in what is now a fairly old version of RDWorks consider upgrading to the latest one viewtopic.php?f=107&t=3485 There is some known issues with backwards compatibility so you might find yourself spending more time than needed later on.

Much as you have likely considered it take the time and design and make some fixtures (assuming you do repeat identical sized work). The time and money saved by being able to do a walk up and press go over manual alignment will pay back very quickly.

Also if you are just doing text or simple graphics try vector engraving over scan/raster, depending on the job it will be faster and may turn out more crisp.

Pete Cyr wrote: Wed May 20, 2020 viewtopic.php?f=107&t=3507
We re-wrote the manual ...you may find it more useful

Yes, thank you, I have been working off of that, but honestly at this stage, following along with Russ in his "RDWorks Learning Lab XX" series YouTube videos has been more helpful, as he explains and demonstrates things very thoroughly.

Tim Mellor wrote: Wed May 20, 2020 Also before you get to much time invested in what is now a fairly old version of RDWorks consider upgrading to the latest one viewtopic.php?f=107&t=3485 There is some known issues with backwards compatibility so you might find yourself spending more time than needed later on.

Okay, I didn't know the newer versions of RDWorks were publicly available; thank you. Is there a chance moving to the newer version (should I consider using v18 or v44??) will resolve the repeated "No enough extend space" and "frame slop" errors? I have read this FAQ post:

viewtopic.php?t=3477

And changed my test design (just a super-simple rectangle with text within it) for engraving to be centered in the middle of the work area, slowed the speed down, no dice. I have no doubt I could be doing something wrong, but no idea what. I read in the "real English" manual that slop error "May also be caused by too much slop in the drive belts."... the lower belt does seem a little slack, certainly much looser than the belt with the fixed ends that runs the Y axis...

Tim Mellor wrote: Wed May 20, 2020 Much as you have likely considered it take the time and design and make some fixtures (assuming you do repeat identical sized work). The time and money saved by being able to do a walk up and press go over manual alignment will pay back very quickly.

Once I've successfully gotten a test program to run, then get actual test pieces engraved with any quality, I will definitely be making fixtures for efficiency and accuracy, as we'll have numerous pieces of the same dimensions to be engraved with very similar identification, and the position of the letters and numerals on the parts is highly specific and critical.

Tim Mellor wrote: Wed May 20, 2020Also if you are just doing text or simple graphics try vector engraving over scan/raster, depending on the job it will be faster and may turn out more crisp.

Thank you; I understand the intention of what you're recommending but currently grasp nothing of the differences between the methods/file types...

This should help you out with Raster over Vector a bit but Raster is done as a series of generally high speed lines turning the Laser on or off as required while Vector engraving is more like a light continual cut into the surface. viewtopic.php?f=110&t=4777&p=25798#p25798

What will work best with your Silica will be a matter of playing

As to RD works versions I would go to the latest straight away but avoid tweaked versions from Thunder Laser etc as in theory it is built for their versions of the Ruida Controller so stick to the factory one.

Or you might even want to download the trialware version of Lightburn too https://lightburnsoftware.com/

sebastien laforet wrote: Wed May 20, 2020

Hsun Chen wrote: Wed May 20, 2020 Currently struggling to get past the common "not enough exten space" error,

you have to let some space left and right of the engraving for the laser head to accelerate/decelerate --> do NOT stick your engraving to the left/right borders of the table. the problem also depend on the speed you set for engraving : the speedier, the more space you must leave on the borders (but usually, about 5cm is quite enough)

Yes, I read about leaving space and speed issues. I tried putting the piece in the middle of the 300mm x 500mm work area and reducing the speed to 50mm/sec... still same errors. I eventually discovered by accident that the source of my "not enough extend space" or "frame slop" errors was having multiple origin points enabled, as described here:

https://www.thunderlaser.com/troublesho ... rking.html

interesting - I was not aware you could have multiple origins active at the same time.
Thanks for letting all know.