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.

The New Hotness

  • Laser Cutter: Backlash Test

    A backlash test found on the LightBurn forum puts the machine through a series of difficult maneuvers:

    Backlash test
    Backlash test

    That’s burned on the back of a paperboard box at 400 mm/s @ 15%/10% power, which is slightly too intense for the smaller patterns.

    The key point is that the machine has no detectable trace of backlash, with all the opposing lines matching up and equal spacing regardless of the approach direction.

    Whew!

    The acceleration may be a little too high, as seen on some recent beam alignment targets:

    Print-and-Cut - perimeter matching
    Print-and-Cut – perimeter matching

    The larger targets on the right let the machine reach a speed closer to the nominal 400 mm/s around the arc, so the cut along the tape tab after the right-angle turn comes out a bit wobbly; the smaller targets are fine. The red lines are just under 0.5 mm wide and the wobble is on the same order, so it’s pretty close to being OK.