The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning

Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.

Laser Cutter Alignment Check

A couple of test shots to verify the move hasn’t jostled the laser mirrors too far out of alignment:

Laser cutter alignment check
Laser cutter alignment check

The overlapping scorches on the left happened at the Mirror 3 position with the laser head at the far left and near right positions. Not quite as accurate as immediately after I overhauled the beamline, but close enough.

The pair of dot + disk scorches on the right show the beam position on the platform at the focus point and 20 mm below. The red-dot pointer definitely traces a wavering path as the platform goes down, suggesting the leadscrews may have taken a sideways jolt during the laser’s trip down the basement stairs and are now distinctly angled in their guides, but it’s good enough for my simple needs.

Looks like the laser survived the move pretty much intact!

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One response to “Laser Cutter Alignment Check”

  1. Laser Cutter: Fourth Corner Adjustment – The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning Avatar

    […] recently spot-checked the alignment and not seen any odd behavior on another platform-spanning project, this was puzzling. Given that […]